A Case Study of a New Scottish Open Plan School.

This report, representing a 12-month case study of a new Scottish primary school, draws together educational issues concerning problems and possibilities of open-plan schooling by locating them in the day-to-day work of a particular open-plan school. During 70 days of field work, the researcher spent time observing classes, interviewing parents, children and teachers, and collecting comments on preliminary drafts of the final report. The first part of the report contains an introduction and seven essays: Becoming an Open Plan School; Open Plan Schools Past and Present; First Days at School (the experiences of one class and their teacher); The Case of the Missing Chairs (the relationship between teaching techniques and material resources); All Work and No Play? (the changing character of the primary school curriculum); Episodes of School Life (a day in the life of a pupil, teacher and class); The Logic of the Open Plan School (a theoretical integration of the architectual and educational use of the term 'open plan'). Research documents and methodological appendices comprise the second part of the report. (Author/MS)