October Galway Conference Brings Cutting Edge 21st Century Classroom Design to the West

NUI Galway will host a conference to investigate the importance of the school environment for children’s learning, wellbeing and participation. Entitled ‘21st Century Schools: Inclusive, Flexible & Dynamic Learning Environments: The impact of physical design on student learning and participation’, the conference will take place on Monday, 7 October and is being hosted by the Galway Occupational Therapy Department and a collaborative forum of educators, educational psychologists, therapists and designers.

The conference features national and international experts on learning environments and school seating, as well as examples of flexible design classrooms with innovative furniture design, presentations from local children from Scoil Cholmáin Tuairíní, Galway Educate Together National School and the Claddagh National School and an expert panel discussion on the application of research to practice.

This conference will be of great interest to schools and school support teams in Galway and particularly any schools hoping to build, renovate or purchase furniture.  The conference also provides an opportunity for teachers and school support teams from health and disability services to learn and share knowledge together around this important area creating a real platform for ongoing change. A Teaching Council Research support grant is subsidising the event ensuring it is accessible to as many practitioners as possible.

International and National Experts on Learning Environments and School Seating are presenting including: Professor Peter Barrett, University of Salford; Dr Tony Hall, NUI Galway; Simon Dennehy, CEO, Perch Dynamic Solutions; Thomas Grey, leading member in the consortium tasked with developing the Universal Design Guidelines for Early Learning and Care settings; Richard Brennan, founder and past President of the Irish Society of Alexander Technique Teachers; and Mary Murphy of Occupational Health and Safety Services and Jan Van Haaren (Industrial Design and Display Screen Environment (DSE) Assessor.

The conference will take place in the Institute for Lifecourse and Society (ILAS) Building, North Campus.

Registration for the event is available https://hse.clr.events/event/128423:learning-environments-conference or contact Michelle Bergin at Michelle.bergin2@hse.ie for further information.

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