Fading Boundaries: Insights on Learning "in Between" the Classroom Spaces

Abstract

Along with the advancements in technology and shifts in approaches to education in our day, school architecture began to undergo significant transformations. Learning beyond the classrooms has emerged as a highlighted concern as well as the children's interaction with each other and their environment. Articulation of the changing pedagogical approaches and visions of the innovative, student-centered ideas of the twenty-first century through the physical characters of learning spaces has become a significant issue for research regarding the design of contemporary schools. The evolution of the formation of boundaries, borders, and thresholds defining the distinctions and establishing the relationships and hierarchies between the learning spaces at school settings constitutes a critical part of this process, which deserves attention. This chapter aims to search for boundary-related design suggestions for primary schools in Turkey, based on the data obtained through a field study conducted in Istanbul, which aimed to derive the current issues regarding the spatial use patterns in prototype-based, conventionally designed schools. It is believed that the effective inhabitation of spaces beyond the classrooms has a high potential to contribute to the realization of diverse educational activities and the introduction of more permeable physical and visual boundaries can support the enrichment of school environments.