Rethinking space

The term “teacher as designer” refers to the idea that educators should adopt a mindset of designing effective learning experiences for their students. This involves planning and creating instructional materials, activities, and assessments that align with educational goals and cater to the diverse needs of learners. Part of this process is also understanding student needs starting from the space they’re occupying and living in during school time.
Nowadays, more and more teachers use research methods that actively involve both students and teachers in experimenting with the design of a learning space – participatory design. Some argue that involving end-users in reflecting about the design process may eventually lead to the construction of more meaningful, innovative and effective learning spaces. For example, teachers suggest that this can be better achieved by providing a room that can comfortably accommodate a smaller number of students around square or round tables, with chairs positioned on each side to encourage teamwork or group discussions. Other designers found that space has an impact on how teachers perceive their teaching role, either as promoters of collaboration and creativity, or as constrainers. In fact, it is demonstrated that teachers’ and students’ behaviors change according to the design and structure of the learning spaces, especially if these are underpinned by technology.
All the authors, concerning this topic, clearly indicate how learning spaces design influence the pedagogical encounters, thus enforcing the need for involving them in more participative dialogical discussions when designing space. One of the most interesting findings is that students identify the existence of a ‘golden zone’ and a ‘shadow zone’ within the physical learning space. The term ‘golden zone’ indicates those seats which students consider to be optimal for learning in that they:
(i) facilitate good eye-contact and a better interaction with the teacher;
(ii) support concentration and motivation for longer periods of time; and
(iii) guarantee the best view of the screen/whiteboard, decreasing without the dangers of being distracted.
Students generally suggest three main features that should transpire when designing learning spaces: closeness to the teacher; an augmented sense of belonging and engagement; and good visibility.
Moreover, it is argued that space conveys potential meanings to its users at the level of three meta-functions. The first, the ‘ideational’, concerns the ‘vision’, that is to say the users’ perceptions of how space should/could facilitate learning. The second, the ‘textual’, concerns the way in which different learning spaces are organized consistently and coherently to support the first function. The third function, the ‘interpersonal’, concerns how space becomes a motivational factor in enabling positive learning and teaching interactions.
Educational literature, in the end, seems to indicate that we should understand learning spaces design through an analysis of the interactions, habits and perceptions of its main users.