12 Questions...7) Should school architects see the physical facility and the teaching and learning that take place inside as a seamless continuum?

Question 7) Should school architects see the physical facility and the teaching and learning that take place inside as a seamless continuum?

Concurrent with the idea of the physical facility as a 3D textbook is the understanding that the most effective schools are designed from the inside out.  Let the nuts and bolts of effective teaching and learning drive everything else relative to the school design.  The essential priority of creating spaces that work must take precedence over everything else even if this has an effect on the design aesthetics of the architect/designer.  Inside out design must oftentimes require school architects to let go of the ego and focus like a laser on the ways the school itself will enhance the learning that takes place inside of it.   We have seen too many schools that are “green”, that have big, sunny foyers and lots of windows but which do not serve the specific needs of the school population.  This is not at all to say that aesthetics and practicality in school design are mutually exclusive.  A school that is attractively designed is the object as long as the design serves the function of supporting world class educational pedagogy.