Space as a Learning Context: The Role of Dwelling in the Development of Academic Reflection

Abstract

The concept of “dwelling” is offered as a foundation for learning and for under-standing the role of space in educational settings. This chapter is a first attemptto connect the concept of dwelling, perceived as power over space in the phe-nomenological sense, with the concept of meta-learning as researched in exper-imental psychology, in distributed cognition, and in experiential learning, allfields sharing the idea that for learning to become self-regulated individualexperiences should be acknowledged, some freedom of choice should be offered,and change should be stimulated. Examples of learning environments with adwelling quality are presented together with a list of behavioral patternstrating the role of space. In this way the chapter shows education managers howto take the quality of dwelling into account in evaluating and designing contextsof learning.