For more than a century, the physical layout of American schools has been as consistent as any feature in public life. Although the world around us has been in a constant state of flux, we have always been able to depend on a familiar set of symbols in our schools: neat, orderly rows of student desks… teachers delivering lessons to an entire group of children… lockers in the hallways… bell schedules… the list could go on.
But what if those timeworn structures of schooling prevent us from modernizing education for a changing world? What if, in fact, the physical environment is – after parents and peers – the “third teacher” for students?
180: Thrive provides a window into one school’s efforts to directly tackle those questions, and do so in a way that results in a deeper alignment between what we know about how people learn – actively, collaboratively, differently – and how our schools are physically structured. It is intended to spark useful broader thinking about the relationship between a school’s physical environment and its students’ emotional readiness to learn.
Thrive is a 180 production co-directed by Rob English and Sam Chaltain.
- This 70-second version of the Thrive story offers a condensed version of the that is designed to be more shareable on social media.
- See what a decade of collaboration across Greater Pittsburgh and West Virginia has led to in Learning Together – a new report from Remake Learning.
- Watch this AERA Ed Talk on Designing Learning for Equity by Na’ilah Suad Nasir and check out this fact sheet on the talk.
- The Third Teacher is a book about the significance of the physical environment in modern education. It outlines 79 ways people can use space to transform teaching and learning.
- Make Space is a book that is designed to help people set the stage for creative collaboration.
Tweet it: In order to reimagine learning, we must also reimagine the physical space of “school” – but how? Here’s one real life example. #DeeperLearning #FutureforLearning Watch: https://futureforlearning.org/180-thrive