28.12.2010 - Ausgabe: 6/2010

Active kids – clever kids: it’s the open space that matters

The intention of the educational concept “Bewegte Schule” is to promote holistic learning, to shape and organise school life as well as to support school development. The concept is implemented in the three key spheres of activity instructional quality, school control and organisation as well as school as a learning and living space. In particular the latter is of prime importance to everyday school life. It is basically about rhythmizing everyday school life by incorporating exercise and play to promote the health, well-being and learning for children. This is all the more important, considering how much time pupils spend in all-day schools. More exercise and play is to enhance the quality of the time spent in school, improve the school climate, reduce the number of accidents, vandalism and aggressive behaviour. Schools are no longer just educational establishments where teachers lecture and awestruck pupils listen in silence, but they are increasingly turning into institutions that “move people“ and that adhere to the principles of holistic learning and living. The motto of modern education is: competence acquisition instead of knowledge augmentation. Competence is best acquired through independent and explorative learning, through testing and trial. Learning through trial and error is given top priority. This forward-looking educational approach enhances the status and importance of open spaces as living and learning spaces and confirms the still underestimated effect of the environment as “the third teacher”. In the end, the educational, motor and aesthetic requirements specification for outdoor spaces in schools decides whether the pupils will get enough impetus for development and actively incorporate the space into their school life.

Requirements specification for school spaces – how do you assess?

Of course, the design of school spaces depends on the grade as the motor requirements and the pupils’ needs for play and retreat vary according to age. Generally, however, some key criteria can be established when it comes to the play value, the quality of the time spent in school and the motor demand: The play value is determined by the amount and quality of incentives to do things on your own; the diversification of challenges; the potential degree of creative exploration; the scope for design and change; the participation of boys and girls; the opportunity to meet or play alone, in small groups and in larger groups; the involvement in the planning and manufacturing process as well as the stimulative nature.
The quality of the time spent in school is determined by the near-natural open space design; the age-based relationship with the elements of fire, earth, water and air; the aesthetic design; the existence of retreats and activity zones; the maintenance of safe conditions as well as the pupils’ creative design options.
The requirement profile is determined by the incentives to develop the ability to recognize and avoid potential hazards and protect oneself; the diversification of challenges with chances of success; the active engagement of the senses; the opportunity to gain material, physical and social experience; the addressed basic motor activities; the stimulation of co-ordination abilities; the age-appropriate incorporation of current fitness and exercise trends, the renunciation of overprotective measures and the avoidance of too few challenges.

Lack of challenge as a motivation killer

A lot of equipment does not live up to its promises. Climbing equipment is often just mounting equipment, balance beams rarely provide a dynamic experience. School playgrounds are not seldom merely furnished – an accumulation of common, often “indestructible” equipment with little play value, seemingly safe to avoid any risk or hazard right from the outset.
School outdoor spaces that are not challenging enough lead to passivity, an increase in aggressive behaviour and they encourage vandalism. Practical experience substantiates what can be proved by studies: the accident rate increases when the situation is not challenging enough. The explanation is simple: The pupils’ mental self-protection mechanisms are not fully addressed. Most accidents happen when you are walking or running on an even surface, in supposedly harmless situations.
Quite the contrary is the case when the situation is demanding: the self-protection mechanisms, all abilities, skills and senses are activated to master the challenge without being injured. Children learn to assess their limits and possibilities realistically, to recognize and avoid risks and hazards and behave accordingly.
In their accident reduction programmes, far-sighted carriers of statutory pupil accident insurance are increasingly banking on behavioural prevention. For they know that less than 15% of accidents can be attributed to inadequate conditions, whereas about 85% of accidents can be attributed to behaviour (insecure, unsteady movements or misjudgements). They thus overcome the traditional orientation towards structural prevention, which by ensuring all too safe conditions and over-protection rather had the effect of pupils leaving it up to the responsible adults to assess and eliminate potential risks instead of mobilizing their own self-protection competence.
School open spaces that are designed to incorporate a lot of challenges help children to continuously further develop their motor and social skills as well as the ability to recognize potential hazards and protect themselves. This is what we must ensure at school. The Ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs of the individual federal states have therefore stipulated and made it binding upon all types of school that in the core curriculum subject of physical education pupils are to be taught to develop this above-mentioned ability.

Example: Fridtjof-Nansen-Schule –FNS- (primary school) in Hanover

The FNS has 330 pupils from 27 countries and is situated in Hanover Vahrenheide-Ost. This mono-structured large housing estate dating from the 1960s and 1970s has been designated a neighbourhood improvement area since 1997. The 82 ha district is characterized by multi-storey buildings, oversized street spaces and vast neglected green spaces offering few attractions. In 2000, the 16,000 m2 school grounds – situated right in the middle of the district – were still as inhospitable as the whole district being a hotbed of social tensions. Before the redevelopment, which started in 2000, the school open spaces were dull, humdrum and in a poor state that is typical of many schools with large monotonous turf areas, shrubbery, a running track and a jumping pit. To make matters worse, the school building dating from the 1960s has been declared a listed monument.

Open space concept of the FNS

On the long road from the school as a “void space“ to a living and learning space, the following goals have been set:

- to give the pupils scopes for action where living, learning and movement conditions prevail that promote the children’s development by designing the open space to incorporate a lot of challenges;
- to offer the open space as an interface between the district and the school;
- to encourage all users to identify with the school open spaces to ensure sustainability both for the district and the school;
- to design the open space as a place to learn and experience as well as to directly encounter, deal with and reconnect with nature;
- to encourage pupils to develop the ability to recognize potential risks and hazards and to protect themselves by providing them with movement challenges;
- to cater for the pupils’ need for physical activity and to provide age-appropriate motor challenges;
- to incorporate the physical activity and exercise that is promoted through the open space into everyday school life and to achieve a higher level of motor activity (everyday life motor competence) by “tempting” pupils into exercising both indoors and outdoors.

The central idea of the interdisciplinary planning group composed of open space planners and teachers was the expectation that the open space should reflect the educational concept of the FNS “school in motion”.
Since 2000, the quality of the open space has been continuously enhanced in keeping with the school’s aims under the FNS school programme whose main focus is on “designing school as a learning and living space“.

The current status of the open space concept:
Rope course (Corocord company)
Hexagonal contact swing (Spielgeräte Richter company)
Open-air forum: design by the company Wendland, Jatzkowski, Schramm
“Hangelpfad” climbing equipment (Wehrfritz company)
Hill slide
Round horizontal bar (Kaiser & Kühne company)
“Mutspirale” play equipment (Wehrfritz company)
Climbing structure (Richter company)
Balance stone (Köhnken company)
“Stangengestrüpp”, a play structure with poles arranged like jackstraws (Richter company)
“Wild Zone”: planning / site management by Wendland company
Oasis: planning / site management by company Wendland, Jatzkowski, Schramm
Asphalt court: a) football (built in 2007), b) basketball (built in 2007), c) moving on rolls (in-line skates, scooters, bicycles, unicycles, skateboards, pedal rollers )
Teachers / inner courtyard : planning / site management by the company Wendland, Schramm, Jatzkowsky. A “room of quiet” (no admittance for children) for the teaching staff only to retreat, have a rest and contemplate with a beautiful view of perennials and natural stones which will lift the spirit. If the teachers are in a good mood and feeling well, this will also benefit their pupils.
Hill structures: planning / site management by Wendland company
Streamlets and water hollows: see above
Balance blocks (Richter company)

Conclusion

Making school open spaces more challenging, pleasant and attractive by adding interesting features and equipment with a high play value.

The educational idea behind this planning is to constantly encourage pupils to get some exercise and play by offering many different activities. By exploring this stimulating environment, they acquire social, motor and cognitive skills and competencies. In particular when using the equipment, which involves their dealing with risks and hazards, they test their limits and develop the ability to assess and recognize risks and protect themselves. The open space thus becomes a highly effective living and learning space.
The low accident rate at our school confirms the theory that the pupils’ mental self-protection mechanisms are activated if the open space is designed to incorporate a lot of challenges. Besides, the municipal accident insurance association GUV Hannover has found out that the injuries are considerably less serious than at schools that have open spaces with few challenges. Only three teachers on break-time duty, posted at the intersections of the lines of sight ensure that the pupils feel supervised and can approach them in case of problems.
For intensive use of the open spaces it is necessary to introduce a certain rhythm into everyday school life by providing adequate breaks. In this way, it is ensured that the pupils have enough time to play and rest. At our school, two long breaks of 30 minutes duration have proved to be an optimal solution. In our experience, breaks of less than 20 minutes do not allow an active use of the open space.
Even in the 15 minutes before the opening bell rings and classes begin, during cover lessons or phases when pupils have lost concentration, the open space will provide a high recreational and play value as well as a health-promoting contrast to the sedentary activity in the classroom. After all, aggressive behaviour, vandalism and violence have declined as a result of the intensive use of the open space. Challenging equipment obviously acts as an outlet for senseless, destructive acts. Consequently, vandalism isn’t a problem at our school.
In the next few years, the school political development will bring about the transformation of half-day schools into all-day schools on a large scale throughout Germany. The pupils will then be at school all day and need new attractive open spaces with a high sojourn quality as well as challenging learning opportunities for them to be able to experience the described effect of the environment as the third teacher every day.

Hermann Städtler, headmaster and head of the project “Bewegte, gesunde Schule Niedersachsen”(“Active and healthy schools in Lower Saxony”) initiated by the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs/ TM
Fotos: Hermann Städtler

Bibliography:
Insa Abeling / Hermann Städtler: Bewegte Schule-mehr Bewegung in die Köpfe in: Die Gundschulzeitschrift 3/2008, Seelze Friedrich Verlag