Abstract:

The Designed for Better Learning (DfBL) program has successfully delivered a new learning paradigm in Greek public education by transforming the physical learning environment and educational experience in 24 public schools, across all levels of education, in the City of Athens, Greece. It is an innovative, low-cost program that employs architecture and pedagogy to refurbish underfunded schools in ways that improve learning, generate pride and lead to community development. The program gives teachers and students the methodology and the tools to redesign their learning environment in ways that creatively relate to their learning. A fabrication lab (maker space) equipped with 3d printers, laser and vinyl cutters as well as a CNC router was set up to support them in this.

Since April 2016, the program has been deployed in three phases. The first one tapped on the constructive nature of participatory design and worked closely with the school communities toward large scale interventions in the school buildings guided by both functional and learning parameters. In addition to physically transforming the schools, the program employed the Educational Pla(y)ces methodology (Εκπαιδότοποι / e·kpe·tho·to·pe in Greek, a word combing the words 'child', 'play', 'place', 'education' and 'playground') in order to spatialize educational activities and create new possibilities for both teachers and students to experience meaningful learning interactions inside and outside the classroom. The last phase deploys STEM fairs for the students as well as training workshops for the teachers on the use of the Maker Space equipment.

So far, the DfBL program has achieved a confirmed qualitative upgrade of the school environment and a positive disposition toward the educational process in all participating schools. The teachers report an increased engagement of the students in the class activities as well as an unprecedented initiative to go beyond the typical book-centered practice and learn creatively through design-based projects. Moreover, both students and teachers have embraced the collaborative processes, feeling empowered by the opportunity to learn how to change and enhance by themselves their everyday educational environment.

The long-term goal of the program is to contribute to a societal paradigm shift where people are engaged in life-long learning activities for empowerment and capacity building. On a personal level, this marks a development from ‘listening’ to ‘making’, which scales up on the community level from a culture of ‘observation’ to a culture of ‘active participation’. Having a learning-centered core, the program renders a proactive community that takes on itself the opportunity to change through a cost-effective yet high-impact participatory process.

Keywords:

Qualitative upgrade of school environments, participatory design, learning by design, maker space, educational pla(y)ces.