School work environment: Transition from education to practice

Learning how to learn as opposed to obtaining the experience to practice any field of professionalism creates a great disconnect between education and careers. Many educational programs do not have the curriculum or a building to transition students into a work atmosphere. When the design of a building and its program creates an environment that bridges the gap between school and work, the psychology and standard of an average graduate greatly increases. Students learn from being taught and personal experience. There are programs that require an internship or similar practice as a mandatory factor of the degree. Apprenticeships connect the taught education with the experience of real work. However, there is still a separation that could be reconnected if a building could define the boundaries for the transition. Creating a building that will reconnect school style learning and apprentice-style learning will establish a space of discovery between the two. Researching programs\u27 curriculum, continuing education requirements, and analyzing a specific education program and career that can benefit from the design for multiple program elements will allow a thorough exploration. Interviews will be performed with students whose degrees require work experience to help understand how a building can promote learning. In conjunction with these personal experiences evaluated through curriculum, a separate analysis will determine how various building design approaches have been explored. Understanding how existing buildings affect the facilitation of learning in the design of schools and training centers will help understand how the design of these buildings directly reinforces learning. It is most important to understand how the architecture will explicitly make the connection between learning and work, and how it will enhance the notion of discovery through education. After exploring various programs, it was found that a fire academy in conjunction with a training facility and station would create challenging situations to apply the theory that the building itself can facilitate a better learning environment. This profession requires extensive classroom learning and physical training experience. Combining a variety of program components for the academy, training, station, and housing, the building will be a dynamic collaboration of education, practice, and living