Collaborative Re-design: Working with School Communities to Understand and Improve Their Learning Environments

Abstract

This chapter presents a heuristic of four principles for researchers, designers or school communities to use to facilitate collaborative engagement about school space. It first explains how each idea is derived from the literature and previous research. Then a practical example of the process in an English primary school is reported. Finally, a discussion reviews the four principles in light of this example and briefly considers how they might relate to established conceptualisations of participation and collaborative decision-making. The discussion includes a consideration of the material , social and empirical evidence that can be used to support collaborative decision-making processes. The principles are based on research and experiences specific to learning environments, but the practices we have developed also relate to recent advances in research methodology, specifically the use of visual methods . It highlights how multiple methods, including various visual and spatial activities, can be used to facilitate participation and bring to light experiences and ideas that might otherwise be overlooked. These raise awareness of the school’s space, building a collective understanding of existing experience and possibilities for the future. A key to this process is the recognition that school is more than a building, where social, physical and organisational aspects interact. A second key understanding is that while the change in education is indeed challenging, it is clear that engaging with school space can help users make changes that align educational aims and practices with physical and organisational structures.