A further step which is needed in order to design our playground is to deal with some spatial issues that come out, above all the design of machines and toys able to attract and entertain students of different ages. The increase of safety is still the driving force of the work.
A development of the original shift idea is to organize groups in such a way that we have the presence of several age ranges. In doing so we can implement a mechanism of "older students monitoring younger ones".
With this approach we could relieve the teachers from the complete ownership of control, making them focused observers more than active problem solvers.
It is crucial for such idea to work to boost interactions among students, possibly already at a game level. We have identified several basic solutions which can be summarized in two concepts:
- "reward mechanism", in which students entitled to watch over younger kids will receive some form of reward (chocolate, tickets for some penny arcade, etc.);
- "intrinsic design", where games are designed in such a way that they force students of different ages to cohoperate for actually being able to play (e.g. some machines with two different parts, one activable only by a small person and the other by a taller one).
At the beginning we will for sure have a transition period in which students and teachers have to get to know each other, but as time will pass the structure of interactions will become tigher and stronger, creating a good environment for developing fine social skills and have fun in a safer way.
Eventually teachers will have a minute for light chats!
