CURRICULUM
Building a Learning Community of the Future By Emily Zeng From its foundation, Shen Wai International School (SWIS) has been committed to building physical environments that support 21st century teaching and learning. Examples of this commitment can be seen in the Early Years and Primary Division break-out spaces, the multifunction nature of the SWIS-Hans Gallery, the flow of the SWIS Library and design rooms that inspire inquiry learning.
applied the principles to their local building projects, and worked with other teams in a “design studio” environment to grapple with questions such as: What are the core objectives and features of our curriculum? How can new visions of learning environments best support the people we serve? What might be the key design patterns and diagrams that would best represent how our goals are realized?
As part of this commitment to build environments that support 21st century learning, SWIS sent members of its leadership team to The Learning Environments for Tomorrow (“LEFT”) program hosted by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, to further explore ways to build spaces that better serve the needs of SWIS programs. SWIS was the only school from the greater China region to attend these sessions.
Using project-based methodology, the LEFT program asked its participants to develop a project proposal that improves a learning environment. The SWIS team put its focus on the improvement plan for a loft space in the SWIS cafeteria. The team’s goal was to turn this space into a multi-functional space suitable for both learning and dinning.
The LEFT Program Participants in the program worked in teams to conduct an in-depth study into what is known as the Five Principles (5P). The 5Ps are People, Program, Principles, Plan, and Prototype. The biggest takeaway from the LEFT program is that “people” is the most important principle. It was clear that listening to, and meeting the needs of, every member in the community is the most important aspect of the design process. Under the guidance of Professor Daniel Wilson, participants dug deeper into the process of linking educational goals to design principles. The teams 22 EARCOS Triannual Journal
Using the Principles as well as the feedback and comments from peers in the group, the team created a design that satisfied a variety of educational needs. The design included furniture on wheels so students and teachers could reconfigure the space to respond to the various learning/dining requirements. The design addressed various seating styles and numbers that the space would cater for. It also called for features such as removable floor-to-ceiling whiteboards to replace traditional brick walls that could create both private spaces and spacious open areas when needed. The SWIS team then presented the design to the larger group for feedback.
