Session Information
23 SES 07 C, Education Policies and Development (Part 1)
Paper Session to be continued in 23 SES 08 C
Contribution
Schools’ architect, Prakash Nair (2011), proposed that the classroom is obsolete. The standard, formal or traditional single-cell classroom should be substituted with the flexible learning environment or shared, collaborative space (2011). A flexible learning space, as articulated by Nair, is an instance of what Henri Lefebvre termed, ‘the representations of space’. This is “conceptualized space, the space of scientists, planners, urbanists, technocratic subdividers and social engineers…all of whom identify what is lived and what is perceived with what is conceived” (1991, p. 38).
A further dimension is ‘representational spaces’, and Lefebvre noted that space so understood will “tend towards more or less coherent systems of non-verbal symbols and signs” (p. 39). This is space as lived experience, with the emphasis being on what the space ‘tells’ its users through its images and symbols. Thus, in this sense, it can be suggested the flexible and collaborative spaces has their own ‘hidden curriculum’. What messages are being communicated by, through and about these spaces?
This question leads to what Lefebvre has termed, ‘spatial practice’, the ideology of space, articulated through the discourse of society. Lefebvre says society ‘secretes’ this ideology (the spatial practice) slowly and dialectically; that is to say, there is a steady proposition of the practice, mastery of it by members of society, and the society as a whole. The “spatial practice of a society is revealed through the deciphering of its space” (p. 38), thus we may ask critical questions concerning the particular purpose of space, by examining why that space exists and why is takes the form it does.
Nair’s (2011) critique of the single-cell classroom implies it is ‘obsolete’ precisely because it fails to reproduce the 21st-century worker, the self-directed, ‘critical thinker’ and collaborator able to work in a globally connected technologically rich environment. In contrast, the flexible and collaborative spaces are attuned to the needs of the creative knowledge economy of the 21st century. Lefebvre saw a critical link between the spaces of our daily reality and the production of the particular social form and relations envisaged by the dominant society.
This presentation is inspired by collaborative research work across international boundaries, bringing together work taking place in New Zealand and Denmark. This collaboration emphasises the links between global and local policy-making, while simultaneously recognising that there is not a simple, linear relationship between global and local (Robertson, 2012). This collaborative partnership is in its early stages, but both researchers have a common link in the work of Lefebvre, and a concern with the way space influences, shapes and directs the work of educators, and the messages it conveys regarding what counts as worthwhile education for students in the 21st century (Benade, 2015; Benade, forthcoming; Bertelsen, 2013; Bertelsen & Rasmussen, forthcoming).
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Benade, L. (2015). The transformative educative prospects of flexible learning environments. New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work 12(1), 9–13. Retrieved from https://teachworkojs.aut.ac.nz/autojs/index.php/nzjtw/article/view/26/40 Benade, L. (Forthcoming). Being a teacher in the 21st Century: A critical New Zealand research study. Springer. Bertelsen, E. (2013). "Myten om ‘Skolen til fremtiden’" [The Myth of 'the School for the Future']. In: ‘Curriculum' til fremtiden? [‘Curriculum' for the Future?]. Dissertation, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. Bertelsen, E. & L.R. Rasmussen (forthcoming). "Skoler til fremtiden: At bygge rum der forandrer" [Schools for the future: Building to change]. In: Larsen & Martinussen (red.), Arkitektur, krop og læring Vol. II [Architecture, Body and Learning, Vol II]. København: Hans Reitzels Forlag. Bohman, J. (2005). Critical theory. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [PDF version]. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2013/entries/critical-theory Chadderton, C. & Torrance, H. (2011). Case study. In B. Somekh & C. Lewin (Eds.), Theory and methods in social research (2nd ed.) (pp. 53–60). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. Lefevbre, H. (1991). The production of space. (D. Nicholson-Smith, trans). Oxford, United Kingdom: Basil Blackwell. Nair, P. (2011). The classroom is obsolete: It's time for something new. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.fieldingnair.com/index.php/publications/ Roberge, J. (2011). What is critical hermeneutics? Thesis Eleven. 106(1), 5–22 doi: 10.1177/0725513611411682 Robertson, S.L. (2012) Researching global education policy: Angles in/on/out…. In A. Verger, M. Novelli and H. Altinyelken (Eds). Global education policy and international development: New agendas, issues and practices. New York, NY: Continuum Books. Steinberg, S. & Kincheloe, J. (2012). Employing the bricolage as critical research in science education. In B.J. Fraser, K. Tobin & C.J. McRobbie (Eds.). Second international handbook of science education [Springer international handbooks of education] (pp. 1485-1500). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/book/10.1007/978-1-4020-9041-7/page/1
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