Editorial

Abstract

The annual conference has been designed to address the need to recognise the value that ergonomics, or the taking of a more person-centred approach might have in reducing the problems in schools and in enhancing their future design.Ergonomists have not, on the whole, concerned themselves with the design of school environments, despite the notable success of employing ergonomics to the study of other work environments. Instead, where they have chosen to consider teaching-and learningrelated issues, these have most commonly addressed issues such as the design of furniture, backpacks and the use of computers. Indeed, several of the papers presented at the conference addressed these and similar issues. However, such studies tend to focus on designing for children, rather than designing with, and by, children, which are more in keeping with the themes of this publication. Four papers have been selected for this publication. They represent different facets of pupil involvement in the design of schools in the UK.Pupil-centred design is, in itself, beginning to achieve some recognition within the ergonomics community. Two generic models have been presented (Benedyk et al. 2006, in press;Smith 2007), both of which put the learner at the heart of the process, and seek to understand the factors which might contribute to the success of learning interactions. Such models point to the need for designers to take into account a wider set of factors when designing learning environments and teaching material rather than just the immediate focus of interaction. Such an approach was undertaken in the design of polysensory classrooms for children with an autistic spectrum disorder (see Woodcock and Georgiou 2007; Woodcock et al. in press), where the design of a low sensory room took into account not just the immediate needs of the child (in terms of interaction with the screen) but also how the room would function within the wider school context, the training that teachers would require to use it, how the activities in the room would integrate with other lessons, etc.Although these models point to the need to understand children as pupils, they do not consider whether pupils should be engaged in the design of school environments, the level or manner of such an engagement or how the results of pupil participation might feed into the design processes. The papers presented in this edition start to address these issues with regard to the new schools programme in the UK.Such questions are timely. The UK has embarked on an ambitious plan to redesign and refurbish its primary and secondary schools. Governmental reviews have criticised some existing schools as being unfit for purpose, with some of the building stock dating back to Victorian times, there is a clear need for building renewal. Some existing schools do not support new technology, new teaching methods, the enlarged curriculum or the needs of pupils with different backgrounds, interests and abilities. Given the £21.9 billion

Rewilding education? Exploring an imagined and experienced outdoor learning space

“…It is intended to reflect a fundamental change in the traditional designer-client relationship, enabling a wide range of people to make a creative contribution, but it is rarely used in schools. Woodcock (2008) points out that engaging children in the design of future schools should be of interest to educators, policy-makers, architects and designers, but that the question of their engagement, along with how to conduct meaningful participation in practice, is not asked enough. Involving children in the design process not only has the potential to improve the design, it is also educational, as Matthews and Limb write, 'Involving children in the design and management of their environments is a valued end in itself, as well as an important step to developing competent, participating citizens ' (1999: 66).…”

Towards a Framework of Co-Design Sessions with Children

“…Therefore, ''the real issue would seem to be […] how to more effectively engage children in the design process'' [10]. In a similar way, in a special issue of the coDesign journal, all the studies agreed on the value of including children in the early stages of design and in the decision making process, but highlighted practical difficulties and the need for guides and directions for designers and researchers who want to organise and conduct meaningful participations [11]. More recently, [12] proposed a framework for supporting the choice of certain methods by relating the characteristics of children with the characteristics of design methods.…”