There is much dinner-table chatter these days about the role of schools in the community. Yet you may be forgiven for thinking that the reality on the ground is that often schools do not fulfil this role at all. Well, here is one example where they do.
These parents of children at a primary school in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico are not rich, but they are happy. Why? Because they been able to get some money to repair the school building.
Must we really have all these small schools? It depends.
Small Primary School in the Scottish Highlands for 25 students
Last week the OECD’S Centre for Effective Learning Environments ran a webinar on small schools for its members. The focus was on the knotty problem of whether they should they be closed, or be seen as an opportunity for educational transformation. Here is why it is difficult to just close them… Continue reading
The world of education will change. Are we really aware of just how fundamental this educational shift might be within a relatively short time – say within ten years?
Is this more like the learning environment of the future?
We know education will change because of globalisation, demographic pressures, technological advances and emerging user expectations to which education must respond. Perhaps, though, we are not aware by just how much it might change. Continue reading
Designing a learning environment is not about creating the perfect school building. It is about creating a habitable environment.
Probably not how this piece of furniture was meant to be used
It is easy to believe that it should be possible to design and construct the perfect school building that does not need changing that sits there blissfully letting people inside it get on with their lives. In truth, this is far from how it works. People sometimes use their buildings in unexpected ways. It is the interaction between people and buildings that make them work, and education buildings are good examples Continue reading
