Abstract
Contemporary learning environment designs bring to life schools featuring loose fitting, flexible layouts that upset the stable certainty of the four-walled classroom. This article presents the argument that adopting a theoretical approach to researching the role of spatiality and space in relation to innovative building design in education will enable insights otherwise not possible, and, in the process, enhance the available store of knowledge and understanding. A review of a sample of published research that considers innovative learning environment design suggests that robust theoretical approaches are eschewed in favour of instrumental research often concerned with the role played by building fabric or with psychosocial responses to the surrounding learning environment. To adopt an alternative, theoretical perspective that privileges the concept of ‘space’ in education, it is first important to understand developments in spatiality. Exemplifying one such theoretical approach to questions of spatiality in education, Lefebvre’s spatial theory is applied to the recent development of FLS and ILE in New Zealand, though several optional theoretical approaches to spatiality are suggested as open to education researchers.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
In keeping with my research interventions to date, the built environment where teachers and students work is referred to as ‘Flexible Learning Space/s’ (FLS), and ‘Innovative Learning Environment’ (ILE) is used to denote a whole school that is built in flexible, non-traditional style.
References
Alansari, M., & Rubie-Davies, C. (2020). What about the tertiary climate? Reflecting on five decades of class climate research. Learning Environments Research, 23(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-019-09288-9.
Baydar, G., Komesli, M., Yılmaz, A., & Kılınç, K. (2018). Digitizing Lefebvre’s spatial triad. Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, 33(1), 6–20. https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqw061.
Benade, L. (2017a). Being a teacher in the 21st Century: A critical New Zealand study. Singapore: Springer Nature.
Benade, L. (2017b). Is the classroom obsolete in the twenty-first century? Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(8), 796–807. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2016.1269631.
Benade, L. (2019a). Innovative educational facilities’ design: Why it matters to education and educators. In M. A. Peters (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Teacher Education. Singapore: Springer.
Benade, L. (2019b). Pedagogy in flexible learning spaces. In M. Hill & M. Thrupp (Eds.), The professional practice of teaching in New Zealand (6th ed., pp. 213–235). Melbourne: Cengage.
Benade, L., Bertelsen, E., & Lewis, L. (2018). Reimagining and reshaping spaces of learning: Constituting innovative and creative lifelong learners. In L. Benade & M. Jackson (Eds.), Transforming education: Design & governance in global contexts (pp. 33–54). Singapore: Springer Nature.
Blackmore, J., Bateman, D., Loughlin, J., O'Mara, J., & Aranda, G. (2011). Research into the connection between built learning spaces and student outcomes: Literature Review. Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Retrieved from https://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/publ/research/publ/blackmore_learning_spaces.pdf.
Byers, T., Imms, W., & Hartnell-Young, E. (2018). Evaluating teacher and student spatial transition from a traditional classroom to an innovative learning environment. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 58, 156–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2018.07.004.
Campbell, L. (2020). Teaching in an inspiring learning space: An investigation of the extent to which one school’s innovative learning environment has impacted on teachers’ pedagogy and practice. Research Papers in Education, 35(2), 185–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2019.1568526.
Carvalho, L., & Yeoman, P. (2018). Framing learning entanglement in innovative learning spaces: Connecting theory, design and practice. British Educational Research Journal, 44(6), 1120–1137. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3483.
Chapman, A., Randell-Moon, H., Campbell, M., & Drew, C. (2014). Students in space: Student practices in non-traditional classrooms. Global Studies of Childhood, 4(1), 39–48. https://doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2014.4.1.39.
Charteris, J., & Smardon, D. (2018). "Professional learning on steroids”: Implications for teacher learning through spatialised practice in New Generation Learning Environments. Australian Journal of Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2018v43n12.2.
Charteris, J., & Smardon, D. (2019). Dimensions of agency in New Generation Learning Spaces: Developing assessment capability. Australian Journal of Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2019v44n7.1.
Charteris, J., Smardon, D., & Nelson, E. (2017). Innovative learning environments and new materialism: A conjunctural analysis of pedagogic spaces. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(8), 808–821. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2017.1298035.
Daniels, H., Tse, H. M., Stables, A., & Cox, S. (2017). Design as a social practice: The design of new build schools. Oxford Review of Education, 43(6), 767–787. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2017.1360176.
Elden, S. (2004a). Between Marx and Heidegger: Politics, philosophy and Lefebvre’s The Production of Space. Antipode, 34(1), 86–105.
Elden, S. (2004b). Understanding Henri Lefebvre. Continuum.
Foucault, M. (2008). Of other spaces: Utopias and heterotopias (L. De Cauter & M. Dehaene, Trans.). In M. Dehaene & L. De Cauter (Eds.), Heterotopia and the city: Public space in a postcivil society (pp. 13–29). London: Routledge.
Gulson, K. N., & Symes, C. (2007). Knowing one’s place: Space, theory, education. Critical Studies in Education, 48(1), 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508480601123750.
Hipkins, C. (2018). Towards a comprehensive reform of school property. Cabinet Paper. Retrieved 18 April 2020 from https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/information-releases/issue-specific-releases/cabinet-paper-towards-a-comprehensive-reform-of-school-property/.
Imms, B. C., & Fisher, K. (Eds.). (2016). Evaluating learning environments. Rotterdam: Sense.
Imms, W. (2016). New generation leaning environments: How can we find out if what works is working? In W. Imms, B. Cleveland, & K. Fisher (Eds.), Evaluating learning environments (pp. 21–34). Rotterdam: Sense.
Jenlink, P. M. (2007). Creating public spaces and practiced places for democracy, discourse, and the emergence of civil society. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 20(5), 429–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-007-9077-1.
Krueger, P. (2010). It’s not just a method! The epistemic and political work of young people’s lifeworlds at the school–prison nexus. Race Ethnicity and Education, 13(3), 383–408. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2010.500846.
Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space (D. Nicholson-Smith, Trans.). Malden: Blackwell.
Massey, D. (1984/1995). Spatial divisions of labour: Social structures and the geography of production (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan.
Massey, D. (1985). New directions in space. In D. Gregory & J. Urry (Eds.), Social relations and spatial structures (pp. 9–19). New York: Macmillan.
Massey, D. (1992). Politics and space/time. New Left Review, 192, 65–84.
McGregor, J. (2004). Spatiality and the place of the material in schools. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 12(3), 347–372.
McPherson, A., & Saltmarsh, S. (2017). Bodies and affect in non-traditional learning spaces. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(8), 832–841. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2016.1252904.
Merrifield, A. (2006). Henri Lefebvre: A critical introduction. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
Ministry of Education. (2011). The New Zealand school property strategy 2011–2021. Wellington, New Zealand: Author. http://gdsindexnz.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/The-New-Zealand-School-Property-Strategy-2011-2021.pdf.
Ministry of Education. (2015). Designing schools in New Zealand: Requirements and Guidelines. Wellington, New Zealand: Author. http://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Primary-Secondary/Property/Design/Design-guidance/DSNZ-version-1-0-20151014.pdf.
Ministry of Education. (2020). Designing learning environments. Wellington, New Zealand: Author. http://www.education.govt.nz/school/property-and-transport/projects-and-design/design/designing-learning-environments/#relationship.
Monahan, T. (2002). Flexible space & built pedagogy: Emerging IT embodiments. Inventio, 4(1), 1–19.
Mulcahy, D., & Morrison, C. (2017). Re/assembling ‘innovative’ learning environments: Affective practice and its politics. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(8), 749–758. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2016.1278354.
Nair, P. (2014). Blueprint for tomorrow: Redesigning schools for student-centered learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Nelson, E., & Johnson, L. (2019). ILEs as social assemblages: Implications for initial teacher education. In W. Imms & M. Mahat. (Eds.), Proceedings of the international symposium: Transitions19 One journey, many pathways (pp. 89–98). Retrieved from https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/237432/Transitions2019_web.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
Newton, C. (2009). Disciplinary dilemmas: Learning spaces as a discussion between designers and educators. Critical & Creative Thinking, 17(2), 7–27.
Niemi, K. (2020). The best guess for the future? Teachers’ adaptation to open and flexible learning environments in Finland. Education Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1080/20004508.2020.1816371.
Rasmussen, L. R. (2019). Disassembling the in-between? Refigurations of the Danish school corridor 1950–2019. Paedagogica Historica. https://doi.org/10.1080/00309230.2019.1669680.
Reh, S., & Temel, R. (2014). Observing the doings of built spaces. Attempts of an ethnography of materiality. Historical Social Research, 39(2), 167–180. https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.39.2014.2.167-180.
Saltmarsh, S., Chapman, A., Campbell, M., & Drew, C. (2015). Putting “structure within the space”: Spatially un/responsive pedagogic practices in open-plan learning environments. Educational Review, 67(3), 315–327.
Sigurðardóttir, A. K., & Hjartarson, T. (2016). The idea and reality of an innovative school: From inventive design to established practice in a new school building. Improving Schools, 19(1), 62–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480215612173.
Sigurðardóttir, A. K., & Hjartarson, T. (2018). Design features of Icelandic school buildings: How do they reflect changes in educational governance and daily school practice? In I. Grosvenor & L. R. Rasmussen (Eds.), Making education: Material school design and educational governance (pp. 71–91). Berlin: Springer.
Smith, N. (1990). Uneven development: Nature, capital and the production of space. New York: Blackwell.
Soja, E. W. (1985). The spatiality of social life: Towards a transformative retheorisation. In D. Gregory & J. Urry (Eds.), Social relations and spatial structures (pp. 90–127). New York: Macmillan.
Soja, E. W. (1989). Postmodern geographies: The reassertion of space in critical social theory. Brooklyn: Verso.
Soja, E. (2010). Seeking spatial justice. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Stables, A. (2014). The semiotics of organisational landscape: School as design. In I. S. A. Semetsky (Ed.), Edusemiotics (pp. 116–127). New York: Taylor and Francis.
Stewart, G., & Benade, L. (2020). Spatial biculturalism for schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 55(1), 129–131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40841-020-00169-x.
Watkins, C. (2005). Representations of space, spatial practices and spaces of representation: An application of Lefebvre’s spatial triad. Culture and Organization, 11(3), 209–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/14759550500203318.
Wood, A. (2017). A school’s lived architecture: the politics and ethics of flexible learning spaces [Doctoral thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University]. e-space Manchester Metropolitan University's Research Repository. https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/618818/.
Wood, A. (2019, June 10). City schools as meeting places [Webblog]. https://architectureandeducation.org/2019/06/10/city-schools-as-meeting-places/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Benade, L. Theoretical Approaches to Researching Learning Spaces. NZ J Educ Stud 56 (Suppl 1), 11–26 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40841-020-00191-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40841-020-00191-z