Take a walk around the ABIS campus these days and you’re bound to notice a major change. The path leading past the Sports Hall and the pool, which previously ended at an open dirt lot, now leads to the Secondary Learning Suite. As the name of the building tells it, this space is where our students in grades 6 and above will conduct a large amount of their learning. But why suite?
Let’s back up a second. I should mention that the Student Learning Suite–the SLS–is a temporary building. ABIS is in the beginning phases of a massive expansion program, one that will bring state-of-the-art learning, creative, and sport facilities to the school. Thus the SLS is a mere preview–a “rough draft”–of things to come in secondary school.
The expansion of the school is being spearheaded by Mr. Tomalin in coordination with the Board of Governors and Fielding Nair, one of the world’s leading educational architecture firms. They’ve designed schools around the world and their book, “The Language of School Design” is a great read, a study in forward-thinking ideas about how 21st century children learn best. Read a summary of that here: The Language of School Design
With the SLS, our secondary school has shifted teaching and learning out into the open. Literally. As Fielding and Nair note, “the classroom is the most visible symbol of an educational philosophy.” Well, at ABIS our philosophy includes inquiry learning, a strong sense of community, and transparency. This leads us necessarily to the open-concept learning environment.
Walk into the SLS and the first question you’ll probably ask is, “Where are the classrooms?” The open-concept does away with the traditional model of subject-specific spaces with desks in tidy rows. In its place is an environment that’s open and bright, an environment that greatly enhances our ability to meet the needs of the individual, not just the class. This is an environment that supports independent work as much as it supports one-on-one learning. It encourages small group collaboration as much as it encourages student presentations.
Students have their own workstations–organized, maintained, and personalized by the students alone–at which much of the independent work will occur. There are multiple group work areas. There are two enclosed spaces–a small seminar room and a larger classroom. There is a small library and kitchen area. In other words, the SLS is our new secondary community space.
After only two days it seems that our students are really taking to the SLS. I hope so. Our goal is for this space (and eventually the new building) to become truly their space, where we as teachers can take a less active role in managing the day-today routines and where students take charge of their learning. Engaged, active, inquiring, independent learners–that’s our goal and we believe the SLS is an important step in that direction.
Mrs. Provencher works with Grade 6 at their stations
James at his work station
Lunch time in the SLS
Our library/conference area
Anton unwinds at lunch over the SLS air hockey table