Highlighting education support professionals’ indirect contributions to the educational environment

Abstract

This article contributes to the discussion about educational environments. Drawing on Dewey's and Hansen's work, the point of departure is that the educational environment is dynamic and connected to educational purposes, and that educational relationships can be both direct and indirect and connected to norms, values and subject matter. In a case study, using interviews and observations, the periphery of educational environments is explored. Distinctions between the intended and actual functions, and between environment and surroundings in different parts of the municipal administration, and the resulting shortcomings of using an atomistic rather than an ecological perspective in education, are also discussed.

Teachers’ pre-occupancy evaluation of affordances in a multi-zone flexible learning environment – introducing an analytical model

“…The act of teaching involves acting with the intent of someone else's learning in mind. Teachers teach and students learn something, somewhere, to and from someone (Grannäs and Frelin 2017a). Questions about the purpose of education are therefore an important part of curriculum theory discussions.…”

“…Moreover, we need to acknowledge that regardless of whether pedagogies are teacher-or student-centred, at some point choices have to be made somewhere by someone about which content is important to learn and which is not. We all learn all the time and everywhere, but according to Dewey what separates an educational environment from a chance environment is the intentional design (Dewey 1916; see also Grannäs and Frelin 2017a). However, the design does not determine people's actions and can only invite an action based on their perceptions.…”

“…The affordances of an environment arise from its social meaning and conventional rules regarding use, in addition to its physical properties. (611) Fayard and Weeks use the term behaviour, but here we use the term action (Dewey 1938;Grannäs and Frelin 2017a). That is, teachers and students enter a space with preconceived notions of what a lesson is, what should happen in it and where and it will guide their actions -the question of purpose in education (Biesta 2009).…”

Transitions through remodelling teaching and learning environments

“…Other studies focus on a more holistic approach in new types of learning environments, such as Gislason's (2018) elaboration on the interrelation of physical design, organisation, educational culture and student dynamics. There are also studies on the collaboration between teachers and support staff from a relational perspective (Frelin & Grannäs, 2014;Grannäs & Frelin, 2017a, 2017b. The staff culture needs to be taken into account because it is a vital part of how teaching and the use of the learning environment are played out (Gislason, 2010).…”

Läraryrket och det etiska behovet av att kunna navigera i utrymmet mellan det säkra och det osäkra

“…Här återkommer den kritik av New Public Management som jag nämnde ovan men utifrån en rumslig relationell begreppsapparat, där det rumsliga perspektivet på skolor som ekosystem synliggör sätt på vilka mekanismer, utifrån ett atomistiskt synsätt, reducerar komplexitet inom utbildning på sätt som gör att de mål som åtgärderna är tänkta att åstadkomma blir svåra att nå, eller till och med kontraproduktiva (se Frelin & Grannäs 2013;Grannäs & Frelin 2017a). Utifrån tanken om att relationer tar tid att bygga, både i termer av faktisk tid för interaktion och över tid, och att relationer äger rum i båda bemärkelserna av begreppet, blir till exempel kontinuitet betydelsefullt (se även Frelin & Grannäs 2010).…”