Trial lecture - time and place
Place: Auditorium 3, Helga Engs hus
Time: 10:00 - 10:45
Title: How can the educational sciences contribute to physical learning environment research? Reflections on important contributions from the field of education
Public Defence
Place: Auditorium 3, Helga Engs hus
Time: 12:00 -
Adjudication committee
- 1st opponent: Professor Hans Petter Ulleberg, Department of Education and Lifelong Learning, Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences, NTNU
- 2nd opponent: Professor in Curriculum Studies Anneli Frelin, University of Gävle, Sweden
- Chair of committee: Professor Palmyre Pierroux, Department of Education, University of Oslo
Chair of defence
- Professor and Head of Department Anne Line Wittek, Department of Education, University of Oslo
Supervisors
- Vice-Rector for education, Professor Berit Karseth, Department of Education, University of Oslo
- Professor Lisa Rosén Rasmussen, Danish School of Education, Aarhus University
Summary
This article-based thesis contributes to the field of physical learning environments by examining how governance structures and sociomaterial dynamics shape school design and teaching practices in Norway. This qualitative study involved the following methods: content analysis of documents; interviews with civil servants, architects and teachers in primary schools; and observations of teaching practice. Six civil servants, six teachers and six architects were interviewed. The first article is based on document analysis and interviews with the civil servants. The second article is based on a practice oriented document analysis and three pair interviews with six architects. The third article is based on observations and interviews with teachers. In highlighting the physical learning environments in governance structures and sociomaterial dynamics, the study’s theoretical framework combines sociomaterial theory with elements of institution theory.
First, the study reveals how the decentralisation of educational governance has led to fragmented approaches to school building design, with limited pedagogical guidance from central authorities. The health regulations’ minimum standards and guiding documents inconsistently address the learning dimension, resulting in significant local variation and underutilised spaces.
Second, the study investigates how document work in design practices modifies and transforms the school buildings’ design in a design competition. While the design brief foregrounds classroom areas and pedagogical considerations, the competition entries instead highlight symbolic and community-oriented features such as amphitheaters. The introduction of new concepts modifies and shifts the focus of the design of the school building.
Third, the study applies sociomaterial and Actor-Network Theory perspectives to show how learning environments are enacted through networks of human and non-human actors. The study demonstrates that seemingly minor architectural elements, such as windows, walls and accessible bathrooms, play significant roles in teaching practice.
These differing priorities across practice, design and policy reveal a fragmented landscape of governance, where physical learning environments are shaped by multiple, sometimes conflicting, logics. Participatory processes involving teachers offer a pathway for integrating pedagogical expertise into design, but also raise critical questions about representation, spatial competence and the actual influence of participation on policy and practice. The thesis highlights the performative nature of space, where teachers, students, planners, architects and material elements co-construct learning settings.