new ecologies for learning + wellness

Close your eyes.Tuesday, October 22, 13

JULIAN GERMAIN, CLASSROOM PORTRAITS 2004-2012

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Why is there a dichotomy between our

environments and our experiences?

Tuesday, October 22, 13

How might we create new ecologies for living, learning, and healing?

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Tuesday, October 22, 13

DISCOVERY ACTIVATION STRATEGY DESIGN

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Develop deep empathy.Focus on feelings to understand the perspectives & stressors that impact

a child’s world.

Tuesday, October 22, 13

THE WELL CONFERENCE

Vulnerable populations have decreased ability to articulate, control, & cope with stress.

It is our responsibility to mitigate or eliminate environmental stresses by design.

Stressors:cataclysmic eventsstressful life eventsdaily stressorsambient stressors

Tuesday, October 22, 13

"Research indicates that stress from a variety of sources — including crowded and chaotic home and classroom environments, for example, or problems with family or peers — impedes learning

...working to reduce inappropriate environmental stresses facing young children would not only improve their overall well being, but also improve their ability to learn in school.”

James A. Griffin, Ph.D., of the Child Development and Behavior Branch

at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Tuesday, October 22, 13

What factors affect a student’s life outside of school?Outside of the hospital?

MALCOM X COLLEGE, CHICAGO

Tuesday, October 22, 13

THE WELL CONFERENCE

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Use new language.Shift your design from nouns to verbs

and you can imagine new vocabularies of place.

Tuesday, October 22, 13

“We’re going to have a baby.”

“We’re going to have burping, messing, cooing, crawling

discovering, spilling, learning, growing, crying, loving...”

Tuesday, October 22, 13

GREELEY SCHOOL, CHICAGOLAND

retreatmake believedig

gathersocialize

chaseleapbound

stretch climb

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Values to verbs to places

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Design the in-between.Create more seamless experiences by designing interstitial environments that cultivate connection & enhance culture.

Tuesday, October 22, 13

We’re both pretty bad at corridors.

healing? learning?

Tuesday, October 22, 13

THE WELL CONFERENCE

The connective tissue of our institutions is broken. We inadvertently thwart our goals of security, connection, & efficiency.

47%the highest incidents of reported school bullying happened in hallways U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics

20-30%of our schools are dedicated to circulation

Tuesday, October 22, 13

storytelling

connecting waiting

transitioning

CHIARAVALLE MONTESSORI, EVANSTON

Tuesday, October 22, 13

How might we make hallways more human?

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON STEM ACADEMYCHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Create safe spaces.Build ownership and a sense of personal space institutional &

shared settings.

Tuesday, October 22, 13

HUGA FORTS - STANFORD MASTER’S PROJECTTTT+ FELLOW: MICHAEL POPE

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Children seek places for refuge & imagination. Fort building can be a formative childhood experience.

By constructing and governing their own worlds, children gain an experience of control over their environment that few other activities afford.

Tuesday, October 22, 13

“Child’s Cave”“Secret space” “Special place”“Nook”“Fort”“Treehouse” “Refuge”

Researchers: Sobel, Chawla, Cobb, Clayton

ResilienceCopingIdentitySelf-discovery

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Empower children’s agency.

Design in moments for children to understand, learn, & do.

Tuesday, October 22, 13

JERRY THE BEARDESIGN FOR AMERICA

Tuesday, October 22, 13

Let’s work together to design a new ecology for children and families to learn & be well.

learning wellness

Tuesday, October 22, 13