Learning Spaces & Time

“We human beings are affected by the rooms we act in. In the traditional school there are always corridors connecting classrooms. These kinds of facilities consume areas without being pedagogically effective. Schools Kunskapsskolan designs, builds and operates have no traditional corridors or classrooms. We have rooms of different sizes and character because we all learn differently. All our premises are for study and learning, not only transportation, of small or bigger groups or for individual studies, and they are all designed to address different individuals different needs. That is my contribution to personalized education.”

Kenneth Gardestad, Chief Architect at Kunskapsskolan.

The architecture in the KED program has been recognized and awarded around the world. Our architectural design space is an important tool in our formula for outstanding education. The purpose of architecture in our philosophy is not just to create an icon or a statement in the society, but to create the optimal environment for learning.

The architecture in the KED program has been recognized and awarded around the world. Our architectural design space is an important tool in our formula for outstanding education. The purpose of architecture in our philosophy is not just to create an icon or a statement in the society, but to create the optimal environment for learning.

The room – in the wide sense of the word – is a resource for student’s different ways of learning that can be seen in two perspectives. First, all our premises are designed to suit the various needs of different students and learning tasks while in school. Second, students have the option to choose other places in the school to work with their studies – provided this is beneficial to the learning process.

Time:

Time is a resource for the student’s learning. In a world where there is a good argument for every knowledge and skill you can learn, it is also the scarcest and limited of resources in school. The way it is utilized should therefore, as far as possible, be based on the student’s individual learning style and not be organized according to a traditional collective timetable.

Each student has a personal timetable that directs how time is used, based on the student’s personal goals and strategies. The school has a timeplan for activities led by the teachers. From this timetable students, in consultation with their coaches, select activities that are relevant to their studies and enter those activities in their logbooks. Students also enter other activities they have planned: the development discussion/progress tracking reviews with their coaches, time for group work, their individual work and tasks.

Curriculum

The school is affiliated to the CBSE Board and delivers the NCERT curriculum. This is delivered through the KED program as the approach challenges students to stretch their boundaries and construct a solid foundation of knowledge and skills. All subjects in Kunskapsskolan are organized in steps and themes. Subjects such as Math and languages need to be learnt sequentially and are organized in steps while science, humanities, art and computers are integrated theme courses.

Steps

• Subjects that require skills training are learned sequentially in steps.
• Each student progresses through the steps at their own pace.
• Students can join the step course at a starting point corresponding to what they already know.
• Subjects to be studied as steps are mathematics and languages.

The student progresses through the steps at her/his own pace, regardless of the year/grade he or she is in. Students who are fast learners in a particular subject advance quicker through the stairway of a step course. Students who need more time can receive additional support in order to thoroughly understand the concepts before they proceed to the next learning level.

The curriculum of each class is organized into ten steps. The steps are further organized in blocks. Each new block adds a level of complexity and has clear goals to be achieved by the student. At the end of each block each student has to do a project step. In the project step student applies his or her learning included in a block and is tested on it. The project step has to be presented to and approved by the teacher before the student can proceed to the next block of steps.

Theme Courses

• A theme teaches the students how subjects are related in the real world, by integrating them in the same course.
• Different subjects illuminate different perspectives of the theme and visualize the importance and connections of the parts of the world around them.

Each course establishes the learning theme and clarifies how the occurrences of a phenomenon are interconnected, often by integrating several subjects. We emphasize the connections between humanities, natural science and the arts.

Considering the importance of knowledge integration in the real world, we encourage our students to understand the themes of the world through a holistic approach. The objective is to train students to widen their perspectives, identify contexts and see patterns and thereby gain a deeper understanding.

The Learning Portal & Operating the School

The Learning Portal™ is the KED program’s collective and web-based source of wisdom.

Students can find most of the learning material on the portal: the courses, the content, objectives and criteria for every step, assignments, texts, pictures, links and assessments . The Learning Portal is an important tool in personalized learning because the content of the Learning Portal provides a wide variety of choices and is accessible to students anywhere and anytime.

In the KED program we do not need to divide assignments into schoolwork or homework. You have work to do, and you can get it done in school, at home or anywhere there is an internet connection. KED Schools have work stations all around the school where students can access the Learning Portal. It has a levelled as well as extended tasks giving an opportunity to all learners to succeed At Kunskapsskolan, learning is not an activity limited to the premises of a classroom.

The web-based Learning Portal is the backbone of the KED Program. It houses state of the art learning resources developed by subject matter experts and is distributed around the participating network of schools. It is under continuous development and review as curriculum experts and educators contribute with new material and feedback. From an educational point of view, this way of working assures students, families, and society that what is practiced is not solely a prerogative of an individual . The Learning Portal is consulted by students to plan their workshops and coaching sessions as well as teachers to plan their learning sessions.

The Learning Portal for teachers

For teachers the portal is also our common knowledge management system. Each subject has its own community and pages. Here teachers collaborate and contribute via presentations and lectures as well as best practices at work. The forum is moderated by some of our most experienced subject experts. This is a way of sharing and enabling the learning process for teachers. Every minute saved for a teacher who does not have to prepare a lesson that has already been developed by colleagues is a minute that could be spent on personal coaching instead of preparation. That is one of the reasons why it is possible for our schools to provide more personal coaching time with the same staff resource as a conventional school. The Learning Portal gives teachers a realistic opportunity to ‘meet’ each student where they happen to be in terms of their current knowledge development.

The Learning Portal for families

The family can take part in their child’s learning through the portal as well, by following the student’s timeplan and performance through the Educational Documentation System.

Operating The School

The operation of a Kunskapsskolan school is rooted in processes and policies that ensure a safe learning environment for students.

Like any successful company or organization, the success of a school in its core objective is dependent on running a professional operation with systems and processes in place. Kunskapsskolan has the same approach in developing tools and processes for school operations as we have for the pedagogical development that is evidence-based and well-developed, with a strong foothold in best global practices.

Our processes range from the methodology of setting up a school to performance management systems with areas such as HR, finance, marketing and public relations. The annual parent, student and staff surveys are guidelines that help us continuously develop and ensure quality in school operations.

Ked Teacher

In the KED program, the teacher accommodates and leads the students different ways of learning. This demands a different mindset because the teacher is not only teaching and lecturing, but she or he is first and foremost the student’s partner and coach in learning.

A teacher’s role in the KED program consists of four parts: being a personal coach, a general coach, a subject expert, and a team member:

• Personal coach: Each teacher is a personal coach for the students belonging to the teacher’s ‘base group’ Personal coaching includes instructing and counseling the students on their knowledge, personal, and social development.
• General Coach: The teacher serves as a support resource for all students in the school, teaching the students how to learn, mediate and explain general strategies. The teacher also serves as a role model for students.
• Subject teacher: As a subject expert, the teacher, in collaboration with his/her colleagues is responsible for planning and conducting workshops, seminars, lectures and other activities in steps and thematic courses. The collaboration between teachers is done locally at the school as well as with teachers from other schools. The teachers also participate in the joint work to develop and modify the step and thematic courses on the Learning Portal.
• Team member: The teachers in a school are organized into subject specific teams. The teachers in these teams work together to plan, review, develop, and evaluate their work.

Personal Coaching

The personal coaching method is based on thinking from several areas, such as motivational – and developmental psychology, and also from pedagogy and cognitive psychology. The theory of multiple intelligences has inspired our way of working to help students develop personalized learning strategies.

Personal coaching contributes to the student’s personal development as the student’s learning is structured, supported, assessed, and followed up. Through personal coaching, students learn to set clear and realistic, but still challenging, academic goals to work with a goal-driven approach.

The student’s personal coach plays a decisive role in making the learning successful. The personal coach instructs the student in a structured manner that is not based on subject matter. This means that students receive help with defining goals, the strategies to reach them and follow upon their goals and strategies and reflect on their own learning process.

Personal coaching is not limited to scheduled talks to discuss the student’s coaching and development – it is a continuous dialogue between the student and the coach. This dialogue is characterized by closeness and concern. The coach is responsible for ensuring that the students assume the responsibility they can manage – and no more.

The content of the one-on-one coaching and coaching conversation varies, as in all coaching, depending on the student’s level of maturity and needs. In the beginning, the students receive help and support with procedures – to accomplish their personal planning and understand the working methods. The focus gradually shifts to reflections on the student’s own learning process, where the students reflect on their goals, work, strategies and outcome. As students deepen their learning, they assume greater responsibility and receive additional coaching towards new challenging goals.

In the KED program one-to-one coaching session is a structured session that occurs weekly and if needed daily. It is our way of organizing education and hereby leveraging on teacher’s time, the most precious of all resources in school.