Welcome to our Summer Quarterly

Welcome to the Summer 2019 edition of the Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN) Quarterly eNews. It’s been eventful year! We hope to have provided some helpful resources and facilitated conversations to bridge architects and educators everywhere.

In this issue:

• Building Connections: call for papers and website launch
• ILETC research activities
• Talking Spaces 10 - Save the date (16-17 April 2020)
• Plans to Pedagogy project in its third year
• LEaRN presents at the Architectural Science Association Conference
• Learning Spaces and Special Educational Needs (LS & SEN) - The Conversation article
• Public libraries for community - The Conversation article
• Talking Spaces 10 Survey preliminary results - there's still time to tell us your opinion!
• Welcome Phuong Nguyen, LEaRN's new Research Communications Coordinator

Building Connections: call for papers and website launch

Building Connections: Schools As Community Hubs is a three-year Australian Research Council Linkage Project investigating how best to plan, design, govern and manage schools to operate successfully as ‘more than a school’, encouraging the development of resilient and connected communities.

ILETC research activities

The Teacher Transition Pathway is currently being developed by the ILETC team to provide a framework for strategies and tools and a process for navigating the journey of change. These strategies and tools will include many that have been developed by our research team and project partners as well as those shared with us by schools and education organisations. This pathway is highly individualised, both at school and teacher levels. While commonalities exist, the reality is each school (and teacher) experiences unique challenges during this transition.

The project is collecting existing strategies and tools that are already in use to inform the development of the Teacher Transition Pathway. We would like to hear from teachers and principals about the strategies and tools which have helped their staff and students to make the change from traditional to innovative learning spaces.

Photo: NSW Dept of Education, Bellevue Hill Public School

Talking Spaces 10 is coming on 16 and 17 April 2020

Talking Spaces 10 will take place on 16 and 17 April 2020, on Level 1 of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE) at the University of Melbourne. The event will explore the user experience (UX) of learning spaces through a range of lenses including those of inclusion, community and wellbeing.

Plans to Pedagogy (P2P)

LEaRN at the Architectural Science Association Conference

Kenn Fisher wrote on an evidence-base for biophilic design for wellbeing. Another paper on the interdisciplinary evaluation of academic workspace was co-authored by Sarah Backhouse, Clare Newton, Lucio Naccarella, Kenn Fisher and Ben Cleveland. A third paper on permanent prefabrication for schools was co-authored by Clare Newton, Sarah Backhouse, Ajibade Aibinu and Philippa Soccio, and based on research discussions with Robert Crawford, Kenn Fisher, Tom Kvan, Ben Cleveland and Dominik Holzer. All three double-blind refereed papers will be available online in coming weeks.

Learning Spaces and Special Educational Needs (LS & SEN)

The LEaRN team on LS + SEN have collaborated with UK academic Jos Boys (UCL) on an article published in The Conversation on 3rd December 2019.

In the article, Dr Scott Alterator, Dr Ben Cleveland and Dr Jos Boys identify the divide between inclusion policy and built environment practice. Full article.

Also check out Dr Jos Boys’ project DisOrdinary Architecture.

Public libraries for community

LEaRN's Research Fellow Sarah Backhouse and Associate Professor Clare Newton wrote an article for The Conversation, published on 9th December 2019.

Public libraries embody the values of democracy by offering free access to knowledge. But the role of contemporary public libraries extends far beyond access to books. Full article.

Talking Spaces 10 Survey

Our survey invites you to help shape LEaRN's future events and research activities. The following are some insights from the survey responses so far.  

Respondent profiles:

Learning environment focus of respondents:

How important do you think that the user experience of learning environments is for each of the following?

Thinking about LEaRN's research, what are two or three burning issues that you would like us to explore in the future?

• blended learning models;
• spatial implications of future-focused curriculum;
• policy development linking education and built environment;
• diversity and inclusion;
• education facility procurement methods and consultation processes.

Thinking about LEaRN's events, what are some issues that you would like future Talking Spaces to explore?

• refurbishment approaches;
• explicit teacher change processes; 
• evidence around diversity and inclusion;
• spatial design for well-being;
• user experience and evaluation; 
• learning in the community and workplace.

It's not too late to contribute your ideas; the survey closes on Wednesday 18 December at 5PM.  

Welcoming our new Research Communications Coordinator

At LEaRN, we are preparing for our summer holidays and the festive season. Wherever you are, we wish you and yours
all the best! 🌞🌟☃️🎁