Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

"Schools aren't to blame for last year's Insurrection," writes Randy Fielding, "but they can be part of the long-term solution." Perhaps. Of more significance is the proposal here describing a "library of design patterns for thriving learners at SchoolPatterns.com." Here are the elements: safety & wellness; purpose & joy; curiosity & mastery; love & belonging; autonomy & opportunity; and nature & beauty (call me a pedant, but I count 12 items, not 6). Now I'm sure these are all valuable at times; they resemble some of the points I put in my slides on agency yesterday. But care needs to be taken in how these are realized. "Curved wooden platforms at various heights" are not, for example, the same as autonomy & opportunity. "Low-glare general lighting, complimentary wall surface colors, and sparks of colorful accent lighting" are not the same as purpose & joy. Sure, building environment matters. But so does a whole lot else, and it's wrong to reduce them to wood and lighting fixtures.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 10:18 p.m.

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