An interview with...

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire…

Dedicated and resolute in igniting the fires of inspiration in their own students, learning mentors Ivy and Andrea began the pleasurable and professionally engaging task of preparing this year’s inaugural Year 5 learning space, as early as Term 3 last year.

Delighted from the get-go to be mentoring such a bright and ebullient grade, Andrea and Ivy delved deep into the research and pedagogy of Kath Murdoch, a world-renowned inquiry learning expert to curate an exceptional learning space, where every piece of furniture, every material and chosen colour acts to inspire, engage and facilitate the power of student-led learning. 

 Surveying online examples of other philosophically aligned learning spaces in other schools and colleges, Ivy and Andrea frequently referred to Murdoch’s text, Guiding Learners’ Explorations of Personal Passions, interests and questions to create not only a dynamic environment in which to learn but a truly beautiful one to boot.

With the support and collaboration of Sue, Cherie and the college’s business manager, David to guide and assist the learning mentor’s, it is perhaps in the words of Kath Murdoch herself, that best articulates just what a habitat for thriving personal passions Ivy and Andrea have achieved.

“… [this] learning environment… [is] characterised by physical arrangements that value flexibility, agency, beauty, curiosity, collaboration, independence, and integration. Environments [such as this] …nurture creativity and innovation [and] have been compared to coffee houses- places where individuals in a community share a relaxed space with options for both personal space and collaborative dialogue.”

With all natural materials, high and low tables with rounded edges, a circular couch-like bench seat, views of the hanging garden and trickling fountain as well as accessibility to an outdoor learning space, the Year 5 ‘classroom’ is both calming and inspiring. It’s simply a place you want to be!

Capturing the initial, and most important responses about the new space on the first day of the 2024 College year, Ivy and Andrea recorded their Year 5 students with the following quotes.

Zander: “Wow!”

Jemma: “I was thinking, how is this the Waterhole? It has really changed!”

Lara: I was thinking, wow this has been improved a tonne since last year!”

Ahmad: “It is very clean.”

Kehar: “It looks very different!” 

Jett: “It is organised!” 

Jack: “Creative!”

Henry: “I like the new seating areas.” 

Charlotte: “I was very happy to have a new classroom.”

Parm: “It has changed since orientation.” 

Lucas: “I like what we have down with the space.”

Josie: “I felt like I was excited to learn.”

Eleina: “It is all really fresh and set-out.”

Matilda: “There are lots of new materials.”

Millie: “I thought it was a new space, so new me.”

Lucy: “It looks like a calm and comfortable working space.”

Avaya: “I think it looks good because there is a lot of things but it is not cluttered and overwhelming.”