1. Navigating literacy and learning in school libraries
QUT Library, May 2015
h.hughes@qut.edu.au
Designing library learning spaces
Hilary Hughes
Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
2. Designing library learning spaces
Overview
• Values-based learning space designing
• A library designing process
Charrette + Mosaic + VAST
• Reimagining a school library space
• Recommendations for designing a school library
• Q & A
• Select bibliography
3. Values-based (library) learning space designing
Who is valued here?
Who is not valued here?
What is valued here?
What is not valued here?
What learning activities are enabled by the design of this space?
What learning activities are inhibited by the design of this space?
4. Learning environment as third teacher
Inter-relationships between learners, teachers and learning spaces
We value space because of its power to organize, promote
pleasant relationships among people of different ages, create a
handsome environment, provide changes, promote choices and
activity, and its potential for sparking all kinds of social affective,
and cognitive learning.
Malaguzzi (quoted by Gandini,1998, p.177)
5. Values-based participatory designing
Stakeholders, vernacular designers, learners …
• who are they?
• what are their needs, expectations, wishes?
• how do they imagine their ideal learning space?
Professional designers – help realise our imaginings
who are the key stakeholders in your library?
6. Attending to student voice …
• Students are key stakeholders in
libraries & learning spaces
• Gaps between students’ ideal and
real library spaces
• TLs & teachers translate students’
imaginings to designers
Peacefulness, contentedness,
adventure and technology
Drawings from: Bland, Hughes & Willis, 2013
8. A charrette is …
• Participatory (re)designing process
• Consensus about design problem and opportunities
• For a conceptual design solution
9. A design charrette is an intensive, hands-on workshop
that brings people from different disciplines and backgrounds together to
explore design options for a particular area or site …
The goal of the charrette process is to capture the vision, values, and ideas of
the community …
To bring citizens, decision-makers and designers together to build a
new or alternative vision for an area or site through a creative process of team
work and competition …
[use] When seeking to explore options for changing an area or site by tapping
into both the needs and values of those who live there and the expertise of
professional designers and decision-makers.
Text: People and particpation.net (n.d.) http://www.peopleandparticipation.net/display/Methods/Design+Charrettes
Photos: Courtesy of Auraria Library, Colorado University Denver
10. The term "charrette" is derived from the French word for
"little cart." In Paris during the 19th century, professors at the
Ecole de Beaux Arts circulated with little carts to collect final
drawings from their students. Students would jump on the
"charrette" to put finishing touches on their presentation
minutes before the deadline.
[What is a charrette (n.d.) The Town Paper. http://www.tndtownpaper.com/what_is_charrette.htm]
11. Charrette steps
Towards consensus about the design problem and solution(s)
• Determine stakeholders’ expectations, needs and wishes
For a NEW library: Imagine using Focus groups, drawings
For an EXISTING library: Evaluate using Mosaic + VAST
• Identify design focus or problem(s) to address
• Collaboratively develop conceptual design
12. Mosaic approach (Alison Clark)
Inclusive, participatory approach
Student voice – multiple stakeholders
Visual methods
o Tour
o Map
o Meaning making
13. Mosaic: Tour ~ VAST heuristic
Values
Whose values are reflected
in the design of this space?
What values are reflected
in the design of this space?
Activities
What activities are enabled
by the design of this
space?
Site/System
(location, access, outlook, climate)
What physical attributes
contribute positively to
experience of this space?
Technology
(building structure, climate control, layout, services)
What technical aspects
contribute positively to
experience of this space?
Whose values are
overlooked?
What values are
overlooked?
What activities are
inhibited by the design?
What physical attributes
impact negatively?
What technical aspects of
the building design impact
negatively on users’
experience of this space?
Human
relationships
What feelings, attitudes,
beliefs or practices does
this space evoke for you?
Human activity
What processes,
information sources or
support services assist your
use of this space?
System to support
human activity
What features of the
site/building appeal to you
and encourage
your use?
Production of the
built space
What do the
finishes/fittings tell you
about the nature and
purpose of this space?
Adapted by Raylee Elliott Burns (2003) with permission from Heath, T. (1989). Introduction to design theory. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.
This document may not be published elsewhere without Raylee’s permission.
14. After the charrette - what next?
Realise your imaginings
• Share your conceptual design with decision-makers
• Use it as basis for planning with professional designers
Continue to reimagine
15. PublicDomainPictures COO licence http://pixabay.com/en/puzzle-colors-children-wood-14451/
Recommendations for
school library designing
• identify the full range of stakeholders in
business of learning and teaching;
students and teachers as clients and
experts
• consult all stakeholders as early, often
and widely as possible
• allow time for collaborative relationships
and understandings about the space to
develop - before planning and contracts
• seize opportunities to learn and build
on previous experience
• Enable stakeholders, to collectively
imagine and reimagine the space,
eg. Mosaic, charrette
• take advantage of the transition phase
for community-building
(Bland, Hughes & Willis, 2013)
16. Select bibliography
• Bland, D., Hughes, H., & Willis, J. (2013). Reimagining learning spaces: A research
report for the Queensland Council for Social Science Innovation. Queensland
University of Technology, Brisbane. Retrieved October 15, 2014, from
http://reimaginingspaces.edu.au/
• Clark, A. (2011). Breaking methodological boundaries? Exploring visual,
participatory methods with adults and young children. European Early Childhood
Education Research Journal, 19(3), 2011, 321-330.
• DPEarlyLearning. Environment as third teacher.
https://www.pinterest.com/dpearlylearning/environment-as-third-teacher
• Gandini, L. (1998). The hundred languages of children: The Reggio Emilia approach
– advanced reflections. Ablex.
• Heppel, S. Interesting learning places and spaces.
https://www.pinterest.com/stephenheppell/interesting-learning-places-and-
spaces/
• Howard, Z. & Somerville, M.M. (2014) A comparative study of two design
charrettes: Implications for codesign and participatory action research. CoDesign:
International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts, 10 (1), 46-62.
• La Marca, S. (2010). Designing the learning environment. Camberwell: ACER Press.
• Landscapes open window work in progress. (CD). Photos by teachers and
atelieristas of Preschools and Infant-Toddler Centres, Istituzione of the
Municipality of Reggio Emilia. ISBN 978-88-87960-45-7
• Michaelsson, R.J. Library design. https://www.pinterest.com/rjmichaelson/library-
design/
• Other images: Pixaby.com – CC0 licence
Notas do Editor
Good afternoon
Thank you QUT Library
Any body done/doing Designing Spaces for Learning?
How many of you have been involved in a formal designing process?
Designing ~ redesigning is ideally an ongoing process as you adjust to changing needs of learners
What comes to mind when I say ‘designing your library’?
Often we think in terms of the end product = the design
Rather than the process = designing
There is a subtle difference
– Design is often something that’s done to us, by professional others
- Designing can be a participatory process, where we have some agency
Designing is an active process that involves evaluation, consultation collaboration – and imagining
There are lots of books, web sites, workshops that give ideas about the interior design of your library-
- Eg. Stephen Heppell, Barbara Braxton, Pinterest boards
– the pretty stuff if you like
This presentation is about the designing process.
I’ll be giving you examples of how we’re using this process in the unit DSL
- As an example of a process that you could easily adopt or adapt in your own school library.
Overview
In this presentation
I will first ask you to consider learning space designing as a values-based process
By way of example, I’ll then outline the designing process we follow in the Designing Spaces for Learning unit - how we carry out a charrette - how the charrette incorporates the Mosaic approach to structure the evaluation of an existing space
- how we use the VAST heuristic as an evaluative tool - how we then use a consensus hands-on approach to
support conceptual redesigning of the space
I’ll end by offering some research-based Recommendations for designing a school library
Q & A
Select bibliography
So first, what do we mean by values-based learning space designing?
A values-based designing approach focuses on the intended users of the space and seeks to support their expectations, needs and wishes
- A learning space - like a school library - needs to be fit for the purpose of contemporary learning
Sounds obvious enough! But how often have you studied or taught in a space isn’t conducive to learning and teaching
– or at least to your preferred way of learning and teaching
We’re fortunate to be in a nice shiny new space
Look around and ask yourself the questions on the screen ….
Share your thoughts with people near to you …
Now share with the whole group
Why is a values-based approach important or beneficial?
A well designed learning space – like a school library - has the potential to be a “third teacher”.
This concept comes from the Reggio Emilia educational project that was originated by Loris Malaguzzi in Northern Italy after the second world war.
RE continues to flourish in Italy and is increasingly influencing learning space design and pedagogy around the world.
The concept of ‘third teacher’ acknowledges complex inter-relationships between the environment, students and teachers.
These photos of a RE school exemplify how:
learning spaces can be designed to foster creativity, inquiry and shared learning
– emphasis on aesthetically pleasing setting, flow and movement, inside-outside connections
Their design allows the potential for “encounters, communication, and relationships” (Gandini, 1993)
They are flexible and responsive to changing needs and interests of learners
The Reggio Emilia approach recognises the importance of simultaneously considering the design and intended use of space to promote learning.
And it values student participation in the creation of their learning spaces
It follows that a values-based participatory designing approach includes the voices of all stakeholders
We need to
First identify stakeholders
Find out and understand their needs, expectations and wishes
And ask them how they imagine their ideal library or learning space
Once we have a clear vision of what stakeholders want and need
- then we call upon professional designers, architects, builders to realise our imaginings
Who are the key stakeholders in your library?
TL
Teachers
Principal, leadership team, HODs
Aides
Cleaners Parents
P&C
Wider community
Especially the young people whose learning is the core purpose of the school and the library
Why is it important to involve students?
Here is an example from my own research where we asked students: To draw and talk about their ideal learning space
Students’ response were highly creative - Two examples are shown on the screen
The boat …
A horse …
The recurring elements they wished for were a combination of:
Peacefulness, contentedness, adventure and technology
It’s unlikely that designers or teachers would have imagined libraries in this way!
There are various ways you could go about designing your school library
One powerful collaborative way is to carry out a charrette …
What is a charrette?
A charrette is a participatory designing process where a group of people work together in developing a consensus-based conceptual design.
This is most commonly used in a community or urban context.
I’ve witnessed a series of charrettes used for a major ‘revisioning’ project at a US university library.
I’m finding that it is also a powerful learnings and teaching strategy
In my MEd unit
For teachers in a classroom or library setting
Here is a definition of a charrette …
The photos are of the charrette I witnessed at University of Colorado Denver.
You can see that it’s a very hands-on process!
In the first slide, participants are sharing their design ideas.
In the second and third slides participants are creating representations of conceptual design solutions.
This is where the term charrette came from
A charrette has a series of steps – these usually include
First you need to determining stakeholders’ expectations, needs and wishes
A facilitator – maybe you as TL – will help the stakeholders to work towards consensus about the design problem and possible solutions
If you’re starting from scratch in designing a NEW library, the first charrette step would be to imagine what the library could be, eg: - Hold focus groups, brainstorming activities, or ask students to draw and talk about their ideal library
If you’re redesigning an EXISTING library, the vital first step is to evaluate the current space.
Once the stakeholders have identified the particular design problem(s) they then develop a conceptual design to address it
By way of example, I’ll share with you the charrette process that the TL students and I are developing through the MEd unit Designing Spaces for Learning
In the spirit of participatory designing, this unit keeps evolving!
In the unit, to structure the learning space evaluation, we use Alison Clark’s Mosaic approach - and as an evaluative tool we Tom Heath’s VAST heuristic.
This is how we do the charrette in the MEd course at QUT.
We assume that we’re working with an existing school library or other learning space.
In the first part of the charrette, to evaluate the existing space we use the Mosaic approach.
Mosaic is a suite of visual methods developed by Alison Clark through her research over about 15 years.
Clark originally developed Mosaic as a way to understand how young children experience learning spaces and to give them a voice in designing.
Most of her work is in early years and primary school settings.
More recently she’s applied a similar approach to great effect with adults – early years teachers.
In brief, with Mosaic there are 3 parts to evaluating a learning space:
First the users take time to TOUR the space with a critical eye - to identify key things they like or don’t like about the space.
They take notes, or photos or drawings to record these things.
For the unit at QUT, we use a checklist called the VAST heuristic to guide this critical appraisal
Then they create a visual MAP of the space – using the drawings and photos.
Then they engage in MEANING MAKING. They share their maps, talk about each others’ responses, identify similarities and differences – and consider the implications for the design of the space.
Internal students do a charrette on campus at QUT KG Library.
External students do a mini charrette at their own library or workplace.
They all share their Mosaic findings and design solutions in a blog-based portfolio.
This is a blank copy of the VAST heuristic that students use during the TOUR to evaluate their library or other learning space
As you can see it prompts them to consider particular aspects related to Values, Activities, the Site and building and the Technology (or interior design, finishings and fittings) …
What next?
Realise your imaginings
Share your conceptual design with decision-makers – to convince them, gain necessary budget
Use it as basis for planning with professional designers
Continue to reimagine
Designing is an ongoing process
You need to continue to evaluate the space and its potential
You might carry out a post occupancy evaluation – or more charrettes
That’s a quick romp through a participatory designing process that you might adopt or adapt for your school library.
Depending on your needs, you could mix and match the methods, eg just do the Mosaic or the VAST heuristic
To explore designing ideas further you might like to read the research report Reimagining learning spaces - it presents case studies from 7 Qld schools about their library designing expereinces
The report also offers 17 recommendations for school library designing, including those shown on the screen.
