Designing Belonging into Schools
How might a school look if we designed it so that the children feel it has been made for them to enjoy? To feel invited, welcome and have a sense of belonging.
There is an academic model by Professor Kathleen Riley from UCL that shows how ‘Belonging’ relates to a school. I believe that this is one of the most important diagrams in the evolution of school design and it deserves much closer consideration.
Professor Riley's model points out that belonging lies at the intersection of agency, ownership and design. A typical non-school example of this is when a child is told by their parents that their bedroom is now theirs.
They can shut the door and have privacy, they trust them, they give them control. They give them agency to use the space as they like, within reason. Immediately the child paints the walls black and puts pictures of their favourite bands all over the walls and a sign appears on the door saying “keep out”.
This gives them their space, a true experience of belonging. It's why when you have an argument with them, they run off and slam the door of their bedroom. They feel in control there. The parent has given them a sense of belonging by allowing them to create a space that reflects their values, what they like and who they are.
It's the same thing that happens to you when you go into your favourite restaurant, pub or sports club. You know what behaviour is allowed, you know the people who run the space, you feel familiar there, you feel that you belong. You understand the boundaries of your agency in a space that's owned by someone else.
This concept is a key aspect of the way that schools should reconsider their overall purpose beyond their educational functionality. Creating schools so that the children feel it has been designed for them to enjoy could transform their connection with the school itself.
Currently schools tend not to be designed with this in mind. Reception areas are formal, designed to reflect august institutional values or demand quiet respect. Formal, conservative and authoritarian.
How might a school look if we designed it so that the children feel it has been made for them to enjoy? To feel invited, welcome and have a sense of belonging. This could be changed and modulated for all the different spaces in the schools, from libraries to toilets, from dining spaces to sixth form centres, from gymnasiums to science labs.
How can all these spaces, in different ways, communicate to the children that we want you to enjoy this and we are creating this for you? Not just so it's safe and functional but also so that you enjoy being here, it’s for you!