Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research

The event(s) of school design

den Besten, O., Horton, J., Adey, P. and Kraftl, P. (2008) The event(s) of school design. Paper presented to: Royal Geographical Society, with Institute of British Geographers (IBG), Annual International Conference, London, 27-29 August 2008. (Unpublished)

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Abstract: In this paper we contend that the many extant sociologies and histories of Education have overwhelmingly tended to efface the specific materials, practices and happenings which constitute (a) ‘school’. Drawing upon research regarding contemporary school (re)design in the UK, we claim that attention to such specificities demands an appreciation of schools – and ‘school’ itself – as evental. Sketching the conceptual, critical and political implications of this claim, we present three (not entirely congruous, yet not entirely separable) apprehensions of the event(s) of recent British school (re)design. First, we consider the political discourses of major, ongoing school (re)construction and (re)design programmes such as Building Schools for the Future. These programmes are fashioned as major policy Events; similarly, the new school environments they produce are intended transformative, interventional Events in local communities. Second, we consider the complex, multiple quotidian events, actions and connections through which school (re)design – and indeed school(ing) itself – happens, in practice and in situ. Third, acknowledging the vast volume and intricacy of such connections and details – the minutiae of building regulations, the small talk of local government policy-making, the small print of private finance initiatives, and the contingencies of children’s and teachers’ participation in design, for example – we consider the excessive quality of events of school design, per se, and its implications for chief accounts/understanding of spaces of/for education.
Subjects: L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB3201 School architecture and equipment. School physical facilities
Creators: den Besten, Olga, Horton, John, Adey, Peter and Kraftl, Peter
Funders or Sponsors: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > The Centre for Children and Youth
Research Centres > Centre for Psychology and Social Sciences
Date: 27 August 2008
Date Type: Presentation
Event Title: Royal Geographical Society, with Institute of British Geographers (IBG), Annual International Conference
Event Dates: 27-29 August 2008
Event Location: London
Event Type: Conference
Language: English
Status: Unpublished
URI: http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/1668

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