Life skills are not learned one by one in an isolated
manner. When learning in life you are exposed to the opportunity to experience
many lessons all at once, as a result of each other. Take riding a bike for
example, you learn lessons in:
- Balance
- Motion
- Patience
- Persistence
- Road safety
- And potentially pain
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They are not independent of one another but a flow of
experiences; this same notion can be said for how we learn most, if not all
life lessons and skills.
So then why is it that in school we learn in time slots,
with 45 minutes allocated to individual subjects. You would think that more
depth could be given to the learning environment if we took an interdisciplinary
approach. Many new age schools are investing in this attitude,
changing the way in which their schools are designed, the way they operate, and
the way in which students learn.
Interdisciplinary learning has an emphasis on ‘life learning’.
The lessons you learn in school can be transferred to your day to day life and vice
versa. The aim is to engage the students in broader world thinking, expanding
their minds to understand societal values of community, justice, morality, equality
and kindness to name a few. Therefore the students learn that education
continues outside of the school grounds and they are equipped with a board skill set to help them be better prepared for the future.
Whilst this is a bold aspiration for education and I do
believe it is the correct step forward for the future, this type of learning is
not possible if the designs of our learning spaces are not addressed. This type
of learning cannot just happen in the spaces our current schools consist of. Many
schools are knocking down walls and replacing them with retractable partitions
to expand classroom spaces, yet this isn't enough to allow this type of
learning to occur. In this, it is the space that will either expand our student’s
opportunities or limit them. Does architecture matter? Can design influence
learning? I know my answer.
I think this is a good point. But only for some subjects. Humanities subjects would be cool to be integrated because they sorta relate but how can you do science or maths in this way? If there is a balance for when this type of learning happens and for when traditional learning happens then it could be good.
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