Making Space

This chapter details an exploratory, practice-based research study. It investigates teachers’ engagement with ‘innovative’ learning environments (ILEs) using the Making Space methodology. The research contains collaborative design (co-design) that considers how best to structure professional learning for teachers transitioning into ILEs. Making Space is a professional learning framework designed to engage in co-design by positioning teachers not as passive recipients of architectural output, but as active co-designers of future pedagogy. The transition to ILEs necessitates substantial educational investment; however, the enduring ‘design-use gap’ between architectural design and actual pedagogical utilisation is often attributable to a deficiency in educators’ spatial literacy, which subsequently impedes the full realisation of the affordances inherent in flexible, non-traditional spaces. Making Space was developed through the interdisciplinarity of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and co-design methodologies, prioritising the experiential knowledge of educators. Through a case study of the program’s implementation at Evelyn Scott School in Canberra, the authors illustrate how collaborative enquiry and creative workshops utilise tools such as Field Guides and metaphorical mapping, which may cultivate a community of practice. The Making Space program demonstrates that when teachers are supported to collaboratively and creatively investigate the relationship between space and practice, there is a marked increase in teacher self-efficacy. The chapter concludes that while the specific outcomes of co-design are culturally situated and not directly replicable, the enabling conditions and principles of the Making Space methodology are scalable, offering a sustainable model for activating the pedagogical potential of contemporary school designs.