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You
are here: Less Is More:
Learning Environments for the Next Century
As we approach the turn of a new century, a broad array of related circumstances will pave the way for a new approach to the design of environments for learning. Already emerging is a more coherent definition about what a learning environment actually is. During most of the nineteenth century, educators have defined the learning environment through curriculum and instruction while architects and planners have been largely concerned with rooms and spaces. As research on the human brain continues to develop, it is becoming clear that the learning environment is a rich combination of events that trigger multiple intelligences attuned to an abundant variety of emotional, intellectual, visual and spatial stimuli. Through a combination of talents and resources, the propitiation of all aspects of the learning environment for the next century must become a shared responsibility for all concerned.
There are other imperatives for exploring the development of more expansive environments for learning. One of the most compelling is that we can no longer afford to build and maintain the stand alone physical infrastructure that has characterized factory model schools of the twentieth century. As economic and ecological sustainability become more and more essential for community growth and development, we will soon look back on the last hundred years wondering how we could have been so wasteful. In retrospect, we will see that we have built and rebuilt billions of dollars worth of limited purpose school buildings. Most of these stand alone schools were built to last for an average of forty years. Over the past hundred years, we have built and rebuilt them two and a half times, or at least everyone thought we were. In 1996, the U.S. General Accounting Office declared that we were $112 billion behind in deferred maintenance.
The result is a vast collection of school buildings that are unfit for learning even at teacher centered classroom standards for curriculum and instruction. We are now in our third forty year cycle of school building turn of a new century, a broad obsolescence where we are beginning the process of renovating or replacing nearly eighty years of existing infrastructure. This includes not only the past forty years of now obsolete buildings, but a good portion of those constructed in the first forty year cycle that were renovated in the second cycle (or in many cases never renovated at all) and are now due to be renovated all over again. On top of that, we are also building new facilities to accommodate increases in enrollment due to the Eco-Boom.
All of this at a time when, despite economic prosperity, taxpayers have expressed a national aversion to supporting capital projects. But what if we were successful? Imagine the legacy that we would leave for our children. In thirty years they will face yet another cycle of obsolescence, where a full 120 years of school building infrastructure will have to be renovated or replaced all over again. And by then there will be other pipers to pay. One of them will be the daunting cost of social security. In the 1950's when most baby boomers were born, there were 16 workers paying into the system for every social security recipient. At present there are only three workers for every retiree. By the year 2030, the year that the last of the baby boomers will retire and the year when the current trust fund is projected to be depleted, the ratio will be only two to one. And on top of that comes Medicare.
The need for frugality has never been more essential to the social and economic survival of future generations. But these necessities can also be seen as a stimulus for innovation. The are signs that warn us about our wasteful ways. They remind us that some of the most productive and compelling environments are not those that stand alone, but those that are integrated, energizing, cooperative and efficient.
Museum mentors in Michigan
In Dearborn, Michigan, a partnership of the Ford Motor Company, the Henry Ford Museum and the Wayne County Regional Service Agency has produced a charter high school for one third the cost of a stand alone school. Located in the Henry Ford Museum, this innovative 9-12 public educational institution provides students with access to one million artifacts of manufacturing arts and sciences and built-in mentorships with some of the most experienced museum curators in the country. Unique in its physical structure, the Henry Ford Academy furnishes students with a tangible hands-on learning environment. The main museum building, which encompasses over 12 acres of exhibit space, houses the ninth grade class. Just outside the main museum building's walls is Greenfield Village, a collection of nearly 100 historic buildings purchased, dismantled and reconstructed in Dearborn by Henry Ford. Included in the collection is the Menlo Park Laboratory, where Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, the Wright Brother's bicycle shop, Noah Webster's house, Washington Irving's birthplace, and a host of other compelling monuments to math, science, language arts and social studies.
The Henry Ford Academy is a premiere model of synergy resulting in economy and sustainability. It is an example of a project coming to life because of everyone having a stake in it. The Henry Ford Motor Company knows that the success of the future global workforce will require innovation and ingenuity. As for the museum, it was Henry Ford's dream that the artifacts he collected would be used to provide the backbone of a broad based education in both the academic and practical disciplines. When he created the museum in 1920 in honor of his mentor, Thomas Edison, Ford felt that part of the museum's mission would always be to house a public school within its walls. The Wayne County school district is interested in exploring new models of learning and recognizes the important benefits of working with the corporate community, where most of its students will eventually apply the lessons of their educational labors. By working collaboratively, the project will produce a compelling and exemplary learning environment at a cost savings to Illinois taxpayers of over four million dollars for facilities alone.
Fitness and farming in California
Another example of innovative partnering is underway at the Lincoln High West Campus located in Stockton, California. Here, students were sent out on treasure hunts to find out what they could learn from the community. One group went to a shopping center and found a fitness center. The fitness center had trainers who teach about nutrition, cardiovascular activity and exercise equipment. The environment was personalized and not like a classroom. The students recognized the value of the comprehensive attention that personal trainers give to their clients, so they invited the fitness center operator to come to planning meetings for the design of their new school.
After the third meeting, the fitness operator proposed that if the school district would provide the land, he could build a fitness facility on the new high school at no cost to taxpayers. Because the primary hours for the fitness center's operation are before work from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and after work from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., he reasoned that students could use the facility during school hours. Working with their own physical education teachers, as well as the fitness center trainers, students will get the personal attention they were looking for at a net savings in cost to district taxpayers of two million dollars.
Student's input into the planning process for their new school also led to other innovations. Through careful study and consideration, students suggested that the most powerful learning environment they could imagine would be a farm. As the design evolved, it became apparent that a rustic setting, peaceful and bucolic, would best serve their educational needs. When this happened, it was offered that many businesses often conduct employee retreats, and, as a result, frequently need facilities to have their meetings. The plans for the educational facility already included an extensive computer and technology center consisting of meeting rooms, computer labs, teleconferencing (distance learning) capabilities, an auditorium and large group meeting rooms. The opportunity presented itself for the cost of these facilities to be amortized through income generated by the business conference concept.
At this point, a search party was formed to travel to Asilomar, a business retreat facility in the nearby Monterey Bay area. The search party of students, educators, administrators and architects met with the manager and key personnel to learn more about conference centers. Shortly after that, the design team retained a marketing consultant to determine whether or not business leaders would use the facility in Stockton if it was built. The marketing consultant confirmed that such a project could be economically viable, and if implemented would provide a joint use facility with a net savings to taxpayers of over 4 million dollars.
After hearing about the plans for the Lincoln West High Campus, the Western Placer Unified School District, located just two hours north of Stockton, California, decided to use the same participatory design model to create a district wide facilities Master Plan. Similar synergies evolved that resulted in potential monetary savings over eleven million dollars for the district and proliferated educational opportunities for the area.
One combined action of monetary savings and increased educational opportunities came from a real estate developer who realized through meetings with teachers, educators and leaders, the natural environment could be used a powerful learning tool. The developer then donated 300 acres of prime real estate that includes a native American archaeological site to the district. The same developer also donated two thousand mandarin orange trees which will be planted on the site. At the end of seven years, the mandarin grove will provide annual revenues of over $400,000 per year for the district. The agricultural project will be managed through an innovative environmental studies curriculum from which students will receive academic and ecological training in nontraditional surroundings.
Innovative architecture is dotting the country amid a new wave of public school renovation and construction. Although schools have been resistant to imaginative design, a hopeful core of educators and architects recognize the opportunity for change. In growing numbers, they are designing schools which reflect current research about the way students learn best. This research holds that the factory model, where students sit passively while teachers lecture, is obsolete. The studio model where kids work both independently and roam in small groups actively solving problems is gaining favor. One result is that the boundaries of classrooms are also expanding.
The Zoo School
The Zoo School located outside of Minneapolis is situated within the boundaries of the 500-acre Minnesota Zoo. The optional, two year public high school just began its third year of operation. The 400 high school juniors and seniors who attend all pursue independent research projects which take them into the zoo. The zoo donated the land for the school to use and uses the two story building during the summer for its own educational programs. Zoo scientists at the school also teach a course in marine biology at the school. Admission is competitive, but instead of grades and test scores, applicants are judged specifically on essays explaining why they want to attend. The Zoo school has much to offer. Its smallness is a big draw for students since it is divided into "houses" of 100 students each. Computer equipped cubicles or "pods" are each shared by 10 students and hug the perimeter of each house. This environment replaces conventional home rooms and helps to foster collaboration.
Curriculum for each house is created by a theme of three full-time teachers and one part-time teacher drawing on a variety of sources besides textbooks. Lessons in social studies, English and environmental science are woven into a single unifying theme or question. Teachers find this type of curriculum liberating.
The school has yet to have a fist fight. Test scores and college placements are comparable to other high schools in the district. Students who don't excel in traditional settings often perform well at the Zoo school since they can structure their classes in a way that excites them.
The cultural and social heart of a new community
Another innovative project is also underway in the Deer Valley Unified School District in Phoenix, Arizona. Here the opportunity for creative use of space is occurring through a partnership with Del Webb, a national developer of retirement communities. On a site encompassing over nine square miles of real estate a new community is emerging that will include four elementary, one middle and one high school. In addition to providing for education, the schools will be cultural and social meccas for the community. In this scenario, the opportunity exists to build schools in association with the development's community centers. Through this unique venture, the community center meeting rooms, food prep and recreational facilities as well as other amenities will serve a dual function. The retirement center and school will mutually benefit from having more elaborate facilities. The wealth of residents' experience in nurturing and mentoring in areas ranging from individual subject tutoring to increased self-esteem will also benefit everyone concerned.
The learning environment of the future
Developing the more efficient and effective learning environments that will be required for the next century will require some changes. The tools required to design the learning environments of the future will be different from the ones we have used in the past. One of the most important of these tools will be a more systemic and participatory design process. Whereas the nineteenth century has been characterized as an age of specialization (there are now over thirty-five kinds of medical doctors), the new century will be an age of widespread integration. In order for this integration to occur, folks will need to be able to speak each other's languages. The necessity to know more about other disciplines will inspire a frenzy of extended learning for all who dare to embrace the challenge. The result will be new and extraordinary lines of communication between educators, psychologists, architects, urban planners, software designers, students, parents, representatives from community businesses and not-for-profit organizations. The product will be a new kind of learning environment that spans a spectrum of learning stimuli as rich and varied as the lifelong learners who will create and use them.
Steven Bingler is President of Concordia. The design and planning firm is based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Concordia has established a research alliance with Anne Taylor Associates, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The research focuses on the integration of educational content with educational facilities and the documentation of this information through an interactive database. Concordia also has an alliance with Howard Gardner and Project Zero at Harvard University to provide an ongoing exploration in the relationship between educational innovation and architectural design. He can be reached by e-mail at: sbingler@concordia.com.
© 1998 Steven Bingler, Concordia
For information about distributing this article, please contact:
sbingler@concordia.comPosted with permission by New Horizons for Learning
URL:http://www.newhorizons.org/
E-mail:info@newhorizons.org