EduCon 2.9

“We place enormous value on the role of the environment as a motivation and animating force in creating spaces for relations, options, and emotional and cognitive situations that produce a sense of well-being and security.” Loris Malaguzzi, Reggio Emilia

Reggio Emila, The Third Teacher and Fielding Nair's work all point to the importance of space in learning. Through the Beautiful Learning Spaces blog and in twitter discussions, Andrew Campbell and Jennifer Chan have begun to explore the potential and inspiration of a variety of learning spaces. Andrew is a grade 4/5 teacher at Major Ballachey in Brantford, Ontario and has been teaching for 20 years. He’s passionate about learning and committed to using new technologies in creative ways to transform and improve learning for his students. Jenn is an alternative education and community engagement consultant in Toronto, Ontario. She has been working with communities to co-design innovative spaces while thinking about how we interact with space and how space informs culture. Andrew and Jenn are in search of fellow educator to join the conversation around the impact, design and culture of beautiful learning spaces. Together, we will talk about the relationships and influence of space on student learning, engagement and the symbols we associate with the physical spaces of schools. By sharing what we have discovered, we are hoping to change the way people think about space to change the way we think about learning.