Learn Better

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Today’s mode of education 

Our children are sent to school with the best intention, believing that formal education is what kids need to become productive, happy adults. Meticulously enough, parents gauge different schools based on their rankings, curriculum, faculty, their infrastructures overall. 

Which eventually boils down to perceptions like best schools = costly fees. But what if the model itself might be unfit for today?

There might be many similar questions raised by time as society moves ahead. Doubts which question the very existence of schools. But their contribution to today’s world cannot be disregarded without evaluating what’s going wrong here. Logically, schools were the best models of education in a time when the dissipation of knowledge was at its least. Initiatives like setting up institutions were then taken to set standards of education to ensure learning reaches many. 

Standards, which will still hold relevance when we migrate to a new place. Standards, which enable the model of school, could scale from a cult to a more universal entity spreading knowledge. 

But what if these benchmarks are threatening a school’s relevance today?
 

Idea of Schools

The idea of schools, where a certain ‘individual’ with a certain ‘curriculum’ - teaching to a set number of ‘students’; as a model has derived itself from a really long journey.

There is various evidence found in a number of empires where ‘schools’ were developed as a setup to imbibe purpose driven knowledge. The function of this tool was predominantly to transfer religious or linguistic knowledge in times where civilizations were under constant threat of existence. The authoritative approach to teaching with almost no opportunity to evaluate what is being taught is an outcome of this age. 

As times have evolved, schools have become an essential agenda of governments. They have a more secular approach to teaching today than in the past. Schools might have adopted digital technologies like online homework submission, E-exams or Webinars - but the fundamental frameworks are more a result of history and less of scientific evidence/findings.

But even if the frameworks are derived from the past, what exactly is making them un-useful today?

Issue

There are various reasons why traditional school models are battling for relevance today. A few of them are laid down below:

The top-down, teach-and-test method, in which learning is motivated by a system of rewards and punishments rather than by curiosity or by any real desire to know, is the first place to begin the inquiry. What follows this inquiry, is the curriculum, questioning their usefulness to the vast amount of children who cannot question the authority/board. Lastly is the competitive environment that the children have to be moulded into, is this eroding creativity/critical thinking?

Almost any grownup individual usually is able to raise similar doubts. However, when one of the key objectives of schooling which are usually stated as building careers - when they are not being met, there’s certainly a huge problem. This is usually caused by the rapidly outdating conventional learning provided against the evolving work and technology.

Is this evidence enough that there should be a call for newer models of learning?

Friction 

While there are so many fundamental issues stated, what a school can offer as a function is highly irreplaceable. Parents may impart knowledge to their children, but what they can’t give is a learning environment and company of more children. A place where a child experientially learns more than any teaching.

And hence, there are a lot of opinions but no real alternatives. There are alot of experiments happening globally which sparks new hope of how we look at learning, but there’s no clear direction of what actually a model school should be. A few directions speak of giving entrepreneurial qualities right at the beginning, or to making them aware of world views, or even teaching children technical work life right away and it goes on. 

As these are mostly experiments, the results may or may not go in favour - but as most educational endeavours are being led by businesses, in the end what matters is success. Success of children, Success of classroom, Success of Enterprise. But; is success a definite objective? On whose success are we investing here?

Balance?

With growing world population, K-12 education market has become a lucrative business opportunity - where all it matters is to churn out a faster number of students - and make them ‘succeed’. The fundamental drive of this innovation is led by a market force - its difficult to find out what is the right way. Can you spot what is missing here?

Brief 

The problem with schools are not only the frameworks, but the outdated built forms they spring from as well. Hence, the actual issue is not just about the way of teaching but the perception of school as a function. As an advocate of a better environment, designers can not only argue what may be a right direction to move, but show how the model of a better school of today could be. 

The design challenge is to conceive a new model of school with a vehicle of built environment to portray it. 

The challenge will not dwell into drafting an education curriculum as academicians are much better individuals to do this. Our role in this problem is to discover how valuable learning models can be imparted with newer forms of the built environment. 

• How existing schools can be made more friendly to these essential life skills through smaller retrofits?
• How to prepare our children with dependable thought processes that work in tandem with our changing societies?
• How existing perceptions of pedagogy can be shaken up so schools are compelled to evolve?
• As most cities are mitigating problems with density how can schools be stacked but still not lose their means of imparting a holistic education?

Objectives

There are various forms of learning a child deserves and should learn, but this varies from place to place. In this challenge we root this on a very fundamental level of universal learning:

• Physical: How the body can be trained for wellness using various activities. How children can be taught what’s good to eat, etc.?
• Mental: How traditional learning can be translated into more fun/experiential ways of developing reasoning?
• World: How can children discover their connection to the planet, nature, culture and the world around them?
• Creativity: How can a child explore learning by doing things and exploring how things work by doing?
• Art forms: How can a child explore various forms of art forms. Eg. Dance, Music, Painting, etc.
• Evolution: How these forms of teaching will constantly evolve with time considering the larger span of time.

User

The recommended age band we propose is 5yrs - 12yrs. You may flexibly choose an age band of your choice based on the concept - but the quantities shall be met.

Children (Suggested): Age group of  5yrs - 12yrs - (150 - 200 children) (Expandable to 400).

Educators:  20 years and above - Quantity on designer’s research

Managers: 4-5 managers including principals and supervisors.

Support:  5-7 support personnel or more depending on the design.

Services:  5-15 service personnel or more depending on design.

Externals: Any visiting staff or parents for events or daily visits.