After two years in which the health crisis and the restrictions caused the main concern of the schools to be to implement telematic services and digitize themselves, now they are almost fully recovering face-to-face classes.
And with this return to normality, the debate on the importance of the teaching space and its relationship with pedagogy
is once again on the table
.
Can they influence the distribution of classroom furniture in the training of students?
Does architecture also have an educational value?
It is not a new controversy.
Loris Malaguzzi , Italian teacher and founder of the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy, was the first to
coin the term "the third teacher" in reference to the educational space in the
mid-20th century
, the first two being adults (teachers and family).
More and more proposals arise in order to reform educational spaces and one of the best known is
Future Classroom Lab
, created by European Schoolnet (network of 34 European Ministries of Education based in Brussels)
.
In 2017 they launched a guide to help managers and teachers rethink current layouts and how small changes in classrooms and other school spaces can have a significant impact on teaching.
This has been one of the sources of inspiration for
Colegio Nuestra Señora del Pilar
.
Rafa Galán, an architect by training, teacher and pedagogical coordinator
of the center firmly believes that "
space also educates
".
That is why since his arrival in office seven years ago they have begun to make a series of very significant changes.
«The space and the environment are very valuable tools for learning.
And that philosophy is what we have in our school.
One of the most striking is the transformation of the central patio, which was totally wasted, into an
agora
.
«This space serves us at a pedagogical level, for example, to bring together several classes of the same level.
It is, so to speak, like our assembly hall
, but it is located in an open space”, explains Galán.
It's not the only change.
The so-called techno-
creativity classroom of
the school has glass walls so that you can write in chalk, mobile tables that are also blackboards and can be placed vertically, high and low chairs to find different groupings, a chroma key, mobile panels... “One of the main purposes of all these elements that we have introduced is to
spread the idea of sharing ideas between students, even between those who are from different classes
.
Sometimes we make teachers with different backgrounds coincide in this classroom, seeking to favor the appearance of those hybrid profiles that are so much in demand today».
TRANSPARENCY
As for the
normal classrooms
, they have all had their walls replaced
by glass panels
.
The same thing happens with the
new library, installed in the old school church
.
The objective, as Galán points out, is to ensure that what "happens in educational spaces transcends beyond them."
In short,
architecture is used as a means to send a message of transparency
that, while allowing us to observe day-to-day school life, can have educational value.
"If a three-year-old sees the Primary students reading, encouraging reading among the little ones is much easier."
The
Colegio San Fernando de Asturias
has undertaken similar reforms in its facilities.
It also has a common amphitheater, a well-equipped technology classroom, and encourages communication between different classes at the same elementary level with sliding doors that connect them.
To this we must add that they have several
learning spaces outside the classroom such as reading corners or work tables in the corridors.
Another of the schools of reference in the use of space to apply new active and emerging methodologies is
La Dehesa de Humanes, in Madrid
.
Here they have also opted to replace the partitions with windows and to create common spaces in which work between different groups is encouraged.
To this we must add that they have versatile and flexible furniture that allows rapid redistribution according to needs.
“
We have to be aware that classrooms are no longer the only learning spaces
and that corridors, common spaces and outdoor areas, among others, can be used to apply the educational tools we currently have”, explains
Óscar Abellón, general director of the center.
Taking into account that these new methodologies need new spaces, the
La Salle Maravillas school
, also in Madrid, has faced its remodeling in the spaces based on
three principles: better lighting, better ventilation and soundproofing.
As the
pedagogical coordinator of Infant and Primary, Koldo Ramírez
, tells us, they began to make these changes six years ago, taking advantage of the fact that the building also needed a structural reform.
“In addition to light, we discovered that air quality influences the attention of the students.
We believed that acoustic insulation was going to be essential to prevent class dynamics, which are more active now, from being a nuisance to other groups and avoid distractions».
Taking these three elements into account, at La Salle they have divided the spaces according to their usefulness:
the standard classrooms, used for more theoretical classes or group work, and the workshop classrooms, reserved for creative or practical activities
.
All, yes, with mobile furniture that allows the space to be adapted to what is required at all times.
“We have verified that these new spaces have been of great help for those students who had more difficulties keeping up with the pace of the class,” adds Ramírez.
More and more schools are taking into account space and the distribution of elements when designing their educational strategy.
But as Ramírez points out,
there is a risk of letting oneself be carried away by fashion and undertaking these reforms without having first studied what is intended to be achieved with them
.
«Some centers that I know have made these changes without having taken into account the teaching team and for the teachers it has become a nuisance.
In these cases, it is counterproductive
», concludes Ramírez.
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