The design of school buildings in the crucible of new teaching methods: Icelandic primary and lower secondary school buildings in the early 21st century.

Abstract

The design of school buildings in the crucible of new teaching
methods: Icelandic primary and lower secondary school buildings
in the early 21st century.

This research project took a close look at
Icelandic school buildings at the primary
and lower secondary level (ages 6 to 15).
The aim of this study was to identify features
of change in new school buildings,
reflecting new challenges involving architecture,
educational ideology, school policy
and digital technology. Environmental
and architectonic features characterizing
recently designed school buildings and
their surrounding area were examined in
light of emerging issues and challenges
facing 21st century schools. Five school
buildings developed and built in this century
were presented and discussed with
regard to general classroom layout, public
spaces and community halls, facilities for
arts and crafts, school libraries or information
centres, application of information
technology, teacher work stations,
outdoor teaching, communal ties and the
design process at preparatory stages. The
buildings represented the most recently
designed and constructed schools from a
sample of twenty school sites explored and
reviewed by a multidisciplinary group of
researchers. The group included two faculty
members at the University of Iceland,
two school principals and an architect.
Data was collected by observations and
photography at each location, interviews
with selected members of staff and the student
body, review of technical documents,
drawings and writings. The result indicated
a clear shift in the design of educational
buildings. Flexibility, flow, openness, social
dynamics and teamwork seem to have
guided recent school design. Clusters of
classrooms or open spaces, transparent
or movable boundaries, as well as public
spaces allowing for manifold interactions
in flexible groups seem to have replaced
traditional classrooms along confining corridors.
The participation of many different
stakeholders in the preparatory design
process was also noted. When our results
are viewed in light of seven design themes
for schools in the 21st century, outlined
by OECD and DfES (2006), congruence
is obvious for most of the themes. Recent
school buildings in Iceland also seem to reflect
a development similar to other countries
and resonate with some of the most
innovative school buildings in the world
(Walden, 2009). It should be noted, however,
that clusters of classrooms and open
learning spaces are not new arrangements,
as they have been tried in many school
buildings throughout the past century in
different countries. Such initiatives have
often been met with skepticism and have
not necessarily led to any radical changes
regarding teaching and learning. This is
also the case in the Icelandic context. New
knowledge and insights into education
and reform, however, as well as technological
advances, seem to have paved the
way for such initiatives of late and made
them more likely to bring about profound
change (Törnquist, 2005). This study on
school buildings and physical learning
environments has provided an overview
of contemporary design evolving towards
future needs. It remains to be seen how
sustainable the changes apparent in recent
design of new school buildings at the primary
and lower secondary level will be
over time.