The Language of School Design: Design Patterns for 21st Century Schools by Prakash Nair and Randall Fielding

Find details here.

"The old standard building block of a school was the classroom unit. A new standard has emerged.. the Small Learning Community (SLC)."

"A home-base function for between 80 and 150 students. Capping the number at 150 allows for every person in the SLC to know everyone else. Over 150 and a sense of isolation and anonymity increases exponentially."

"Students are not restricted in their use of the space and teachers are happy to let this occur thanks to design that maximizes opportunities for passive supervision."

"This is a significant contract to the message of most classroom spaces being the teacher's domain. 'Wait until the teacher enters the room and tells you what to do before you do anything. You are not capable of directing your own learning."

"The traditional classroom model calls for one teacher to manage 25 students in a tightly controlled territory; the teacher is the undisputed rule, burdened with the task of constant supervision. In contrast, the Small Learning Community model calls for four to five teachers to work collaboratively, sharing a suite of spaces of varying sizes and characteristics with permeable boundaries and strong outdoor connections whenever possible; students have access to each other and environmental resources."

"In discussion of Small Learning Communities the operative word is small. The idea, always, is to create small groupings where everyone knows everyone else."

"The key is that learning studios within a Small Learning Community are not owned by any particular teachers, as is the norm with classrooms, in traditional school design. Rather the idea is for the team of teachers to own the entire SLC and democratically decide who gets to use which space when."

"Multiple Modalities of Learning:

1. Independent Study
2. Peer Tutoring
3. Team Collaboration
4. One-on-one Learning
5. Lecture Format / teacher-directed
6. Project-based Learning
7. Technology with Mobile Computers
8. Distance Learning
9. Internet-based Research
10. Student Presentation
11. Performance-based Learning
12. Seminar-style Instruction
13. Interdisciplinary Learning
14. Naturalist Learning
15. Social / Emotional / Spiritual Learning
16. Art-based Learning
17. Storytelling
18. Design-based Learning
19. Team Teaching / Learning
20. Play-based Learning"

"flexibility / adaptability / variety"

"Of those rare occasions where students are given an opportunity to comment on the quality of their learning environment, one answer always seems to make the cut - MORE SOFT SEATING."

When designing soft furniture spaces:
1) "Moveable seating allows learners to modify their environment."
2) "Electrical power, wired and wireless connections turn soft seating ares into high powered work spaces."
3) Vistas to the city or nature (windows) foster broad-based rather than narrowly referenced thinking."

"Dr. David Thornburg's Primordial Learning Metaphors includes campfires, watering holes, caves and life."

"Campfires are a way to learn from experts or storytellers; Watering Holes help you learn from your peers, Caves are places to learn from yourself and Life is where you bring it all together by applying what you learn to the real world."

"informal campfire spaces can mean space for a group to sit in a circle"

"Watering holes space is able to provide for small group work and socializing. It is important not to label it as a social space since this perpetuates the idea that learning only happens under tutelage and does not embrace the concept of lifelong learning."

"The concept of Watering Holes in schools is alien to the traditional control model of education. Most traditional schools actually discourage social interaction in school as a distraction out of fear that when students socialize they threaten adult goal of discipline and compliance with adult rules."

"Cave Spaces - Places for individual study, reflection, quiet reading and creative flow... inviting but supervisable spaces where students can take a deep breath, albeit momentarily, from their hectic lives.... not all cave spaces need to be quiet ex: benches near a playfield..."

"Why cave space? in solitude students assimilate, synthesize and internalize learning so that it becomes knowledge and (sometimes) wisdom.

"dispersed technology vs computer labs"

"a 21st century approach to technology involves creating policies that emphasize the possibilities and opportunities for learning that new technologies provide" --VS-- "locking down, creating policies that treat technology as static, rather than a dynamic part of the learning equation."

"Da Vinci Studio - adapts from science lab to and art studio in minutes"

"Research lab at Graiger Center for Imagination and Inquiry at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Illinois:
Inquiry Wall
Conservation Coves
Flexible Furniture Layout (tables and chairs moveable)
Soft Seating - think tank area for debate and deliberation (areas usually overlooked in typical science labs)"

"student lockers should be 12-15" wide and 18" deep... avoid use of metal"

"small banks of open cubbies augmented with coat hooks, and smaller lockables can provide secure storage for valuable"

"standing-height or seated-height desktop computer stations for immediate access to a powered up computer for quick tasks such as checking email or uploading a photo to a class blog"

"Howard Gardner's 8 Multiple Intelligences:

1. Linguistic - Word Smart
2. Logical - Numbers Smart
3. Musical - Sounds Smart
4. Kinesthetic - Body/Sports Smart
5. Spatial - Picture/3D Smart
6. Naturalist - Nature Smart
7. Interpersonal - Social Smart
8. Intrapersonal - Self Smart"

"Traditional Classroom (1/2)
Learning Studio (1/2/3/5/6/7)
Cave Space (1/2/8)?



"spaces to nurture interpersonal intelligence"

"Of all the elements that make up a high performance school, none has greater impact on the quality of learning than daylight."

"Research demonstrates that small is defined as 150 students or less. A recent study by Albuquerque Public Schools demonstrates conclusively that the positive effects of 120 student academies are completely lost when the academies grow to 180."

"One way to leverage the positive effects of small learning communities is to break down the scale of the environment into smaller buildings or clusters of spaces. The entry of each can be individualized, reinforcing its unique identity.."

"myth - neutral colors are best ... research shows that learning benefits from a stimulus rich environment..."

"myth- performance spaces should not have any windows ... a better term for a black box might be a white box - a kind of Tubla Rasa - a blank canvas for students to design, rather than have the structure of the theater itself dictate the creative approach."

"ecology... is a web of interrelated relationships."

"David Engwicht refers to most urban design as being fundamentalist. By this he means that we view each part of our urban landscape as being useful for one particular function. With that mindset we might say that homes are for living, workplaces are for working, schools are for learning, shops are for buying and roads are for transport. We can see that the definitions of these things - learning, living, buying, working, transport- are often interpreted narrowly as well, with the attitudes that streets are for cars and schools are for classes. A good rule of thumb for creating community-friendly spaces is to use human beings, not cars or classes, as the primary unit of design."

"A school designed as a series of classrooms reduces opportunities for student-directed learning because it is difficult to passively supervise."

"human scaled entrance and entrance that blends with most major parts of surrounding community (ie shops)"

"homelike bathrooms" ---
"Our children spend most of their days for many years of their lives in school buildings. They should be nurturing, caring places where students are encouraged to develop socially, emotionally, and academically. But none of this would be possible unless the simple, natural routine of going to the bathroom becomes no more stressful or complicated than it is at home."

"to combat bullying and gathering in bathrooms... bathrooms must be small and distributed throughout the school"

"passive supervision"

"The simplest materials are often the most useful learning tools because their use isn't prescribed or implied."

"A principal with foresight called for his library to be housed in the school's main entrance - a space which doubled as the cafeteria and thoroughfare. 'But you can't!' cried the librarian/ 'All the books will be stolen!' The principal replied, 'I will measure the success of this library according to the number of books that go missing. I want our students to value books!'

"There are two key components to effective management of learning resources. One is that the resources themselves are relevant and useful, and the other is that they are accessible."

teacher / staff workspace--- "multiple personal storage options (locked, shelving, rolling, etc), ability to make private phone calls, conference table and white board for teacher collaboration, (outdoor) views and vistas...a space dedicated to assessment and recordkeeping shared by all teachers...."



"Good libraries have always been places where personalized learning has taken place."

"The hidden curriculum of traditional school architecture ... sends messages such as "you are not responsible for your own learning" ... Good libraries on the other hand ... the message is "Here are some of the tools for you to learn with. You are a trusted learner. Go for it!"

"A good library makes interacting with texts of all kinds irresistible. It's comfortable and peaceful. Particularly for children, it is rare to be in a space in which the rules and expectations are not controlled by others.... use of the space is up to the user...
kids generally don't just walk in, sit down and wait to be directed or spoon-fed by the 'owner' of the space."

"The current revolution in school learning spaces is long overdue, but it will be many years before all students are touched by a humanizing curriculum, supported by humanizing spaces. In the meantime, libraries will be the place where students can engage in their own projects, explore topics and texts at their own pace, according to their own interests, on their own whims."

"One of the greatest things about facebook, youtube and myspace is their focus on sharing..."

(on hallways designed as "learning streets"): "It has been a sad commentary that any space that does not look like a classroom has been seen as having no educational value."

"Social Artery: A good Learning Street is primarily a social artery of the school. It is a place for informal meetings, spontaneous conversation, unhurried movement."

"Nooks & Crannies: A learning Street must have stuff happening on either side to make it worth stopping along the way. Nooks and Crannies can be simple niches for seating or they can be actual activities along the way like a small cafe... school store, media center, broadcast studio, art room, sculpture exhibit, technology corners, reading nooks with window seats and so on. A quintessential Learning Street is the suburban shopping mall. Though it serves to link anchor stores at either end, it does not hurry the patrons from one end to the other but gives them ample opportunities to mender along the way.

"Ample Daylight: Ideally, the Learning Street should have outside visibility but if this is not possible, daylight should be introduced via clear-story windows or atrium-type glass roofs."

"Spacious: one of the most important aspects of a Learning Street - it needs to be wide enough not to read like a corridor and tall enough not to feel closed in."

"Frequency: Learning Street would probably be used to access the various areas in the school that are shared by the academics like the media center, gymnasium, the central administrative areas, and if the food is served from a central kitchen, the cafeteria."

"Learning is a social process and close interpersonal relations are central to the quality of learning."

"Collaboration and working together in partnerships is a key characteristic of living successfully in the 21st century."


"It's not just a building... Make it a place that celebrates lifelong learning. Make the center flexible to accommodate more or less students... Make it so kids and adults have access to a wide range of learning resources but can still fell like they belong to a small, caring learning community. Make it safe but in a way that doesn't feel prison like. Connect it through technology to the rest of the world and prepare all learners for the new global society they will inherit."