A Pathway to Better Social and Individual Life Through Places of Learning: The Role of School Design in the Development of Students' Identities

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Considering two main purpose of schooling as "Socialisation" and "Personal fulfilment" which are directly linked to the issue of "Students Identity Development", schooling can serve as an influential context for the development of students' identities. Moreover, some studies done before provide ample evidences that "school design" can influence different aspects of schooling. This includes learning experiences and academic achievement, learners' and teachers' behaviour and attitudes, teaching practices and curricula as well as interpersonal relationship. Building upon these mentioned issues, the main argument of this research is that school design can influence the formation of students' identities. Considering the complicated nature of individuals' identity formation, here in order to explore the relationship between school design and identity development four factors are defined that play mediating roles in this relationship:

1.Possibilities of developmental exploration 2.Provision for individuation 3.Facilitating interpersonal integration 4.Engendering a sense of belonging and connectedness to the learning environment

Stream: Creative Arts and Learning

Paper: Pathway to Better Social and Individual Life Through Places of Learning, A

The author has a Master degree in Architecture from the University of Tehran, Iran. Her Master thesis was a research focusing on the role of built-environment design, especially cultural and recreational centres, in the constructive use of leisure time for youth and adolescents. In line with that research, she is currently doing her PhD about the influences of school design on the development of adolescent students' identities in The University of Melbourne, Australia.