If You Build It: Rena Upitis

When Rena Upitis, Ed.D.'85, asks adults about their passions, it is rare that they had developed these passions at school. One reason, she believes: The design of school buildings often lacks the physical spaces that encourage that kind of learning. Though Upitis' areas of research have spanned computer technology, math, music, and the arts, this former dean of education, and current professor of arts education at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, is now focused on the power of school architecture. Author of the 2010 book, Raising a School: Foundations of School Architecture, Upitis explores school architecture and how the physical environment can either enable or constrain learning. "I realized that a lot of teachers want to do more work in the arts and recognize the importance of the arts, but don't have the physical capabilities, meaning the schools don't encourage that type of work in the spaces," she says. A teacher might want to offer dance, for example, but does not have the space to do so. Intrigued by the notion of architecture and the role it plays in education — a more active one than most would think — Upitis earned a diploma in architecture technology five years ago. She is a believer in the Reggio Emilia Approach, which suggests that the physical surroundings in which students are taught are pivotal to their learning. It's important, Upitis says, to pay attention to the look and feel of a building because it sends messages to its inhabitants. "We go into some buildings and they tell us the world is welcoming, whereas others tell us it is stiff and constrained," she says. Historically, Upitis believes, schools haven't been designed to enhance education. "If school architecture is a typical box classroom with few windows and narrow hallways in soundproof walls [with] hideous aesthetics, then we tell children that school is a container," she says. "Kids want comfortable furniture, light, air, and to hear a bird outside the window." In a day when a lot of schools are both renovating and being built, Upitis thinks it is an ideal time to reconsider the schools of today and beyond. "If we take seriously the notion that school buildings present students with powerful messages about what society values, then school architecture needs to be radically rethought," she says. "For a century and a half, we have built schools that lack adequate light, good furniture, inviting entryways, and green spaces. This is the time to do it."