Thematic Review: School Design and Learning Environments in the City of Espoo, Finland

This report presents the main findings and recommendations resulting from a review of education infrastructure investments in the city of Espoo, Finland, carried out by the CEB’s Technical Assessment & Monitoring Directorate. The objective of the review was to examine the links between school design and learning environments. The report provides Espoo officials with recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of the education investment and identifies good practices that could be shared with other countries. The City of Espoo and the Finnish education system are internationally recognised as top performers for learning outcomes and one of the most equitable. However, rapid population growth, increasing numbers of children and foreign-language residents, and general tightening of the public budget pose challenges to service delivery just at a time when education infrastructure is expected to adapt to new learning curricula. Notwithstanding these challenges, the commitment to education remains very high on the part of all the stakeholders met in the city of Espoo. This commitment is reflected in the strategy for the City, the continuous financial support provided to the sector over the years, and the deep value and trust placed in their highly educated teachers. The eight schools visited by the review team already reflect some elements of the vision promoted by the new curriculum introduced in 2017, including the presence of differently sized learning spaces, heightened transparency and increased flexibility. The average learning space per child tends to be more generous than in other countries, given the use of spaces such as corridors and common areas for learning activities. The review team identified a series of key themes to encourage further discussion and exploration by Espoo teachers and city officials in their search for effective strategies to guide investments in the education sector. These include: • the need to find the right balance between cost-effectiveness and the promotion of effective learning environments; • the value of systematically involving the school community in the design process; • the importance of providing the necessary support for teachers to transition into new learning environments, by developing and implementing an Effective Spatial Professional Development programme. Ultimately, the effectiveness of any investment depends on how well it is used. In this regard, international research is unanimous in identifying teachers as the factor that correlates most strongly with student achievement. Thus, as part of any build, investing in teachers’ effective use of spaces must be a priority and an important component in the budgeting process

Supports and barriers to implementation of routine clinical assessment for children with cerebral palsy: A mixed-methods study

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate supports and barriers to evidence-based routine clinical assessment of children with cerebral palsy. Method: This mixed methods study included physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech pathologists providing services to children with cerebral palsy (3–18 years) within five organizations across Australia. Four organizations initiated standardized routine clinical data collection (Commencing organizations), and one had previously mandated routine assessment (Comparison organization). Participants completed the Supports and Barriers Questionnaire (n = 227) and participated in focus groups (n = 8 groups, 37 participants). Quantitative data were summarized descriptively, qualitative data were analyzed thematically and comparisons between organizations assessed. Results: Organizational structures, resources, therapists within organizations, assessment tools, and children and families were, on average, viewed as supportive of routine clinical assessment. There were no differences between the Comparison and Commencing organizations except ‘therapists within the organization’ were viewed as more supportive by the Commencing organizations (p = 0.037). Five themes were derived from qualitative analyzes: motivation to adopt routine clinical assessment; acquiring and utilizing expertise; ensuring effective ongoing communication; availability and distribution of resources; and therapist perceptions of child and family wishes. Conclusions: Organizations experience challenges to effective and sustained implementation of routine clinical assessment. Adequate resourcing and positive, clear communication were perceived as critical for success

Multiple Masculinities and the Schooling of Boys

Many disciplines have discussed masculinity in often quite polarized discourses. Resulting theories and accounts fail to describe adequately its complex structure. One consequence is the lack of a suitable platform for studying masculinity in schools. Recent discussion of “multiple masculinities” bridges these discourses to present a pluralist interpretation of how boys and men construct and enact their masculinities. It provides an analytical tool for examining how masculinities are built in school and offers educators a three-level strategy for working with boys. La masculinité fait l’objet de discours souvent très polarisés dans bien des disci- plines. Les théories et les explications qui en résultent ne décrivent pas adéquate- ment sa structure complexe. L’une des conséquences est l’absence d’une plateforme convenable pour l’étude de la masculinité dans les écoles. L’examen récent de la question des « multiples masculinités » fait le lien entre ces discours afin de pré- senter une interprétation pluraliste de la manière dont les garçons et les hommes se forgent et vivent leurs masculinités. Il fournit un outil analytique pour étudier comment les masculinités se construisent à l’école et propose aux éducateurs une stratégie tripartite dans leur travail auprès des garçons.

Associations of sedentary behaviour, physical activity, blood pressure and anthropometric measures with cardiorespiratory fitness in children with cerebral palsy

Background - Children with cerebral palsy (CP) have poor cardiorespiratory fitness in comparison to their peers with typical development, which may be due to low levels of physical activity. Poor cardiorespiratory fitness may contribute to increased cardiometabolic risk. Purpose - The aim of this study was to determine the association between sedentary behaviour, physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in children with CP. An objective was to determine the association between cardiorespiratory fitness, anthropometric measures and blood pressure in children with CP. Methods- This study included 55 ambulatory children with CP [mean (SD) age 11.3 (0.2) yr, range 6-17 yr; Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I and II]. Anthropometric measures (BMI, waist circumference and waist-height ratio) and blood pressure were taken. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured using a 10 m shuttle run test. Children were classified as low, middle and high fitness according to level achieved on the test using reference curves. Physical activity was measured by accelerometry over 7 days. In addition to total activity, time in sedentary behaviour and light, moderate, vigorous, and sustained moderate-to-vigorous activity (≥10 min bouts) were calculated. Results - Multiple regression analyses revealed that vigorous activity (β = 0.339, p<0.01), sustained moderate-to-vigorous activity (β = 0.250, p<0.05) and total activity (β = 0.238, p<0.05) were associated with level achieved on the shuttle run test after adjustment for age, sex and GMFCS level. Children with high fitness spent more time in vigorous activity than children with middle fitness (p<0.05). Shuttle run test level was negatively associated with BMI (r2 = -0.451, p<0.01), waist circumference (r2 = -0.560, p<0.001), waist-height ratio (r2 = -0.560, p<0.001) and systolic blood pressure (r2 = -0.306, p<0.05) after adjustment for age, sex and GMFCS level. Conclusions - Participation in physical activity, particularly at a vigorous intensity, is associated with high cardiorespiratory fitness in children with CP. Low cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with increased cardiometabolic risk

Plans to Pedagogy Activity Report Phase Two: What impact does ‘innovative’ furniture have on student engagement and teacher practices?

Phase Two of this project, conducted during the 2021 academic year, repeated an A-B-A withdrawal design to rotate (across terms 2, 3, and 4) the furniture in 4 primary school classrooms from innovative to traditional furniture arrangements.1 A fifth classroom with innovative furniture was used as a control. Three-weekly repeated measures were taken across the terms of: (1) characteristics impact students’ engagement, namely creative thinking, peer support and risk taking, (2) teachers’ observed actions in their classrooms, and (3) photographs by students of their preferred furniture item/s, with annotations explaining this preference. Once-a-term measures included (4) structured teacher interviews to unpack observation data, and pre-post measures included (5) a Teacher Mind Frame survey to explore teachers’ judgements of their impact

Plans to Pedagogy Activity Report 2019: What impact does ‘innovative’ furniture have on student engagement and teacher practices?

Phase One of this project, conducted during the 2019 academic year, used an A-B-A withdrawal design to rotate (terms 2, 3 and 4) the furniture in five primary school classrooms1 from ‘innovative’ to ‘traditional’ furniture arrangements2. Three-weekly repeated measures were taken across the year of (1) student perceptions of their cognitive and behavioural engagement, (2) teacher actions in these classrooms, and (3) photographs by students of their preferred furniture, with annotations explaining this preference. Once-a-term measures included (4) teachers completing a Teacher Mind Frames survey, and (5) teachers participating in a structured interview with the researchers..

Teacher Transition into Innovative Learning Environments

This open access book focuses on how the design and use of innovative learning environments can evolve as teaching practices and education policies change. It addresses how these new environments are used, how teachers are adapting their practices, the challenges that these changes pose, and the effective evaluation of these changes. The book reports on emerging research in learning environments, with a particular emphasis on how teachers are transitioning from traditional classrooms to innovative learning environments. It offers a significant evidence-based global assessment of current research in this field by designers, architects, educators and policy makers. It presents twenty-five cutting-edge projects from researchers in fifteen countries. Thanks to the book’s comprehensive international perspective, which combines theory and practice in a single publication, readers will gain a wealth of new insights. ; This open access book focuses on the design of learning environments that change as teaching practices and education policies change. It addresses how these new environments are used, how teachers are adapting their practices, the challenges these changes present and effective evaluation of these changes. The book reports on emerging research in learning environment developments, with a particular emphasis on how teachers are transitioning from traditional classrooms to innovative learning environments and assesses the effectiveness of these learning environments. This book is the first ever evidence-based global assessment of current research in this field. Readers will gain new insight through its comprehensive international perspective that brings practice and theory together in one publication

Designing and using innovative learning spaces: What teachers have to say

There is no universal definition of what constitutes an innovative learning environment, because each school is unique. Plans to Pedagogy, developed by the University of Melbourne’s Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN) team, is exploring issues schools identify as they transition to and use innovative learning environments. Embedded in a range of schools across Australia and New Zealand, each school is assigned an academic who works with them to co-design a project targeting the school’s identified spatial challenge. This paper overviews the eight current Plans to Pedagogy projects to give a sense of the issues faced by teachers in terms of using learning environments well. It then focuses on two projects for a deeper examination to illustrate how the researcher/school partnership operates

II. On the structure and biology of archotermopsis, together with descriptions of new species of intestinal protozoa, and general observations on the isoptera

The following paper is intended as a contribution towards a knowledge of the structure and biology of Archotermopsis wroughtoni, Desn., one of the most primitive of living Termites. Included herewith are also observations and deductions bearing upon some of the more important general biological problems which are associated with the Isoptera. Archotermopsis wroughtoni was described 12 years ago by Desneux from examples taken by Wroughton in June, 1903. They were discovered in old stumps of trees, chiefly Pinus excelsa, in the Kashmir Valley. Since its discovery, this species has remained a great rarity, and practically nothing had been ascertained concerning its biology. In June, 1910, I first came across this insect in a decaying fallen trunk of Pinus excelsa, in a forest area situated between the Kuari Pass and Ramni, at an altitude of about 8,500 feet, in the Himalayas of British Garwhal. In the same month during 1912 I had the good fortune to meet with it in great abundance in a dead fallen trunk of Pinus longifolia near Dharmoti, in the Ranikhet District. This locality is situated at an altitude of about 4,000 feet in the Kumaon Himalaya. Being aware of the biological and phylogenetic interest likely to be afforded by a study of this species, I made a prolonged search in many other likely localities in the North Western Himalayas during the years 1912-13. It was subsequently found plentifully at Bhowali, near Naini Tal, at an elevation of 5,800 feet, near Nadh in the Ohakrata District of Jaunsar, and I have also been able to procure examples from near Gulmerg in Kashmir. It seems probable, therefore, that it will eventually be found to be generally distributed in the lower-level coniferous forests of the North Western Himalayas, up to an elevation of about 9,000 feet

Linking cerebral palsy upper limb measurements to the international classification of functioning disability and health

Background: Intervention studies describe outcomes as meas­uring specific domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). However, the same measure may be described by different authors as assessing different domains, resulting in considerable confusion and inconsistent reporting of outcomes. Objective: To systematically link the scored items from the Melbourne Assessment of Unilateral Upper Limb Function, Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test and Assisting Hand Assessment to domain(s) of the ICF. Methods: The meaningful concept for each scored item was defined. Using ICF linking rules, the concepts were assigned ICF codes to determine the outcome’s overall domain of measurement. Results: The Melbourne Assessment predominantly evaluates concepts in the body function domain. Coding of the Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test indicated that dissociated movement, weight-bearing and protective extension predominantly measure concepts in the body function domain. Grasp was the only domain where concepts were coded in both the body function and activity domains. The Assisting Hand Assessment was the only measure where the majority of items assessed concepts in the activity domain. Conclusion: Measures of upper limb function can be categorized according to ICF domains. These findings should resolve confusion surrounding the classification of these measures and provide a reference for reporting the impact of intervention