- 1. 2nd International Conference on Geographies of
EducationSeptember 10th 11th2012The Future We Want? Thesustainable
school as a place ofwellbeingAndrea WheelerThe Centre for
Engineering & Design Education
2. Outline My paper describes the work of an UKERC/ESRC early
careers fellowshipat the University of Nottingham exploring the
dimension of behaviouralchange in the design of sustainable schools
and a Research Associateposition at Loughborough University. My
paper illustrates through narratives, drawings and performances
theengagement of 10 to 16 year old children in the problem of
sustainabledevelopment and the question of a sustainable lifestyle.
It examinesnotions of agency and citizenship for children in the
design of newschools. Examines the notion of wellbeing as a way to
explore how to design asustainable school. It asks the question:
Are there new ways of thinking, living and beingemerging, demanding
support from educationalists; and does thesustainable school and
its design, provide a testing ground forsupporting changes in
patterns of living? 3. Early Careers Fellowship ProjectMarch 2007
February 2010Research AssociateMay 2010 September 2012UK Energy
Research Council/ Economic and Social Sciences Research
Councilhttp://www.sustainability-and-schools.comEPSRC/Innovative
Manufacture and ConstructionResearch
Centrehttp://postope.lboro.ac.uk/ 4. The Building Schools for the
FutureProgramme: An extraordinary number ofsustainable schools?
(UKERC/ESRCFellowship programme) How Can We Design Schools As
Better Learning Spaces and To EncourageSustainable Behaviour?
Co-Design Methodologies and Sustainable Communities. The initial
Government vision that these schools would be sustainable
throughthe relationship of the building design and the behaviour of
the children.(Blair, A, 2004). Sustainable development will not be
just a subject in theclassroom: it will be in the bricks and mortar
[] they [children] will see and workwithin a school that is a
living, learning place in which to explore what
sustainabledevelopment means. The role of childrens participation
in the design of sustainable schools way a keyelement of the
marketing of the programme. 5. Educational theories: AGENCY
ANDDEMOCRATIC EDUCATION According to Biesta education should not be
just about thetransmission of knowledge, skills and values, but
[...]concerned with the individuality, subjectivity, or
personhoodof the student, with their coming into the world
asunique, singular beings (Biesta 2006: 27). Emphasis is on
educational relationships: on trust, and onresponsibility, while
acknowledging the inherently difficultcharacter of education
(Biesta 2006: 15).ReferenceWheeler, Andrea (2008) "Architectural
and Educational Perspectives on Community and Individual Agency in
Creating SustainableHuman Society: Social Cohesion and Sustainable
Behaviour?". In: Agency, 5th International Conference of the
ArchitecturalHumanities Research Association, The University of
Sheffield, School of Architecture, 14th-15th November. 6. Education
for SustainableDevelopment and Educational Philosophy:CITIZENSHIP
Worldy pedagogies aim to connect young people to a globalcontext:
to the worldly experience of human beings in theirplurality; to
their sharing of a common world.ReferencesWheeler, Andrea (2010) An
interview with Harry Shier: Contrasting childrens participation in
the UK Building Schools for theFuture programme with the Nicaraguan
context International Journal of Childrens Rights Vol. 18/3,
457-474Wheeler, Andrea (2009) The Ethical Dilemma of Lifestyle
Change: Designing for sustainable schools and sustainable
citizenship.Les ateliers de lthique, 4(1), 140-155.Firth, Roger and
Andrea Wheeler (2009) Sustainable Schools and ITE: Building the
Dialogue?. In: Proceedings of the UK ITENetwork for Education for
Sustainable Development/Global Citizenship Annual Conference.
Developing a critical perspective ofESD/GC in ITE. 9th July 2009,
Keyworth Centre, London South Bank University. Available in print
and online at:http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/ccci/uk.shtml 7. WELLBEING
Debates surrounding wellbeing within policy suggest acommon call to
look beyond economic measures of socialprogress. Wheeler, Andrea
(2011) Place, Well-being and Pedagogies of Connection in Design
Workshops with Young People. Chapter in Well Being and Place, eds.
Sara K. Fuller, Ashgate. 8. DRAWING and other means of expression
If children are to be encouraged to make lifestyle changesthey will
have to enter a discussion of our relationship to theenvironment
and to the political and philosophicalcomplexities this entails.
Young people will have to reconcileconflicting social pressures.
Children need ways to discoverand reformulate their ways of being
in the world and this willrequire more than just spaces for
learning. Art based research have children the place to thinking
aboutbringing into being new ways of living.Wheeler, Andrea (2009)
"Theatre Practices, Performativity and Young Peoples Ethical
Architectures", Ethics and the BuiltEnvironment Conference,
University of Nottingham, 9-11th September 2009. 9. AGENCY AND
DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION 10. CITIZENSHIP 11. NarrativesEveryone is just
worrying about the credit crunch, the credit crunch atthe moment.
It might be about the public, but it is the Government
aswell.Researcher: Do you think the credit crunch [] or the
economic crisishas something to do with global warming?Yeah [all of
the group responding to the question]Because the banks are lending
money, but people arent paying itbackBecause its like [a man] maxed
out like six credit cards andkilled himself, and then his wife had
to pay it off. Because like ifmoneys gone out of your bank account
you wont have enough moneyto buy light bulbs. People want, want,
want, they want to go onholidays, they want big cars, they want
their children to have the latestvideo games. 12. Researcher: Do
you think people could stop behaving like this?Some kids get spoilt
abit sometimes [] because kids get spoilt my Dadstarted saying
things I dont need and I want I have to buy it myself. Itteaches me
how its going to be like when I grow up. Youre limited inwhat you
can buy. And ones that get spoilt should do it as well []because
when theyre older its not going to happen and you need towork for
it. Do you think we should stop global warming?Global warming panic
13. PostOPE : Post Occupancy PerformanceEvaluation. (EPSRC funded
ResearchAssociate with Masoud Malekzadeh andProfessor Dino
Bouchlaghem) Investigate the difference between computer
basedpredicted energy performance of buildings during design andthe
actual in-use performance using a number of case studyschool
buildings. Innovative art-based research methods with children. 14.
PostOPE : Post Occupancy PerformanceEvaluation. Whole school
research: to investigate the difference betweenpredicted energy
performance of a school and the actual in-use performance required
detailed information from thewhole school on how the school was
being used. Engaging children, and research with children
requiredappropriate methods. Democratic/ innovative methods to
motivate behaviourchange. 15. Problem. Why do modern building
designed forenergy efficiency, using modern simulation
predictiontools, frequently fail to perform as intended? Why isthe
difference between predicted and actual energyuse of schools so
high?Objective. Understand this difference and determine away to
assess this difference.Action: Our emergent approach for
sustainableschools. PostOPE (the project) combined
differentassessment methods .IMPACT: POE already making a
difference in schools.The importance of application of whole school
methodsfor the construction industry. 16. PostOPE: MethodsOpen
discussionWalk through using videoArt based research
workshopsQuizMasoud Malekzadeh, Dino Bouchlaghem and Andrea Wheeler
(2011)Developing a participatory POE research method to support
emerging lifestylesSpecial Issue of Architectural Engineering and
Design Management (AEDM) (inpreparation) 17. Case Study OneCase
Study Two Case Study ThreeWindows and ventilation systemsWe also
have this automatic window In the whole school there are Sometimes
they [the classrooms] are thing for when it gets too stuffy. When
automatic windows that you have to really warm and the windows dont
you produce too much CO2 theopen and close with a key and there
areopen. None of the windows open. Only windows open, its automatic
[...] If you only about four keys in the wholethe lower ones. In
the summer its really talk too much in classroom they openschool.
So that kind of means that you hot (Year 7 pupil.) Researcher 1:
Are (laughs).cant open the windows in some there things you think
the architect departments because you havent got acould have done
better? Just the key.windows.ICT and computers All the computers
are always on, they In there [computer room] as well is the On hot
days the IT suites are the best are never switched off by the
power.study centre [full of computers] and itbecause of the air
conditioning. They are always on standby. [...] its just gets very
hot and even if the air con is that the monitor is off. You just
logoffon only slight areas get it and it gets and you dont shut it
down.very hot.Attitudes to energy efficiency and I think we should
but we have gotten I dont even think we are trying. It ...if no one
moves in the classroomsustainability used to everything and dont
want to go feels like they dont even think theythen the lights go
out and so its like back to basics care. But they are always
banging on when people go out of the room the about it. They are
always telling us tolights go off and so the bills are lower. save
energy but why not them. So do you think the bills are lower inthis
new school? Youre paying less foryour electricity and gas or not?
Possiblynot, because its bigger.Natural and artificial lightIt
happens [automatic lights switch In the art and music corridor
there areI think we should stop lighting the on] when you go in,
but when you go full size windows, they go down the full school in
the day as the sun lights it up out everyone turns them off anyway.
Inlength of the building, the problem is alot and were wasting
electricity PE thats what happens as they will gothat you have to,
if you have projectors (Final design session, Year 8 pupil). off in
the changing rooms and in PE you on in an art department you cant
just have to jump about a bit. In the actually see because they
dont have store rooms it is straight on. You walk blinds so you
cant actually lower the in and it just turns on. Cleanersblinds so
the projector can see so then cupboards and stuff. you cant really
see anything. 20 18. Post Occupancy RESULTS1. Contradictions
between what adults say and what they tell children to do. A
mismatch between designers intention and teachers ability to manage
the behaviours of pupils (many examples dining biggest issue)2.
Poorly functioning building features (windows, heating and
ventilation systems, circulation, dining spaces) and either over
provision or under provision of space and facilities, together with
teachers prohibiting use of facilities (toilets locked).3. Lack of
ownership of PFI buildings4. Lack of understanding of the
sustainable design features of the new school building solar
heating panels5. Convoluted facilities management procedures where
prohibitions did nothing towards children establishing their own
authentic relationship to the environment and a deep or lasting
critical perspective on the problems of sustainable development.21
19. ORIGINAL RESEARCH QUESTIONAre there new ways of thinking,
livingand being emerging, demanding supportfrom educationalists;
and does thesustainable school and itsdesign, provide a testing
ground forsupporting changes in patterns of living?22 20. Children
and young people have to have the right within our existing
educationalsystems to be able to encounter all the complexities
sustainability involves. Sustainability does not require behaviour
change, but a critical engagement withliving and being. It demands
both ontological and political interrogation: what does it mean to
bein an ethical or just relation to the environment and to other
human beings?Who is this historical human being characterised so
well by his/her exploitationof the natural environment and how do
we understand his or her rights? The question of a sustainable
lifestyle relates directly to the traditions ofphilosophical and
political discourse and this cannot be absent from teaching
inschools in the context of sustainable development. For architects
it is a question not only building performance but engagementwith
the school community from design to post occupancy. 21. Dr Andrea
WheelerTeaching and Learning Co-ordinator (Projects),The Centre for
Engineering & Design
[email protected]://www.sustainability-and-schools.com
