Places of learning around the world

For centuries fixed positions have been observed within the classroom: students sitting at desks with a teacher standing front and centre. In many cultures the classroom was, and is, a key element in the education of young people. School lessons today, however, increasingly take place in versatile teaching spaces where the relationship between student and teacher is also more flexible. The image gallery presented here shows the different shapes and forms that a place of learning may take and the great variation that exists over time and across cultures. Learning spaces are gradually losing their fixed structures and are gaining new dimensions: teaching and learning are carried increasingly through communication and an exchange of ideas and creativity, all with the aim of encouraging independent thinking. The picture gallery shows 70 teaching and learning situations from all over the world, each with a brief explanation of the context in which the respective photo was taken.