The school that thinks differently

Vittoria, a student at the new Viscontini School, drew a picture of the school as she wished it to be.

Recent studies have shown that a student’s performance is enhanced by a school with a better physical environment, including natural light, high ceilings, good air quality and steady temperature. Improvements in school buildings also produce energy savings, safer and healthier environments for children .

However, financing for schools has historically meant just providing money for buildings. There is little thought for how the design will impact their use. But “education infrastructure, pedagogical practices and other education investments need to be conceived from the beginning as a single, intertwined process,” says Silvia Guallar Artal, an economist in the European Investment Bank’s education team.

Guallar and her colleague from the Council of Europe Development Bank, Yael Duthilleul, are working on an innovative approach to finance  education infrastructure projects to ensure that millions, and sometimes billions, of euros in investment are deployed in a way that best supports learning and helps children acquire the skills they will need in the future.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has invested more than €9 billion in education infrastructure in the last five years, 97% of which was spent within the European Union. It’s important the infrastructure is effective and provides real educational value for money.

Andrea Di Muro, fifth grade pupil at Viscontini School, appreciates the two outdoor classrooms and the auditorium – his dream is to become an actor or a screen writer.

The idea behind the new financing approach, called the Constructing Education framework, is to ensure that the design and construction process takes into account the learning environments that best support teaching and improve students’ education. This includes helping teachers prepare new teaching methods for the new spaces.

The goal is to reduce teacher and student anxiety about moving into a new school and to cut down the time teachers spend adapting to a new space.  The Constructing Education framework calls for the budgets of new school buildings to include funds for teacher training, consultation with educators and post-occupancy evaluation surveys to better understand what kinds of spaces work best.

Irene Botti, fifth grade pupil at Viscontini School, loves playing with her friends after school in the Trenno Park, which creates a sense of community.

The school building is immersed in the 150-acre Trenno Park, the largest park in Milan, near the San Siro football stadium. Several buildings, the gym, the auditorium and the library have independent access so they can be used by neighbourhood residents outside school hours.

The new school, which educates children aged 6 to 11, opened in June 2021. The spaces were built with sustainable materials and ensure good ventilation. Overall, the new school contains:

• 20 classrooms and eight laboratories, including special facilities for music, science and art;
• a space dedicated to environmental education;
• a gym with a climbing wall and bleachers with 450 seats;
• an auditorium with 100 seats;
• photovoltaic panels on the roof, which reduces energy consumption and the building’s environmental impact;
• 1 270 square metres of green space divided into thematic areas, such as a playground, a vegetable garden and two outdoor classrooms.

Teacher Cristina Colombo in front of the Viscontini School. Behind her, the raised beds with flowers and vegetables grown by students.

It can be difficult to move from a familiar environment into an unfamiliar one. The first week after the move was both exciting and disorientating for children. They stumbled around looking for their classrooms. The building felt huge and cold. Franco says she “used to take pupils by the hand and guide them to the class.”

“Teachers and children were afraid to even put a pin on the wall,” Colombo remembers.

The education research institute INDIRE helped Viscontini teachers and other staff adapt to these new spaces. The University of Milan-Bicocca also provided two years of vital coaching, support and guidance to help teachers feel comfortable in the new environment, with funding provided by the Milan municipality.

Researchers from the University of Milan Bicocca divided pupils and their teachers into working groups to explore ways of using the new laboratories, classrooms, outdoor and common spaces. “We needed this guidance,” Franco says. “I don’t know how we would have done without.”

The groups tested new furniture, tried different layouts for the new classrooms and visited other schools for inspiration. The new information pushed teachers to re-examine how they were teaching.

“The support of INDIRE and of Milan-Bicocca University was crucial,” Colombo says. “I wished this started even earlier to get us better prepared for the new school.”

Alessandra Nedkov Fierro, fifth grade pupil at the Viscontini School, stops and smells the flowers she and her school-friends planted. “I’m happy most of the time in my new school.”

Viscontini School aims to become a model, exemplifying ideas and practices that can be used nationwide. However, there is no single solution to improving school environments and learning. A design that works in an urban school, for example, may not work in a more rural environment.

For Colombo and Franco, a sense of home has returned at via Viscontini. The way teachers approach learning, however, has shifted. One of the tenets behind the Constructing Education framework is that learning takes place everywhere, and school buildings need to create opportunities for students to learn throughout the day. 

Teachers also use the new space and flexibility to be able to respond to the unique way each child learns. Instead of being bystanders stuck in a row of desks, children are now seen as co-authors of their education, embracing their unique set of skills and exploring topics that motivate them to learn.

“We judge our success on our students’ success,” Colombo says.