This article addresses schoolteachers' spatial work in the process of inhabiting and using a new school building. The study focuses on a historical case of a Danish open-plan school built in the early 1970s and shows how the teachers' spatial work engages with questions of the organisation of bodies, sound, furniture and teaching aids. The article…

This article seeks to examine the neglected sociomateriality of the classroom and investigates how space, matter and human actors are entangled, interact and take part in the 'space-producing action'. Rather than approaching the classroom as an objective collection of physical units or a stable grid, we see it as something alive, a performance…

A recent shift in the design of school buildings in Iceland is apparent, from a conventional classroom setting to a more open and flexible learning environment. The aim of the project related here is to take a close look at this development by identifying significant design features and how they have changed over time to reflect educational policy…

In this chapter we present the findings of an investigation into the ways in which the discourses and practices of school design produce educational spaces which influence the discourses and practices of teaching and learning when the building is occupied. This investigation involved the development of a methodology for systematically analysing…

Finnish education has recently experienced reforms with respect to guidelines forming the curriculum framework for basic education and school architecture. Since 2016, all new schools incorporate open and flexible design, at least to some extent. The more open school design challenges the conventional organisation of space and pre-defined…

Despite growing interest in redesigning the material landscape of education, relatively little is known about the impact of these evolving classrooms. This study aimed to gain insight into the physical learning environment and the potential pedagogical impacts thereof. A "biographical approach" (c. 1963-2015) was used to explore the…

Spatial design as a discipline relies on the psychological construct of space. In the light of shortcomings and challenges faced by traditional approaches to spatial design learning, this paper investigates the role and value of Virtual Reality (VR) as a pedagogic vehicle. Based on understandings informed by action-research using VR with learners…

If the specificity of the architectural space is considered as a measuring element in the education scope to value the prominence of teaching throughout history, it is worth mentioning that the configuration of the vocational training center as a first-rate education scenario that arrives half century of delay with respect to schools, has few…

This article draws together two linked studies on formal teaching spaces within one university. The first consisted of a multi-method analysis, including observations of four teaching events, interviews with academics and estates staff, analysis of architectural plans, and a talking campus tour. The second study surveyed 166 students about their…

This article seeks to augment an emerging interest in education policy research in enactment theorising, to explicitly consider the role and contribution of materiality in this theorising. Guided by the notion of policy "matters," the article takes as its empirical context a major policy initiative, the Building the Education Revolution…

The domain of interiors constitutes a point of tension between practicing architects and interior designers. Design of interior spaces is a significant part of architectural profession. Yet, to what extent does architectural education keep pace with changing demands in rendering topics that are identified as pertinent to the design of interiors?…