Pedagogical use of Spatial Concepts
The way that teachers use space is important to the learning process. Spatial Awareness enables the teacher to intentionally design activities to make use of specific spaces. With instruction students will also start to make decisions about their own learning activities based on the spatial options available to them.
Documentation of the use of space will also inform architects about the design of innovative learning environments. This is important when architects need to understand how the environment is used in the learning process. This documentation can be as simple as a tracking map of student movement through specific learning activities. It is interesting to see how much of the space we actually use for specific learning activities.
It makes sense for teachers to become aware of these spatial concepts and be able to identify those ones that they use in their school. We will all identify a number that we use regularly but there might also be a number that are not within our comfort zones.
It may be challenging but teachers should ensure that they are designing learning activities that encompass a variety of learning spaces. This ensures that students experience a range of real world learning contexts.
Learning Spaces
The following links are a series of identified spatial concepts that educators and architects often discuss when negotiating the education brief prior to a major building program. We have explained the nine identified Learning Spaces as well as the three Thornberg Primordial Spaces which we have included in the diagram above.
Two other concepts that are worth exploring. The first is the notion of transparency, the second is the notion of environment as the third teacher.
Are there spatial concepts here that you would like to explore further? This resource will be continually added to as researchers and educators identify, locate and collate examples of educational spatial concepts.