Architetture Scolastiche

Result of the work of the Indire research group on school architecture, the volume “Fare didattica in spazi flessibili. Progettare, organizzare e utilizzare gli ambienti di apprendimento a scuola” (Giunti, 2018) provides interesting insights into the relationship between pedagogy and architecture and at the same time proposes concrete solutions and examples for reorganizing school environments without structural interventions and relying on available resources. The intent is to support the reorganization of learning environments and support an idea of ​​school well-being that recalls modern standards of comfort and habitability. The possibility of developing innovative teaching is closely linked to the definition of new environments that are more centered on the student. In fact, there are now many documents that underline how the environment interacts on the quality of learning processes, from guidelines for school construction to indications for the curriculum, up to cultural orientation documents issued by national and international organizations.

However, it is never explicit how the physical space can concretely contribute to the quality of school life and learning, what the margins of intervention should be, what the tools that can help create an effective place for teachers and students.
To respond to the need, increasingly felt by students, families and teachers, to be able to count on a space that accompanies and reinforces the educational action, the volume offers a useful set of tools to transform the classroom into a expanded and flexible learning environment. A welcoming environment in which it becomes possible to design educational paths that “come out” of the classroom and that exploit the potential offered by all the other places in the school, including unused spaces and those that are only apparently “useless”.
But the study perspective proposed by the volume is also another one, the one that starts directly from the school, through ten Learning Stories told by as many teachers who wanted to consider the physical environment as a strategic element for the quality of school life and learning. . These are examples that have the function of both touching the experience of those who have already started transforming their school spaces and triggering a reflection on possible ways of reorganizing and adapting existing spaces.
The volume was presented during the “Fiera Didacta Italia”, held in Florence on 9-10-11 October 2019. Starting from the narration of their experiences in the direction of a new conception of spaces in the school, the co-authors of the text illustrated some of the contents of the book together with Indire researchers.

Booktrailer

• Learning Story. Esploratori di Luce – Valentina Luchetti, teacher by Primo Circolo Didattico “San Filippo”, Città di Castello (PG)

• Learning Story. Geografia e storia in spazi flessibili disciplinari – Elena Marcato, teacher by IC 9 in Bologna

• Learning Story. Il viaggio di Teddy – Ambra Coccia, teacher by ISC “Solari” in Loreto (AN)

• Learning Story. Esperimenti “fuori classe” – Rodolfo Galati, primary school teacher and author of numerous books on teaching

• Learning Story. Un anno in un giorno – Matteo Bianchini, primary school teacher by Scuola-Città “Pestalozzi” in Florence

• Learning Story. Misurare il mondo a scuola – Silvia Scandura, teacher by IC “Falcone” in Copertino (LE)

• Learning Story. L’officina della curiosità – Margherita Leotta, teacher by IC “Giovanni XIII” in Acireale (CT)

• In viaggio con eTwinning – Francesca Panzica, primary school teacher

• Learning Story: Dibattendo… S’impara – Giulia Monaldi, teacher by IC “Solari” in Loreto (AN)

• Learning Story. Scienziati itineranti – Silvia Coppedè, teacher by IC “Mariti” in Fauglia (LI)

• Leonardo Tosi, Indire researcher and one of the editors of the book, interviewed by RaiScuola

Editorial staff

Why change learning spaces? Interventions of this nature are often complex and require resources and the ability to rethink methods and models which have been consolidated over time.

The transition from the school of the industrial society to the school of the knowledge society today requires diversified use scenarios, tools and methods.

The fluidity of the communication processes triggered by the ICTs clashes with physical environments which are no longer able to respond to constantly evolving educational contexts, and imposes a gradual rethinking of the spaces and places in order to provide flexible, multifunctional, modular and easily configurable solutions based on the activity to be carried out, as well as being able to satisfy different contexts. Spaces thus conceived favour the student’s active involvement and exploration, their cooperative ties and their “well-being at school”.

In addition to educational effects, Indire’s research in this area has focused on the learning environment in different but complementary ways: the aspect of well-being and the quality of life of students and the care for the aesthetic sense. Comfortable, colourful and welcoming places help make school pleasant and help make a sterile space one that can be lived in.

The analysis and in-depth study carried out in recent years by the institute has led to the proposal of the Indire 1+4 model for educational spaces in the new millennium.

“1” the group space, the group-class multifunctional learning environment, the evolution of the traditional classroom that opens onto the school and the world. An environment with flexible spaces which are in continuity with the other school environments.

“4” the school spaces which are complementary, and no longer subordinate, to the daily teaching environments. They are the Agora, the informal space, the individual area and the exploration area.

The model has become a manifesto for the new generation of educational spaces and was presented at the international conference “Environments for education. Educating Environments”, organised by the University of Kassel in Germany (http://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/). It is based on multiple levels of analysis (Brofenbrenner, 1989) and proposes a vision that differs from the idea of a school as the sum of its classrooms (Airoldi, 1978) and extends, beyond the didactic dimension, to the social context and the ability of an environment to affect the quality of social relationships (Leemans and von Ahlefeld, 2013, Lefebvre, 1991).

The research group’s work developed along differentiated and synergistic lines: the analysis of cases of excellence at the European level, the analysis of educational policies aimed at promoting innovative educational spaces, the study of technical regulations for building schools, the observation and enhancement of the ways of rethinking spaces promoted by cutting-edge schools at the national level, cooperation and reflection within research contexts and international organisations.

The research method included a literature survey and a comparative analysis of the most significant international legislation, observation visits with the application of qualitative and quantitative tools, semi-structured interviews and the development of case studies.

The editorial staff