Looking into a larger space.

Residential architect, Sarah Susanka, had very poignant ideas about how we physiologically feel in different spaces. One that jumped out at me as an endpoint for an "imaginative bridge" came from the following quote: "Cozy corners-- often unplanned, leftover spaces-- are our favorite spots. It's enjoyable to be able to look into a larger space, but many people prefer the view form the periphery- from a comfortable alcove, for example."

Spaces that feel the best to people are small "nooks" where we can "find our footing," and feel settled or stable. This becomes a starting point that has some familiarity, intimacy or "coziness" to it, before we look in at the larger space, or the bigger, more challenging "expression."

My analogical connection to the classroom lies in "education for understanding." When we talk about "education for understanding," we talk about a deep understanding of a concept. To begin to study a concept, one cannot take on the large picture right out of the gates. It's too overwhelming. So, a better approach might be to take on a "peripheral" perspective, to grab an interesting slice of that complex idea, and go deep- viewing it from a point of view that holds some separation, shelter, FEELS comfortable, becomes "shaped" and "tailored" with interest and relevance to a student, yet offers the view into the "main room." For example, the study of "what is beautiful?" is a big, big idea, a "massive activity place," so Howard Gardner asks us to look at it from a peripheral place, a comfortable and manageable "interior view" via "The Marriage of Figaro" which becomes our "cardboard box" through which to discuss "the connecting view" to Beauty (H. Gardner, The Disciplined Mind.) The "art of dwelling" and the "art of teaching" have many different alcoves that inform the quality of the levels of feeling and understanding of the big principles.