Architecture and Pedagogy
Designing Effective School/Classroom Together, With Pedagogy And Architecture
The classes and the form/shape of the schools are unsuitable for education and do not support children interacting with one another. There are lack of natural lighting, the location of the windows seemed to not be logical, also materials, and color schemes are used in a way that created an obstacle in the development of children’s skills, not as an enhancement. Additionally, didactics, and their connection with nature, also indoor and outdoor spaces are not designed to encourage interaction, autonomy, exploration, curiosity, and communication. The environment takes shape in relation to the learning experiences of children and adults in dialogue with architecture and pedagogy. The constructive intersection between pedagogy and architecture occurs when the different parties “become aware” that other perspectives exist and, by extension, other worlds, and frames from which to observe the same objects.
On pedagogy and didactics, the idea of giving information to the educational space and combining pedagogy and architecture in the design or adaptation of some areas of a school is not new. Maria Montesorri, Peztalozzi, Guiseppina Pizzigoni, Loris Malaguzzi and Rudolf Steiner are just a few example. These great educators worked to give birth to a teaching method that inevitably needed an appropriate space to be properly implemented. Italian educator and psychologist Loris Malaguzzi, the pioneer of the Reggio Emilia Method, which emerged in Italy in the 1940s, defines children's learning processes in terms of their relationships with their environment:
-
In the first step, adults as their parents and teachers,
-
Secondly with their peers,
-
Thirdly, the physical environment surrounding them through their relationships with the environment. For Malaguzzi, the physical environment is a third teacher. This discourse also underlines the importance of the physical environment for the educational environment and its potential in constructing a fair and egalitarian school system. The environment interacts, modifies, and takes shape in relation to the projects and learning experiences, in a constant dialogue between architecture and pedagogy. (Loris Malaguzzi).
Which then brings up the question . . . How does your environment teach?
“In order to act as an educator for the child, the environment has to be flexible: it must undergo frequent modification by the children and the teachers in order to remain up-to-date and responsive to their needs to be protagonists in constructing their knowledge.” Lella Gandini (1998)
Most of the studies on the importance given to educational spaces, depending on the Reggio Emilia approach, focus on the necessity of spaces that are creative, flexible, and provide an environment for discovery and socialization including;Interior-exterior relationship(open-semi open areas,courtyards), Horizontal planning and low-rise buildings and designing piazzas (pedagogical meaning in terms of socializing, meeting areas like the squares in cities.)
Natural light, the use of natural materials, and transparency are important in the context of the principle of integration with nature, which the Reggio Emilia education approach cares about in terms of physical, motor, and cognitive development of children at school. The materials and equipment used for play and learning are made of natural materials, and the students' relationship with nature is strengthened by using plants in the school. We only need to ask ourselves in a building, how we really feel in it? Secure, abandoned, depressed, ignored, miserable, or at home. The design of the environments should motivate pupils to create more productive societies, self-confidence, secure, and curiosity.
In innovative education models, the teacher needs to position her/himself as a guiding figure next to the student, rather than his/her didactic position in front of the student and in front of the blackboard as an authority and disciplinarian figure. In this case, the physical position of the teacher in the classroom should change, and the location of the teacher's desk in front of the blackboard should be questioned. Why? Because the physical environment has the function of directing many behaviors and thoughts, and in this case, it unavoidably protects the hierarchy that is trying to break down. Therefore, design in the physical environment of the classroom affects decision-making, and it affects how the students may help break this traditional hierarchy.(3) Another example in education is the way the classrooms are set up, with parallel rows of desks facing the teacher at the blackboard. Instead of this traditional layout, the teachers should break up that linear space by having students sit in groups or in a ‘circle’.Just by doing this small thing, breaking this order, this can allow the teacher to direct each student to participate equally in the lesson. In summary, if we consider the design of a school holistically, and assign more organic and even spaces without borders and no architectural boundaries, while also not separating the adults from the children, the child will feel like they belong there and this will be reflected in their increased self-confidence, a more positive attitude, and better education.
A school may be seen from many different perspectives. From the point of view of the architect, these include: from small scale to big, from details about furnishings to teaching spaces, from the perspective of the building, from that of the school’s volume to its place in the urban environment and the city, to its relationship with the region, and so on.Then in terms of interpreting the perspective of the administration, teachers, and parents, school can be seen from the big to the small, generally starting from the school’s relationship with its neighborhood, to
the teaching environments, from the classrooms to the furnishings, to the didactics and technical objects that are used by those who work within the school. Research about rethinking spaces and didactics has been perceived as an opportunity to start changing and allowing improvements to the sense of well-being perceived by the teachers and children.
We live in artificial, plastic, grey concrete environments. These conditions create magnetic areas, which affect us negatively and separate us ourselves. For this reason, translucent areas where children can connect with nature and plants should be included in the building. Since the choice of color is an important factor in child and educational psychology, dark colors should be avoided, and soft transitions should be provided between natural tones with vibrant colors that give happiness and energy. Using different color tones in the same area allows both the separation of the space and the possibility of planning by creating a sense of continuity when desired. Many designers are ignoring those factors. Light, sound, sunrise, colors, etc. affect human psychology, and knowing this, we as designers can help improve and facilitate this in our buildings (new and existing retrofits). Children should be ‘linked to nature,’ and as Johan Pestalozzi advocated, the importance of staying in touch with nature is such an important role in our lives. The child recognizes themselves in nature, and we as designers should maximize the amount of green space in each and every project. In the end, we can either create an environment where children can create themselves and form their personalities.
One of the examples of pedagogy and architecture used together can be absorbed in Waldorf architecture. It is important to provide wide openings and allow the sunlight to reach inside the rooms and shaped organic forms. Also, the use of wood creates a warm and cozy atmosphere in the spaces. Angular walls are not included in the building whereas more flexibility dominates because we as human beings are creatures who need to be flexible in every area of our lives, it shouldn’t be architectural boundaries in the areas. Indeed, the state of a society’s public school system can be considered a barometer of a society’s general well‐being: if schools are up to par, and students are learning that which they need to learn, then the community is prospering.“mending the schools” meant healing the society.
All that simple changes, students' attitudes, their participation in the lesson, and stimulating their interests and curiosity active individuals who contribute to the process will make it.