Very little effort is being given by either educators or architects on the many design decisions which a responsible architect has to make in the course of designing, renovating, or expanding a school building. A New Generation History has shown time and again that lack of foresight and planning has contributed to a failure to provide necessary programs for our students. The mission of educational leaders is to examine existing educational programs, and plan for programs that will be needed. As one thinks about and plans for the future, one must remain flexible enough to accommodate the unexpected, because no matter how future-oriented we may be, we can never completely anticipate all students future needs. The process of learning is more than a passage through new territories.
Engagement is crucial.
Learning is no longer a group of kids in front of a teacher. Every aspect of schooling is rapidly changing, pedagogy, governance, school calendar, curriculum, assessment, accountability, and educational technology. The idea of a classroom of students doing the same thing in the same way is evaporating. Bit by bit around the country schools are changing in virtually every fundamental respect from the schools past, which increasingly are seen as unable to prepare today s youth for tomorrow s world. The emerging new format of education for the next century is struggling to be born in century style buildings.