11th Annual 21st Century Learning Conference

Implementation of flexible physical spaces and changing digital spaces in our schools have educators struggling with how to utilize these environments with purpose. The amount of resources dedicated to these changing spaces means the stakes are high. Leadership in schools tasked with driving change are faced with the challenge of helping teachers develop the skills they need to effectively use these new spaces. This session will examine recent research on how our new learning environments impact student learning outcomes and what this means for educators.

Personalized Learning, Flexible Learning Environments and 21st Century Learning are popular buzzwords in education circles. But how do we truly creates spaces that support today’s learners? And how do we future proof our schools? In this session, Dr. Chip Kimball, Superintendent of Singapore American School, and Isaac Williams, Design Principal at Fielding Nair International will share the story of SAS’s journey to create flexible learning environments that align with SAS’s pedagogical goals for personalized, inquiry driven learning experiences. Chip and Isaac will share the opportunities for enduring, systemic change that new learning space creates, and some of the more difficult lessons that will inform the work of schools as they consider facility improvements that align with current teaching practices. Come learn about exciting “Pathfinder” project as well as the SAS facility master plan from one of the most reputable schools in the world.  

As our school enrolment grows so too does our need for space. Like many, our entire community set about planning for and designing a new facility, taking into account provisions of transgressing the boundaries of ministry designated floor plans and requirements. We wanted to plan our space absent the per student allotments and build something that would reflect our determination to create more experience-based learning. Thus began a journey, in which we needed to determine what practices we had that reflected our ideals and what practices remained aspirational, about which we still needed to be mindful.

Our journey has included bottom-up intervention strategies to engage students, parents and teachers together in professional learning capacities with the intent of expanding opportunities for students and parents to become active participants in shaping their learning spaces and communities. We have expanded opportunities for students and parents to participate by offering ideas and sharing concerns.

This session will explore the ongoing tension between existing practices and expectations, aspirational practices and expectations, and designing spaces to meet both. Moreover, we will ask participants to work through some of the same exercises we asked of ourselves and our team to understand how space can shape practices and how practices can shape spaces.