The time is ripe for interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches to school design. Whatever the current funding limitations, we still need to think about how we design, organise and use space in schools for learning and teaching.

This edited book ensures that we don t start from ground zero in terms of good design. Including chapters from researchers and practitioners in architecture and education, it assesses, describes and illustrates how education and environment can be mutually supportive. The centrality of participation and collaboration between architects, educators and school users holds these diverse contributions together. The book embodies the practice as well as the principle of interdisciplinary working.

Organised in two parts, this volume considers how schools are designed and used with chapters looks at current and past school environments in the UK, US and Europe. It then questions how the learning environment can be improved through participatory design processes with contributors from design and education backgrounds offering both theoretical understanding and practical ideas.

Written without subject-specific jargon or assumptions, it can be used by readers from either an architectural or educational background, bridging the on-going communication gap between education and design professionals.

Design and education professionals alike will appreciate the:

practical information which shows how to change or improve a learning environment

focus on evidence-based research

case studies and chapter topics including schools from across the primary and secondary sectors."

The time is ripe for interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches to school design. Whatever the current funding limitations, we still need to think about how we design, organise and use space in schools for learning and teaching.

This edited book ensures that we don t start from ground zero in terms of good design. Including chapters from researchers and practitioners in architecture and education, it assesses, describes and illustrates how education and environment can be mutually supportive. The centrality of participation and collaboration between architects, educators and school users holds these diverse contributions together. The book embodies the practice as well as the principle of interdisciplinary working.

Organised in two parts, this volume considers how schools are designed and used with chapters looks at current and past school environments in the UK, US and Europe. It then questions how the learning environment can be improved through participatory design processes with contributors from design and education backgrounds offering both theoretical understanding and practical ideas.

Written without subject-specific jargon or assumptions, it can be used by readers from either an architectural or educational background, bridging the on-going communication gap between education and design professionals.

Design and education professionals alike will appreciate the:

practical information which shows how to change or improve a learning environment

focus on evidence-based research

case studies and chapter topics including schools from across the primary and secondary sectors."

This title introduces key issues in the design of learning spaces with case studies and guidance on refurbishment and new building projects. Learning can take place anywhere. So does the detail of the physical surroundings provided by schools matter? After many years of minimal investment in school premises, schools in the UK are in the midst of a wave of planning, building and using new schools. This includes all English secondary schools, being renewed through Building Schools for the Future (BSF), as well as schemes for English primaries and programmes of school construction in Scotland and Wales. Starting from an educational perspective, and building on work in architectural design, Pamela Woolner gives an overview of current issues in the design of learning environments, covering the physical design of spaces and how that design impacts on the organization of people in schools, their relationships and their teaching and learning. Filling the gap in understanding and knowledge between the worlds of architecture and education, this is essential reading for school leaders and all those engaged in thinking about how school design might be planned and arranged to facilitate learning and teaching. "The Future Schools Series" explores the ways in which schools' needs for the future are differing from the traditional, largely Victorian approach still adopted by the majority of British schools today. The series focuses on innovation in schools, both in terms of the school environment and pedagogical approach. A major factor in this is the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, which is the biggest single UK government investment in improving school buildings for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild or renew every secondary school in England over a 10-15 year period. This includes significant investment in ICT to support the government's educational reform agenda. As well as improving school buildings, the aim of the agenda is to promote a step-change in the quality of provision. Schools are starting to follow a range of innovative practice in terms of their links with communities around them, as part of the Every Child Matters and extended schools agenda, their structure and organization and, not least, the organization and approach of the leadership and senior management team. Books in this series will provide either an overview of transformation with specific case studies from around the UK and worldwide, or focus more specifically on one or a small collection of schools to show examples of good practice at a local community level.