PART THREE
Design Principles in Action
A
rmed with research about how children learn—and with a strong commitment to
include the community in the planning process—a growing number of schools are creating successful new learning environments that contain the seeds of promise for
teaching and learning in the twenty-first century. The following thirteen schools are examples of such creative educational projects. Together, they illustrate the six principles for designing effective learning environments: • Enhance teaching and learning, and accommodate the needs of all learners. • Serve as a center of the community. • Result from a planning and design process that involves all interested parties. • Provide for health, safety, and security. • Make effective use of available resources. • Allow for flexibility and adaptability to changing needs.
New schools are about more than just bricks and mortar; they are about Los Angeles' vision for its neighborhoods, communities, and our region. … Schools shouldn't be just schools; they should be centers that spawn the civic fabric and provide ideas and places for people to meet. They should become village centers. And the problems that everybody in a particular neighborhood sees will drive the design of that particular school. —Connie Rice, The Advancement Project, Los Angeles, California
PART ONE: THE CHALLENGE 15