Abstract:
Students provide a unique and important perspective on their school experience, and should be provided opportunities to actively shape their education. Student voice is important as it offers teachers and schools important insights into learning, teaching and schooling from the perspective of different students and groups of students, and enables students to actively shape their education as discerning citizens. For school learning environments to be responsive to the needs of students, schools must enact an inclusive approach to gather students’ voices on how learning space design impacts their school and learning experiences.
This presentation describes action research in four schools within the Sydney Catholic Schools system. Drawing on data from student surveys and utilising a photo elicitation method, the aim of this presentation is to discuss the impact of a prototype learning space design and pedagogical interventions on students’ learning, engagement and wellbeing. The results showed that students’ perceptions of their learning and engagement improved after the design and pedagogical interventions, indicating that design and pedagogy go hand in hand when designing new learning environments. Students also perceived their wellbeing as higher in flexible learning spaces than in traditional or open spaces. In particular, students considered a learning space to be calm and hence contribute to their wellbeing if the furniture was comfortable, if the learning space afforded them opportunities to collaborate with others and when soothing colours were used. Additionally, students also favoured learning spaces and furniture that afforded them flexibility to move around as well as concentrate on learning tasks.
The findings show the importance of actively listening to student insights and perspectives about their learning. Student voice not only assist schools in designing, implementing and using their school learning environments but engage students as agents of their own learning. However, it is important to note that gathering students insights is not a one-off endeavour, instead it should be a continual process of engagement as students evolve and their needs change over time. The presentation concludes by projecting opportunities and challenges for the design of school learning environments, pedagogical practices and spatial competency. Aligned with the overall theme of the conference, this presentation draws on student voice as an important approach to yield positive social and educational outcomes for the future of education.
This presentation describes action research in four schools within the Sydney Catholic Schools system. Drawing on data from student surveys and utilising a photo elicitation method, the aim of this presentation is to discuss the impact of a prototype learning space design and pedagogical interventions on students’ learning, engagement and wellbeing. The results showed that students’ perceptions of their learning and engagement improved after the design and pedagogical interventions, indicating that design and pedagogy go hand in hand when designing new learning environments. Students also perceived their wellbeing as higher in flexible learning spaces than in traditional or open spaces. In particular, students considered a learning space to be calm and hence contribute to their wellbeing if the furniture was comfortable, if the learning space afforded them opportunities to collaborate with others and when soothing colours were used. Additionally, students also favoured learning spaces and furniture that afforded them flexibility to move around as well as concentrate on learning tasks.
The findings show the importance of actively listening to student insights and perspectives about their learning. Student voice not only assist schools in designing, implementing and using their school learning environments but engage students as agents of their own learning. However, it is important to note that gathering students insights is not a one-off endeavour, instead it should be a continual process of engagement as students evolve and their needs change over time. The presentation concludes by projecting opportunities and challenges for the design of school learning environments, pedagogical practices and spatial competency. Aligned with the overall theme of the conference, this presentation draws on student voice as an important approach to yield positive social and educational outcomes for the future of education.