Engaging and caring spaces for teachers and children: Mediated intertwinements of pedagogy, physical space and IEQ

The importance of good indoor environmental qualities (IEQ) for wellbeing and learning in schools is well-researched, though mostly framed, measured, and treated technically (e.g., Haverinen‐Shaughnessy et al., 2011; Minelli et al., 2022). Less explored is the relation between pedagogical practices, physical school spaces, and IEQ and how these are intertwined and potentially improved through teacher training and collaboration (Bøjer & Rasmussen, 2024).
In this paper, we do a close examination of a small but exemplary project, where a recreation centre teacher, through minor physical and pedagogical interventions developed in collaboration with colleagues, transforms a malfunctioning computer space with bad acoustics and air quality into an engaging, inclusive, and caring space for both teachers and students.
The analysis will draw on socio-spatial perspectives of space and educational practice for an analysis of how aspects of IEQ (acoustics and air flow) and materiality (computers, walls, and chairs on wheels) entangle with the pedagogical practices and organisations of the room (Carvalho & Yeoman, 2018; Lai et al. 2020; Mulcahy et al., 2015). Moreover, it is framed by a literature review conducted in the research project (Bøjer & Rasmussen, 2024).
The analysis will exemplify how IEQ may be considered and supported pedagogically through teacher training, which would offer a more collaborative and participatory alternative to the dominant technical approach to IEQ in schools.
The paper is grounded in a Danish action research project connected to a new supplementary teacher training program aiming to educate teachers in matters of pedagogy, space, and IEQ and their interrelations. The paper will be based on qualitative data including visual and written material from presentations and reports about the teacher projects, observations and interviews with teachers, and quantitative IEQ measurement.
The project demonstrates the interrelated link between pedagogy, space, and IEQ and how thinking about and working with this interplay as collaborative, interwoven and interdependent can empower the teachers and thus create better and more democratic learning environments. Today, IEQ is mainly controlled by the school’s technical personnel, thus being unapproachable by teachers and students. Enhanced spatial competencies provides the teacher with more agency to (re)think space and IEQ pedagogically and make the required changes to secure a more aligned and democratic learning environment.