A practical theory of the relationship between teaching, learning, and the learning environment.
The work of Dutchman Teun van Wijk (ICSadviseurs) is always about the relationship between people and their environment. Without people, it is not possible to determine the value of a building to a learning organization. In the interplay of “Matching, Stretching and Celebrating,” teaching, learning and the learning environment come together.
The human scale is the starting point, with the child at the center. If an environment is good for children, it is also good for adults.
A room is much more than just square meters. The Dutch architecture professor Aldo van Eyck stated in the 1970s: Space is the experience of it! But what makes a good spatial experience?
“To experience this for yourself, I would like to invite you to take a seat under this tree. Relax, you do not have to do anything. Here you will find peace to think, to reflect on what you have experienced. And if you want, you can share it with your two traveling companions on this bench. Then go to the edge and enjoy the panorama. There is so much to do! Hiking, swimming, boating, visiting castles – there is much to discover.
Do you feel like walking on or sitting under the tree for a while? Everything is possible, there is a vacation atmosphere. Everything seems to be connected. A good spatial experience comes from an open relationship between staying (under the tree, I want to stay there) and traveling (through the landscape, I want to keep going).”
A rich, interesting (teaching and learning) environment consists of contrasts. It is always “and-and” with contrasts and never “either-or”.
- Stay AND travel
- Comfort AND adventure
- known AND unknown
- focus AND discover
- quiet AND dynamic
- small AND large
- determinate AND indeterminate
- little AND much
- closed AND open
- Square AND landscape
- hot AND cold
- physical AND virtual
- …
That’s space, but that also has to do with teaching and learning. As they say, there is room for learning at the intersection of the known and the unknown!
The learning space where this happens can be small or large. A classroom, a team area, a school building, an entire campus, a city.
Example 1: Stenden University Leeuwarden (2001)
Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s image of a tree in a landscape was the model for the spatial concept of the Leeuwarden University of Applied Sciences.
The campus consisted of several separate buildings. In the plan, these are connected by a boulevard. A new heart has been created, consisting of a learning landscape surrounded by all services for students and teachers.
Basic principles were: Student-focused, Encounter, Teamwork, Many Connections, Few Limitations, Service-oriented, Welcoming Culture, International, Flexible, Stimulating Innovation, More Learning by Doing. The basic principles were very modern at the time, but have since become commonplace.
The point was to create learning environments throughout higher education that fostered collaboration and encounter. Each location feels like its own tree, overlooking all services for students and teachers. These services for students and teachers include the central entrance, a reception desk, a restaurant, a media center, and a front office for administration. There is a lot going on, there is a lot of dynamism, and yet you can still work well there.
It creates a strong sense of belonging at the heart of the university.
The combination of fixed tables and round mobile tables allows flexible use.
Example 2: International School Oman (2016)
The International Primary Curriculum was developed for Dutch schools abroad and then further developed for international schools in general. Around the world, 1,500 schools use IPC, 400 of which are in the Netherlands.
From 2012 to 2016, I worked in Oman on the planning of an international IPC school, from urban planning and design to interior design.
The school’s mission statement immediately appealed to me: “To foster a Passion for Learning by providing all the children in our care with a nurturing yet challenging environment in which they strive to reach their full potential”. In the words “nurturing yet challenging environment” I recognized my idea of spatiality: the tree in the landscape.
In developing this vision, Prof. Dr. Spencer Kagan’s ideas on cooperative learning strategies play an important role, with the central concept of “Matching, Stretching and Celebrating.” “Matching” is primarily about matching students’ talents and learning styles. “Stretching” means expanding by learning from each other precisely because you are different, and using those differences. “Celebrating” is about the joy of learning together, sharing knowledge and presenting results. The joy of learning ensures that people learn throughout their lives, value each other, and form a learning community. The school’s motto is therefore: “Passion for Learning”.
“Matching, Stretching, Celebrating” describe not only a learning strategy, but also a positive spatial experience in a contrasting environment, such as the tree in the landscape. “Matching” also means feeling at home. “Stretching” the desire to discover. “Celebrating”: the spatial connection, the feeling of being part of a spatial system that contains places where people meet. And also: togetherness, feeling part of the whole school.
I have worked out this idea for the school on different levels. Within a classroom, there may be 8 corners for children with different interests. That there is space everywhere to hang materials, for example. Learning environments that students can design and influence themselves. On a larger scale, a school is made up of learning families with cohesive groups of educational spaces and places where they are shared. At a higher scale, the school is a learning village with facilities used by the entire neighborhood.
Brainfriendly Learning
The interplay between “Matching, Stretching, Celebrating” is also the answer to the question of whether everything in a school should always be transparent or closed. I think a good balance is important. With special attention to the sensitivity of the brain. In my opinion, an important trend for learning environments is brain-based learning, as described by neuropsychologist Prof. Erik Scherder, among others. Moving and singing together is not only fun, but also has a positive impact on the brain, physical health and learning. However, this requires environments and buildings that make it possible. An environment that is too open can be unintentionally restrictive.
Above: Example Ignatiuss Gymnasium (Van Stigt Architect)
This school transformed two classrooms into a common learning space and a space for teachers. The walls of the classrooms can be opened in half. In this way, the decision for more openness or more quietness can always be tailored to the needs of the students.
Sustainable and resistant
The climate crisis requires behavior change: “If you want to change the world, start at school.” The school environment offers numerous opportunities. Not only to make the energy transition visible, but also by learning more about nature, by redesigning the outside, for example with school gardens, and by greening the inside of the building.
For me, the question of future trends means above all the question of how to respond to change. Wanting to be a learning organization, as part of a larger learning community, learning more from experience and then being able to apply it quickly, providing space to try things out.
Finding ways to do this together, hence my commitment to developing the PrismaTisch method.
Spatially and functionally, different places need to be created where organizations can come together and innovate by learning from each other. Such as the innovation workshops and the Technasium (see …).
All of this requires environments and buildings that are resilient: resistant, resilient, healthy, and able to respond flexibly to change. This has implications for the building stock as a whole, but also for the building as a healthy organism.