Today, Maria talks with Robert Dillon, author, consultant and school designer who is working with teachers and education leaders throughout the country. Robert has been honored by The Center for Green Schools, the dSchool at Stanford University, the Buck Institute for Education, and Future Ready Schools. Robert has been serving kids and families as a teacher, principal, technology director, and innovation leader for over twenty years. He brings synergy to instructional design, technology infusion, and learning space design. He believes that in this synergy is the educational gold that students need to be successful citizens in a modern world. During this conversation, Maria and Robert dive into the book he co-authored with Rebecca Hare called The Space: A Guide for Educators. Robert shares actionable insights and best practices on how to design a flexible and agile learning space that fosters creativity, collaboration, teamwork, inclusion and empathy. They also discuss What a Good Classroom Design Looks Like in the Age of Social Distancing and how teachers and educators can create a low-stress learning space that promotes health, joy, trust, and connection. Tune in to learn from an inspiring education leader who is helping teachers develop a designer mindset and empowering their students to grow in an active and flexible learning space.
Production team:
Host : Maria Xenidou
Introduction Voice: David Bourne
Contact us:
impactlearningpodcast(at)gmail.com
Music credits:
Like Lee performed by The Mini Vandals
Transition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks
Where to find more about Robert Dillon:
Mentioned in this episode:
The Space: A Guide For Educators by Rebecca Hare and Robert Dillon
Robert’s article on EdSurge called “What Does Good Classroom Design Look Like in the Age of Social Distancing?”
The Art of Noticing: 131 ways to Spark Creativity, Find Inspiration, and Discover Joy in the Everyday by Rob Walker
Listen to this episode and explore:
Childhood: using the outdoors as a school beyond school (3:25)
University: studying journalism before becoming a teacher (5:31)
Deciding to shift his career into Innovation for Education (8:40)
The 3 big problems in Education Robert is helping to solve(11:00)
The art of designing an active learning space (13:31)
The benefits of well-designed learning spaces (14:46)
Practical tips for designing a flexible and agile learning space (17:15)
How teachers and educators can adopt a designer mindset (18:50)
Designing an inclusive learning space with the students and, not for the students (20:44)
The importance of designing the entire school building for active learning and how to signal this from the outside (26:42)
“Optimizing the perimeter”: decluttering walls and using mindful color palettes (29:06)
Reducing the teacher-only space amid social distancing (30:51)
Movement and learning: oxygenating the brain for optimal learning (32:19)
Space and time: optimizing our time in each space for best learning outcomes (33:55)
Adapting our home to become an active learning space during distance learning (36:00)
Bringing good design practices to the digital learning space (38:05)
The importance of creating moments of quiet time and silence during learning (40:04)
How teachers can include both parents and students in the design of online learning space this fall (41:20)
Two questions we can all ask ourselves before we start designing our learning (43:31)
The importance of noticing our space (45:14)
What Robert wants to leave his mark on during his lifetime (46:06)