By Begoña Vaquero, Educational Innovation Consultant

In a moment like the current one, where we have the obligation to stay at home and the responsibility to continue our educational activity, the importance of teachers in the teaching-learning process has rightfully and undeniably been highlighted. Also, the role of technology as a facilitator for new processes and as a driver of new methodologies.

But we want to offer another reflection: Are children developing all their skills behind a computer and in a space as limited as home?

Because it’s not just about receiving lessons or knowledge. We already know that. Educational innovation speaks to us about the importance of the student being the protagonist of their own learning. And today, more than ever, the figure of the teacher who guides and helps them discover and enhance skills necessary for collaboration, creation, investigation, and, on the other hand, the technology that supports and reinforces, is highly valued. But also, children must learn to think, manage emotions, socialize. And it is precisely at this point where “the school,” the space in which they develop this activity (teachers and students), becomes crucial.

We want to recognize school as the ideal place for learning. The place where all the key elements for educational magic come together: teachers, students, technology, pedagogy, and innovative methodology. But also, in these days, taking advantage of this pause that helps us reflect and think about how we will return to that place, our school, we want to invite you to reflect on the importance of making school a space for living education with more motivation, more creativity, more health, and more sustainability.

For this, we spoke with Siro López, artist, trainer, and educator, specialized in creativity, educational spaces, and communication, very knowledgeable about this topic as he helps many schools redesign educational spaces, and author of the book “Essence”, where he has captured many key creative experiences to enjoy spaces fully adapted to the needs of students and teachers.

Siro López’s interest in the study and analysis of space comes from his time as a teacher, “working in different centers with students of different ages, one of the things I urgently needed was to condition the space before giving the class”. Slowly, this personal need to create appropriate spaces for the creative and intellectual development of his students led him to investigate “the why and the purpose of spaces, and how they affect our behavior, our emotional state,” applying it mainly to education.

What makes the school the ideal place for learning? The people, the pedagogical model, the methodology, and the spaces.

I have always defended that it is an ecosystem, and when any element weakens or is absent, the whole school, in some way, becomes sick, even if we are not aware of it. The methodology used is as important as the people, and the spaces they inhabit, and all these factors must be in constant balance for the school to become a suitable learning environment. And although space is key, it must be paired with many other vital elements of the educational environment that ensure excellence. It’s not that space is the first or last, but it is a whole.

How does space influence education?

Space affects our emotional state, and therefore, our learning. Space influences us vitally as people, as living beings, precisely because we don’t have space, we are space. Unconsciously, when we enter a restaurant or a room, we scan it to see if it is clean, well lit, etc., because it is vital to us. The same happens with school. The problem is that while shops, supermarkets, and all kinds of spaces have had to change, improve, and take care of their spaces, schools haven’t. We have inherited schools from the industrial era, and we are paying a high price.

Do you think that classrooms with a traditional layout are already obsolete?

Any methodology, if used for years and years without generating other types of skills and updates, will obviously harm us. Today we know that, to learn, we need stimulation, and depending on the curricular content, different formats and solutions are needed to adapt them to the classrooms. The problem is that this is happening very slowly, mainly due to routine, lack of resources, or time.

What should school have today? How should those spaces be?

We need to invest more in education but with intelligence. Therefore, it is important to understand that each school is unique. No classroom should be identical to another, nor should any school be identical to another. Therefore, we need to contextualize each space to respond to the specific needs of students. Hence, the need to create participatory projects, where observation and training are essential to understand current spaces and redesign them to, precisely, form creative and competent people ready to face the challenges of the world.

Is a learning space a physical place?

Not exclusively. When we talk about learning in classrooms, we may think of physical spaces, but fortunately, the mind expands beyond the physical with imagination. However, it is true that space conditions us. For example, being in a “bad” space affects our imagination or emotional state. But if we are in an environment that stimulates creativity and imagination, the changes that happen are incredible.

Does the ideal space exist?

For me, there are several. The one that always comes to mind, very strongly, is nature. And there is no artist or scientist who doesn’t turn to nature for inspiration. For me, it is one of the ideal spaces.

But there are others. Technology offers us an incredible global space, where we can share knowledge, wisdom, and information with people who are thousands of kilometers away. And although it is a space with many challenges and shadow areas, technology is forcing us to change our educational model.

And a third space is the emotional one. And that’s what school provides, a meeting place, an environment of affection and healthy relationships, where we can coexist and find solutions to the conflicts life brings us.

What would you recommend to schools that are considering renewing spaces?

It is important not to rush and to carry out an intelligent project that collects the real needs of the educational center, seeking advice from those who, from experience, can facilitate the strategy to follow. One of the things I try to help with in consultations is to detect “water leaks,” i.e., detecting spatially where there are things harming the school, in order to offer a creative solution that addresses the problem.

How to create an innovative educational space?

By answering the specific needs of students, the educational community, and the school. For me, talking about innovation is precisely offering a solution to a very specific need of your students. Innovation is not about technology, but about those challenges, which are not always easy, of responding to what the school needs at a particular moment, enhancing personalization, space flexibility, new methodologies, creativity, nature, play, etc.

What evidence or metrics indicate improvement?

There are immediate evidences. Simply when you enter a space, and it makes you feel good, comfortable, and you don’t want to leave that space; on the contrary, you want to stay because of the pleasure of interacting. And others in the long term, like offering alternative spaces, in difficult contexts, to provide the tools, competencies, and skills necessary to guarantee that all our children and adolescents have a promising future.

Where should schools start to renew spaces? Is it a matter of money?

Each school should start with its priorities, which will vary from one school to another. Each school’s reality forces you to detect or decide where the greatest conflict and need for space renewal are. Priorities are not always the classroom or the hallway; sometimes, the most urgent need may be bathrooms, the dining room, or the playground. I like to emphasize that, most of the time, it is not about the budget, although the budget is very important when facing any space renovation project. And although it is true that, in the case of a renovation, there are many spatial elements that will require an investment, there are many creative proposals that can help, in a participatory way, and with minimal economic expense, to enjoy perfect spaces that motivate and enhance the creativity and talent of our students.

For more information about how to design an innovative educational space, please feel free to contact us at Federico Giner.