Program Document

This is my program document with approx. square footages. The document is focusing on the "Core" components, which are separate buildings from the learning environments, and the 5-6 grade satellite learning environments. I have started and will continue to look at the K-2 and 3-4 grade level satellite structures.

This is a schedule I have been working to better understand how the students might use the spaces and at what times and what days.

Questions for experts

Below is a list of questions I am compiling for my experts.



· What is your experience in teaching young children (k-6) or teenagers (7-8)?
o Are you familiar with the way young kids or teenagers learn?
· In your opinion, how important is it in an educational setting for children to have a direct or indirect connection to nature? Should they have direct access to nature where they can “freely” explore and is this important in a child’s learning process. How about a teenager?
· In your opinion, what are some of the shortcomings of our public school systems in this country or do you feel that there are any?
· The United States spends more money on education than any other country, and yet it seems that we still don’t measure up to other countries in many areas of education. Why do you suppose this is?
· Are you familiar with the exploratory learning process and do you believe it capable of being implemented into a typical public school scenario? Do you have any thoughts on this approach in regards to it positive or negative attributes?
· Are you familiar with the Montessori method of learning? Do you believe this approach is suitable to the way a child learns and develops. What are its shortcomings in your opinion?
· Are you familiar with some of the thoughts on pier mentor relationships between younger and older students? More specifically grade school and junior high. Some of the research I have done believes this is a positive for both levels of students. Do you feel that incorporating 7-8th grade level students into a learning environment with K-6 is a feasible approach, or are there to many problems involved?
· Are you familiar with some of the concepts of Group learning and do you feel that this is a valid approach to learning in a k-6 and 7-8 grade level school environment?
o Lately I have been researching the Japanese approach to education and find it quite interesting. The Japanese are constantly showing high achievement levels in comparison to the United States and the rest of the world and therefore, I felt this was a good place to look. Are you at all familiar with the Japanese approach to learning?
· The Japanese classroom is divided into “Han” groups. These groups are set up to be as diverse as possible when looking at ethnicity, academic level and economic background. Within these groups, the students are presented a problem in which they explore different ways to solve the problem. The ideas is that all members have something to contribute and learn from each other. Each of the “Han” groups then present their findings to the rest of the groups and another level of learning is presented. An interesting part of this is the teacher does not tell a student or group that the answer that was given is wrong. It is up to the other students and groups to challenge an answer. Also, because of the emphasis on diversity, a smaller rural school in Japan that does not have a great number of students is considered to be at a disadvantage. The Japanese approach is very much in contradiction to the idea of smaller classrooms as our public schools are emphasizing. Do you feel that due to the social and cultural differences between Japanese and American students that some of these ideas could be incorporated into an American school system?
o Exploratory learning has a similar approach where students explore a problem on their own, reflect on their findings in a group setting and than apply what they learned.
o There is also the concept of cooperative learning which is again similar to the above.
o Much of the new ideas in teaching math and other curriculum are emphasizing a cooperative style of learning. An environment where the teacher is not the focus and does not ask the questions, but the students ask the questions. An environment of equality not matter what the background of the student. There is of course critics out there of this approach, but there is also much evidence that shows that group learning works, but only if it is implemented in such a way that it is a key part of the learning process and not a break from the usual or a once in a while approach. What are your thoughts on a cooperative style of learning?
· Do you feel that it is valid to incorporate a learning facility into a more natural environment, or into a working ranch (I am currently looking at a site located on a working ranch just outside of my home town. Approx. 6 miles) where children learn about many natural processes, practical knowledge and food production.
· Do you feel that a practical life experience and learning is important in an education curriculum? The Montessori Method, Japanese and other approaches emphasize this. The Japanese don’t even have janitors, as the children and teachers are responsible for the care of the school. This is where I wonder if the farming, ranching and natural aspects could be important and useful.
· Do you feel that in your experience that it is possible to design an educational environment or facility around a definitive style of learning? I have been looking at certain curriculum that seem to be standard across the board and looking at what sort of environment might work well for each subject. For instance, Art is a subject that has certain spatial requirements, such as more northern light, large areas of neutral colored walls and so on, but also this sort of space needs to stir creativity with a mystical or non-practical approach. A more direct connection to nature is also a benefit within this environment. In one respect, I guess I am trying to get away from the typical one classroom approach where everything is learned in one room (I realize that art, music and p.e. are subjects that are many times in separate rooms, but I am looking at math, reading, etc. as well). Many of the curriculum subjects, such as art and science could of course be learned in the same spatial scenario. I also wonder about the space itself and whether the space could transform, depending on the stimulus and spatial qualities needed.

The diagram at the top right is showing which curriculum components can be together in the same space and which ones cannot. The top left diagram is showing the main idea of the learning environment which is a constant back and forth between exploring a concept or a problem in small groups and than presenting and reflecting on the findings in that group in a larger group setting and than taking what is learned and goign back and applying that knowledge. The diagrams at the bottom are looking at the daily cycle in curriculum components and trying to separate more inense curriculum with more creative and less intense curriculum.

William Wedemeyer Progress

The main idea here is that the classroom actually becomes a series of spaces in each learning pod. Each pod would contain not only the different areas for the different curriculum subjects, but also a library (mostly digital to allow for smaller size), a kitchen, restrooms, area for interior play during bad weather, interior garden and an area for teacher prep. A cafeteria will not be necessary as lunch will be eaten in the other areas. Janitorial facilities will be available as well, but the students and staff will be required to clean and take care of the facility. Technology will be important. Technology can allow for a digital library where students would read using digital book tablets. This would allow for each learning pod to be inserted to a natural setting away from a typical school core of spaces (Library, gym, computer lab, etc.). The kindergarten spaces will still be attached to the core spaces and admin. Areas, as they need a more secure and transitional environment.
Another key part of this facility and teaching process will be the connection to community. This facility can connect to the community through farming and selling of produce. Raising of beef and selling beef products that can be produced at the facility. The facility would have a farmers market of sorts and community center.
Parents are another key portion of this learning portion. There are many social issues and stresses that affect a child’s ability to learn. Many of these start at home, especially in low income and single parent homes. A way I would like to handle this issue is to involve parents as much as possible. Summer during harvests, parents and children need to still be involved in the school and farming aspects. This may mean changing the school year to yield more summer involvement. Parents need to come help with harvest and intern, can receive fresh produce for their families. This is a good thing for low income and better off families. Kids also learn an important lesson in raising of food and get to contribute to this end. I would also like to create jobs on site for single mothers, or low income families, or mothers who just want to be more involved. These jobs would help with training of the parents if needed and allow the parents to be more active in their child’s learning. This will also give the children a glimpse into the work place. Parents volunteering will also be a key to the schools success. The school’s involvement in the working ranch will also be a partnership where kids learn about the process of raising livestock, training horses and so on, but also get valuable life lessons from an array of adults and authority figures.
Art – Tall, free feeling space with lots of views, and sensory stimulation. Integration with nature is necessary, but do to art not necessarily being “natural”, this space must point to the mystical, fantasy and other areas of the child’s imagination, not necessarily staged in reality of the natural.
Math – space that allows for group and possibly individual work, more comfortable and at students scale. Shorter ceilings and day lighting, but only singular views and sensory stimulation for better concentration.
Reading – space that allows for group and possibly individual work, more comfortable and at students scale. Spaces for kids to hideaway and read. Shorter ceilings and day light, but only singular views and sensory stimulation for better concentration.
Social Studies – Space for group work, with more stimulation and multiple views.
Science – Space for group work with more stimulation and multiple views. More integration with nature is necessary.
Music – Sound control is important. Day lighting and views out is okay. Group setting.
Free Play - Tall, free feeling space with lots of views, and sensory stimulation. Integration with nature is necessary, but this space must also point to the mystical, fantasy and other areas of the child’s imagination, not necessarily staged in reality of the natural. Engage natural directly.
Library space – group areas with areas for individual use. Comfortable space where child scale is important, but some areas that become taller with more of a free feel, are okay. Daylighting is necessary, but must be controlled, so there is not to much glare.
Kitchen – Scale will be important as students will help with meal preparation to learn practical skills.
Janitorial facilities – scale will be important to allow kids to help with cleaning duties.

Much of my research on learning techniques that work, has brought me to some conclusions. One of the best ways that children seem to learn well, are not singled out for being different, having the wrong answer, or having bad grades, learn to work well with others in a way that they can carry into being an adult, learn to cherish diversity, learn many different possible approaches to a specific problem and learn how to be a leader is the idea of cooperative learning. Now this idea of cooperative learning varies slightly in the different research of educational techniques I have looked at, but for the most part the goals of this type of learning and the benefits remain the same. There is of course some critics of the process, but I believe that the research has shown me that it is beneficial if applied properly and as a inherent part of the learning techniques versus it being something that is applied on occasion as a break from another form of teaching. This technique reminds me a lot of the way we have affinity groups and studio groups and how really I think we learn as much from these people as we do our instructors. I believe some of the keys of this system are:
· It is less teacher focused and not authoritarian in nature.
· It allows the student to explore with little interference or direction given by the instructor
· The students develop not only the answers, such as in a typical authoritarian style of teaching, but they develop the questions as well.
Much of this comes from my research into the Japanese style of learning (the Japanese have a high achievement level in their educational system), the exploratory style of learning, many of the books that I have read on schools and styles of education that work, books on how to teach mathematics, lead to a cooperative style of learning. One such study was on the Railside School, where there was an amazing change in a very diverse, and minority based school. This school was observed for an extended period of time both before and following the implementation of this group learning environment. The school now achieves well over the other two schools that were included in the study. Now when I say cooperative learning, I am talking about a diverse group of students that work together on a regular basis to analyze a problem and discuss different ways to work through the problem. This group than, presents their findings to the rest of the groups where more is learned by seeing how the different groups also worked through the problem. Even if the answer is wrong or the way in which a group worked the problem is not the best, it is still an opportunity to learn. Now, when designing a space for learning around the premise of group learning, there are a number of other things that I wish to look at as well. The design must be able to be manipulated to allow for different subject matter to be learned that require different levels of stimulation or sensory input. The learning space must also allow for small groups to work comfortably but also allow the larger group to assemble. The learning space must provide a level of equality to all groups and individuals that a typical authoritarian classroom where the teacher is the focus at the front of the class cannot. The teacher’s space must be separate enough to allow for the children to feel as though the classroom is theirs, but still allow for a sufficient amount of supervision. For the smaller students, a sense of security is important and should have small child scale break out spaces where a small child can go. These spaces should provide a relief from the larger space, but still remain inclusive of the classroom environment. As the children get older, this is not as necessary. Kindergarten age kids especially need this security. Kindergarten children also need transitional spaces when going outside, or into a more unsecure natural environment.

This slide is looking at another approach to integrating the spaces with the site.

This image is showing the basic concept of the differences in building form and layout as you move up in grade level. The main idea has to do with Paiget's concept of pre-operational (logical thought processes not yet developed) and concrete operational (logical thought processes have developed along with the concept of conservation - where a child can understand that an object or container can hold the same amount of something even if the height, width and depth of the objects are different).

This a new location on my site that I am going to use in lieu of the old. This is mainly do to this site offering more areas of natural environement to be explored. This site is still in the Wyo Herford Ranch, it is just down the road. This image is showing the possible locations for the learning pods for each of the different grade levels. The main reason for separating this is because of kids learning from other kids better if those kids are in their own age group. There is also a tie between the teens and the K-2 grades. This is due to some of the benefits to both groups when a pear/mentor relationship is established. The reason for these age groups, is they are far enough apart in age that there is less chance of a competative or bullying relationship to establish itself.

This diagram is showing some of the spatial adjacencies between the major program elements and the differences in some of the major program components at different grade levels. Following this diagram and further research, I have decided that their is a difference in the way children at grade levels k-2 and 3-6 as well. This work is in progress.