Researchers and practitioners in a wide range of disciplines – early childhood and developmental education, psychology and cognitive science, school architecture and design – maintain that the key to learning in today’s world is not just the physical space we provide for students but the social space as well (Fraser, 2012; Helm et al., 2007; OWP/P Architects et al., 2010). The learning environment, they suggest, is “the third teacher” that can either enhance the kind of learning that optimizes our students’ potential to respond creatively and meaningfully to future challenges or detract from it.

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