Who’s Got the Keys?

Course Description

The most brilliantly designed school in the world can still fail if the people who use it weren’t part of the process — and it can fail just as surely if they were involved but never given the tools to activate what was built. This course is your guide to both sides of that equation.

You’ll explore the art and science of participatory design: getting educators, students, families, and community members genuinely into the room, and translating their input into spaces that work. But just as importantly, you’ll examine what happens after the ribbon is cut — the professional development, systems, and structures that ensure teachers and students understand the why behind design decisions and have the scaffolding in place to use their environment as an active instructional tool. A flexible classroom without a teacher who knows how to use it is just expensive furniture.

The keys to a great school belong to everyone — and the best architects make sure everyone knows how to use them.

Learning Objectives

  1. Analyze evidence-based stakeholder engagement models and their demonstrated impact on educational facility outcomes, occupant satisfaction, and long-term building performance.
  2. Evaluate participatory design feedback tools — from surveys and spatial prototyping — to ensure educational spaces genuinely reflect diverse instructional and community needs.
  3. Apply strategies that connect space configurations to instructional goals — and identify the professional development, systems, and structures educators and students need to understand the ‘why’ behind design decisions and activate the environment as a learning tool.
  4. Explain how inclusive, community-driven design processes directly support occupant health, physical safety, and the long-term social welfare of the communities schools serve.

Course Credits

1 LU | HSW