image from Mike Post at Fielding International
We may be used to the idea that a school building can be a kind of “third teacher,” that—along with their peers and their human educators—shapes what students learn.
But, even when we do think about how much our physical environments can shape our learning experiences, we rarely think about what kind of teacher these buildings are. So, we end up creating buildings that lecture.
What other kinds of teachers might our school buildings be? How else might they shape the learning that happens in them?
Here’s my essay, from the July 2024 issue of Getting Smart.