Education Evolution

Sir Ken Robinson posted a link to this video and related website on Twitter recently. I really like the way these students have become advocates for a different type of education, one that is reflected in the learning spaces we inhabit as much as it is by the curriculum. It made me reflect on the role of the beanbag in class, the perceived need for interactive whiteboards at the front of the room and the role that mobile technology should play in learning (in and out of school). It also made me think about how we get the most out of the various learning spaces we will have in the new building, specifically the circulation and public spaces, the in-between spaces, and whether new kinds of furniture might be required to enable informal learning experiences to blossom.

The posts on the project blog are interesting too. The most recent one reveals the trials and tribulations of digital communication. After a brief flurry of interest near the publication of the initial video on YouTube, the class became disheartened that it had not gone viral. However, their message had certainly hit home at a local level, garnering an emotional response from the school's district superintendent. Now, it appears, the video has been picked up and promoted by various folks and is gathering a broader audience.

The construction of an online campaign is a fantastic way for young people to learn about digital tools but, most importantly, provides them with an opportunity to have their voices heard beyond the classroom and/or school where they happen to study. In the process, they can learn about the rights and responsibilities of authors and publishers, the etiquette of the internet, the various techniques for building (and keeping) an audience and the need to support their online campaign with all the conventional features of democracy: meetings, interviews, ballots, speeches, conferences etc.

I really hope this campaign continues to develop and reach educators and young people (and perhaps even politicians) across the globe. I wish the young people responsible for it every success in developing their already considerable skills.

Space to Learn

Whilst out shopping with my family today I also following this fascinating conversation on Twitter initiated by Ian Yorkston (who says men can't multi-task?) It began with a photograph of a plane that is being used by a Nottingham school as a classroom. Bizarrely it cost less to buy and refurbish than a conventional classroom would have taken to build. Imagine climbing into an old aeroplane for your afternoon lesson? Brilliant. Soon, there was news of other innovative classroom spaces with a transport theme - long boats, WW2 gliders and a London bus. I contributed our Pop Up gallery/Classroom 'The Crate' as another example of how schools are experimenting with unusual spaces in which to learn. I was also reminded of a project a while ago where a primary school were asked to imagine that their school had sunk to the bottom of the ocean and that their task was to find ways of returning it safely to dry land. How much more engaging would this amazing project have been if the students had a mini submarine parked in their playground? Another example of this kind of immersive learning activity is the Matching Green 'Nerva' project that was featured in Stephen Heppell's Be Very Afraid showcase. What if those students, as well as communicating online with operatives in Mission Control at the local CLC, could have solved their various problems from the confines of a spacelab in the school carpark?

The Free School idea may prove to be a turning point in our thinking about suitable environments for learning or it may be merely an interesting footnote in the story of educational innovation in the UK. We may yet see schools popping up in old Post Offices, banks and shopping centres. Our new school building will be ready in about 10 months time. We certainly hope that we will have sufficient, highly specified rooms in which to learn and teach. Some of them will look and feel very different to the bog standard spaces we currently use. We will have a TV broadcast room, for example, and an Olympic standard Dojo. These spaces will hopefully be unusual and inspiring places, partly because they will look and feel like professional working environments. We will also have some outside classrooms, embedded in the landscape, that will provide opportunities for classes to work outdoors.

One of the exciting things about the Nottingham aeroplane classroom is the element of surprise that often accompanies great learning. Stepping into the cockpit of the plane or taking a seat in the fuselage would definitely transport me to a different world and possibly help me to remember the lessons I learned there. What additional outdoor, mobile, flexible learning spaces might we still need in our future school?

The final frontier

Thanks to everyone who took part in today's series of meetings, especially the students who spoke so intelligently to Sir Nick Serota from the Tate. Welcome also to the new members of the Action Research Group!

Space, as the old TV saying goes, is the final frontier. The main topic of conversation at this afternoon's ARG meeting was the possibility of the school inheriting a new space external to the current school. We watched a documentary about a project called "Once Upon a School" that I have blogged about before. This involved some professional writers working collaboratively with teachers (in the States) to establish better literacy support for their communities. The key to the initial success of the project (or projects, since there are now lots in a variety of cities) was the use of a neutral space that functioned as shop (selling pirate supplies), tutoring space and office.

It may be the case that Tallis has an opportunity to use just such a space. The question is, what would be the best use of it? We had several ideas this afternoon but I'd like you to add a comment to this post with your latest thoughts. Don't worry too much about the practicalities at this stage. We need to think a bit outside the box. What does our community, in the widest sense, need educationally that it doesn't currently have? How could this space help us to experiment with new solutions to some tricky problems? How might the space be organised and what might happen in it?

I look forward to reading your amazing ideas. I will then take these ideas to the Man from Del Monte to see what he says about them.

Tunnel 228

Today we went to see Tunnel 228. I wouldn't be able to give this enough credit by explaining it myself - it was absolutely amazing! I'll copy what a magazine has said about it and put up a couple of pictures. AMAZING!!! Made my day.

Tunnel 228 will run for 15 days from May 8. It is free to attend and sponsored by Bloomberg. The show promises to take audiences “on a sensory journey through art-installations, sculpture, live performance and vaults of mysterious curiosities”.

Like the city of Metropolis, Tunnel 228 divides the world into two social groups: one of planners or thinkers, who live high above ground and are oblivious to life underground. The other is a world of workers who live in the vaults of Tunnel 228 laboring to sustain the lives of those above ground. On arrival, audiences are issued with a protective mask, before setting off into the darkness to explore this subterranean world alone.

Tickets can be obtained free of charge by accessing Tunnel 228’s website and reserving a time slot to become a ‘worker’ at www.tunnel-228.com.

Kevin Spacey, Old Vic artistic director, said: “We are very excited to be working with Punchdrunk and such an amazing collection of artists. Punchdrunk creates immersive theatre like no other. Their imagination and magical touch with unusual spaces makes this the perfect collaboration. A big thank you to Bloomberg for sponsoring Tunnel 228, without their support this event would not be free to the public.”

Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett added: “Punchdrunk always aims to let people rediscover the excitement and anticipation of exploring the unknown. When The Old Vic showed us the site we knew that this would be a truly unique collaboration. There are so many talented and innovative artists involved, and showcasing an event like this completely free to the public is especially incredible.”