Call to Action:

1. Walk away with immediate, actionable strategies to transform learning environments.
2. Apply the Spatial Framework – Use affordances and space signals to assess and refine school settings, ensuring they align with learner needs and evolving pedagogy.
3. Bridge the Communication Gap – Foster stronger collaboration between educators, designers, and learners by adopting shared language and tools that make space an active part of the learning experience.
4. Advocate for Learner-Centric Spaces – Leverage insights from the session to initiate conversations in your district or design practice that prioritize flexible, future-ready environments that enhance—not hinder—learning.
5. Leave equipped to influence change now and reimagine how space supports education for years to come.

Abstract: When designers, educators, and learners come together, it’s with a shared goal: to make schools better. Yet, despite inclusive design practices and growing collaboration, we continue to hear that the building itself is getting in the way of learning. Why then do we imagine a future that looks nothing like the present or past, yet continue designing schools that remain fundamentally unchanged? This issue is especially critical in middle school, where students experience key emotional, social, and cognitive transitions. Learning spaces must foster connection, creativity, and adaptability while equipping educators to prepare students for an uncertain future. Many school buildings, however, remain outdated and misaligned with modern learner-centric models, limiting their ability to support evolving educational needs. This session presents key findings from a ONEder Grant research study exploring how school buildings can better support learning now and in the future. The research team convened a multidisciplinary Advisory Group of educators, designers, academics, industry researchers, and a futurist to align research goals with emerging industry trends and real-world challenges. Drawing on insights from neuroscience, education, and design, this research focuses on advancing the design and use of learning settings for early adolescents, aged 11–15, over the next decade. Through our research, we uncovered simple yet transformative insights:

• Inertia is a powerful force—lasting change requires alignment between people, practices, and place.
• Clear communication is essential—without it, ideas cannot be tested, exchanged, or incorporated effectively.
• Learners, educators, and designers lack a shared language about space—bridging this gap is critical for meaningful collaboration.
• A practical spatial framework is needed—one that incorporates affordances (what a space allows its users to do) and space signals (the messages environments send to users about how they can or should interact with it).

These tools empower all users to better understand, shape, and adapt learning settings in alignment with educational goals. As education evolves, learning settings must keep pace with advancing pedagogy, emerging learner needs, and future-ready competencies. This session, led by design researchers and educators, introduces a spatial framework and interactive toolbox that aligns people, practices, and place to create adaptive, future-ready learning spaces. By exploring affordances and space signals, attendees will gain practical strategies to foster collaboration, align design with educational goals, and create dynamic learning environments that serve students today and in the future.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the Three Spheres of Influence: Learn how people, practices, and place must align to create meaningful, lasting change in school design.
2. Recognize the Importance of Clear Communication: Explore how misalignment in communication between designers, educators, and learners hinders effective school design and how to bridge these gaps.
3. Challenge Traditional Assumptions in School Design: Examine why schools often remain fundamentally unchanged despite evolving educational needs and how we can reimagine learning environments for the future.
4. Apply a Practical Design Toolbox: Discover a simple toolkit that helps designers, educators, and learners collaboratively identify architectural challenges and solutions that directly impact learning.