As a travel scholarship recipient to the Committee on Architecture for Education's 2016 spring conference, I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunities I had this past week. Berlin presented a myriad of architectural wonders, both within the education sector and without. The city itself was quite inspiring, given that the Berlin wall came down only 27 years ago, and much has already been accomplished in this once-divided city.
Conference attendees toured a variety of educational settings, from kindergarten to higher education, which provided us with a small peek at the German approach to education (see CAE's Facebook page for pics of the sites). This was highly informative and gave me a fresh perspective on how things might be done differently; I also learned to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of the US and German education systems (for example, the US has had inclusion laws for disabled students for decades, whereas Germany just recently started mandating inclusive classrooms).
For me, one highlight of the conference was a visit to the Erika Mann K-6 school, where social skills education was included with standard subjects and school was a multi-sensory experience. At Erika Mann, students are given a variety of play options and are able to express themselves, and their energy, via many different outlets. Also, this school has proved that renovation and reconceptualization of an old school can have a profound impact on the school culture and identity, even within the constraints of outdated facilities. In this case, many of the play areas and aesthetic components throughout the school were designed to reflect dragon-like qualities, an idea formulated by the school's students, and this cohesiveness translated into very exciting and engaging learning spaces.
Most of all, what made the conference such a great success were the people; excellent speakers and dedicated architects made for stimulating conversations and valuable networking opportunities. Fellow attendees also made the conference a lot of fun! I hope to see many of these fabulous individuals in the future as I continue to establish my career.