Schools of the Future - Page 3

Architecture of the School of the Future

Planning for new construction of schools and retrofitting existing structures will involve architects, planners, artists, scientists, teachers, and other involved in curricula development. A situation such as currently exists, for example, with the New York City Board of Education in which the architects charged with designing the schools have no interaction with those involved with curricula and program, will be dramatically changed. Interaction will be the norm, not the exception. Features such as appropriate technology as well as electronic technologies will be incorporated into the buildings of the School of the Future. Students will be able to learn about wind and solar power, for example, by understanding its uses within the school structure itself. In new buildings, the engineering and design processes will be made available to the students so that they can understand the thinking, applications, and processes that have been involved. Such information will be demystified and made accessible to a questioning child's mind (or adult). When possible, student apprentices will be involved in the design and light construction of the buildings. As existing buildings are retrofitted and transformed into the schools of the future, students will also be involved in apprenticeship capacities.

The Community and the School of the Future

In a sense, the school of the future will become a multigenerational community center - a magnet, where social, educational, environmental, and other cultural activities occur. The buildings will be open in the evenings and on weekends. Other community organizations and individuals will be able to use the facilities for workshops, events, programs, exhibits, and as a community communications and information center. The gardens and landscape will be maintained in conjunction with local neighbors and garden clubs, and students.

Additionally, the study of the community and city itself —its demographics, cultural and ethnic groups, organizations, industries, economy, traffic, housing stock, sources of drinking water, cultural and ecological history, and other aspects will also be a prime source of inquiry. Students will involve longtime residents among other, through their research and also be encouraged to project into the future and ask "what do we want in our community - our world in the future?"

Communicating with others around the world will provide an exciting opportunity for young people and adults to envision a positive possible future while understanding the roots of the past.

Initially, the curriciculm could focus on the local community, region, and state—past, present and future. The curriculum could then expand to include the study of other states, the country, other countrys, and the planet in our galaxy and others. It is important for us to understand how our local area impacts the region, and in turn, the planet and the future, how the earth relates to the solar system and beyond.

Attention to creative research, communication with other places, integrating subjects and looking at them as interconnected systems, will always be the main thrust. Vital resources, such as Mission to Planet Earth, NASA's new program among others, can provide important research and communications links. Visual artworks and artifacts (found and created by the students, artists, scientists, and others that relate the subjects under investigation) will also be manifest in the indoor and outdoor environments.

Budget for the School of the Future

The school of the future will be financed through connecting and integrating many resources in a community such as the merging of aspects of local parks departments, public works, and board of education budgets. If a community budget is looked at holistically, it will be discovered that there are also other areas within it that overlap and could conceivably be integrated so as to open up the possibility for new and meaningful learning opportunities for the total community, such as some of the social services. Additional funding will come from an assemblage of local, state, federal grants, private foundations, and philanthropies, corporations, individuals, and earned income. Revenues can be generated from rental of facilities for public events, (live television broadcasts, fashion shows, etc.) as well as from sales of displayed artworks, program spinoffs like books, catalogues, audio and video cassettes, CDs, software concession stands vending international foods, books, plants, and objects. Paid professional staff and volunteers will be involved in creating and operating the School of the Future.

How the School of the Future as a Living Library Can Develop

The development of the school of the future as A Living Library begins with community interest, and grows through the gathering of funds and other resources including the choice of a specific site. The School of the Future as A Living Library is a project that evolves in phases and needs strong, local, commitment. The initial phase is triggered by community enthusiasm. A local board of advisors emerges with key leadership represented from different sectors of the community including education, parks, economic development, cultural/environmental institutions, business, parents, etc. The board begins to address the specific aspects of the implementation such as:

• Identification of community resources
• Site & Program/curriculum design
• Project Funding
• Community Mobilization

• Healing the fragmentation of modern living, education and the environment while making learning fun and meaningful for all ages and preparing young people for the 21st century
• Developing greater student interest, pride in work, self esteem, skills in decision making and critical thinking, cooperation & collaboration, a sense of responsibility, self-control, & accountability as well as heightened skills in language arts, self-expression, history, geography, computer literacy, social studies, and science.
• Promoting a more profound understanding and appreciation of other cultures and ecologies around the world, as well as our own - past, present, and future, while understanding how we, at the local level, impact the total planet.
• Developing an exciting interdisciplinary curricula integrating biological, technological, and cultural systems that transform traditional school subjects into stimulating learning challenges for all ages.
• Creating programs for greater teacher collaboration & team teaching as well as cooperative & team learning with community participation at all levels including parents and volunteer professional mentors.
• Extending the school day to include after-school, evening, and weekend community programs
• Creating a sensitive balance between technology and non-mechanized nature and encouraging humanistic uses of new technologies
• Developing new approaches to public education, civic management, park and school maintenance, vandalism, and inappropriate social behavior.
• Creative innovative solutions for locating new monies for public projects -- such as schools and parks, rearranging existing budgets, and creating new jobs for the local community.
• Providing an innovative technology center for the community.
• Increasing national and international visible & tourism for the community
• Connecting the community with other institutions/cities around the world
• Creating alternatives to the "business-as-usual" approach to environmental transformation and conventional school architecture.