National Taitung Girls' Senior High School｜Socratic Exploration Classroom

“ Through self-directed learning, students design and lead learning experiences that have their interest, have personal meaning or are relevant in their own lives.”

Inside–Outside Synergy: Creating a New Environment for Self-Directed Learning

Educational spaces and facilities must evolve alongside teaching methods and curricular goals. At Taitung Girls’ Senior High School, the well-established self-directed learning program encourages students to clarify their ideas through dialogue, cultivating aesthetic awareness, imagination, and creativity while helping them define their own identity. To support this learning approach with a space that aligns with its values—and to revitalize underused areas of the campus—the school selected the terrace of the first building beyond the main gate, along with the adjacent storage room, as the focus for transformation.

After detailed site observation and analysis, the design team decided to resolve the asymmetry created by the building’s mismatched façade windows, while redesigning the terrace to improve drainage, introduce Scaevola taccada planting, and add stone seating for group discussions. These interventions addressed long-standing issues of water accumulation due to disrepair and simultaneously infused the terrace with new vitality.

Indoors, glass-brick walls were installed on both sides to bring in natural light and enhance spatial brightness and transparency. The interior layout was reorganized into individual study zones, group discussion areas, and a dedicated project display wall. Workstations line both sides for students who prefer independent study, while the display wall allows students to showcase their work. Movable furniture was added to accommodate varying instructional needs and learning modes. From inside to outside, the renewed environment allows teachers and students to explore, collaborate, and learn with greater ease, flexibility, and comfort.