From Policy to Practice: EDI’s Four Spatial Strategies for NEP 2020

Translating policy into practice is a collective journey. By highlighting what purposeful space can achieve, we spark the conversations that lead to action.

Author: Dr. Parul Minhas, Director of Research at Education Design International (EDI)

India’s National Education Policy 2020 presents a clear mandate: schools must become learner- centred, flexible and deeply rooted in local context, with pedagogy that’s experiential, inquiry-driven and holistic. Yet such lofty goals remain abstract until they shape the very environments where learning unfolds.

Translating NEP 2020 into built form brings us to four spatial strategies—

  • Learner Choice: Designing Spaces for Autonomy and Personalized Learning
  • Deep Connections: Fostering Collaboration and Belonging
  • Active Learning Environments: Freedom to Explore, Learn and Grow
  • Diverse Learning Spaces: Future-Proof, Flexible and Inclusive

These aren’t theoretical constructs: for decades, Education Design International has woven each of these strategies into campuses around the world—giving students genuine control over where they work, embedding collaboration hubs into academic wings, turning circulation paths into active learning spaces and offering a rich mix of settings so every learner finds the space that suits them. Let’s unpack each strategy’s potential impact:

NEP 2020 calls for “flexible, multi-purpose learning environments” that let learners “choose their own paths in life according to their talents and interests.” To honour this, our spaces must give students genuine control over where and how they learn—moving beyond uniform rooms that group 30 learners into a single mode of instruction.

1. Learner Choice: Designing Spaces for Autonomy and Personalized Learning

    In practice, this means creating learning studios composed of distinct zones: quiet alcoves for individual reflection, seminar tables for small-group dialogue, and maker corners for hands-on exploration. Each zone is deliberately outfitted and furnished to support a different mode of learning, so a student can – for example – curl up with a text in a cozy nook, then shift to a project table to collaborate with peers, all within a connected learning space.

    By embedding choice directly into the fabric of our campuses, we foster self-directed learning and personal agency. Teachers become facilitators—moving between zones, observing needs and gently guiding each learner’s journey. The outcome is clear: students take real ownership of their education, building independence and confidence in line with NEP 2020’s vision.

    Children reading in cozy alcoves, on tiered steps and in open floor zones—illustrating choice-driven learning spaces.

    2. Deep Connections: Fostering Collaboration and Belonging

    NEP 2020 highlights building “life skills such as communication, cooperation, teamwork and resilience” and advocates “no hard separations” between learning areas. Traditional isolated classrooms and narrow corridors work against these aims, creating silos and anonymity.

    Designing for Deep Connections flips that model by embedding collaboration and community into every part of campus:

    • Small Learning Communities (SLCs): Teams of 100–150 students and their teachers share adjacent studios, breakout alcoves and common lounges. Within each SLC, learners are “known, respected and educated at a very personal level,” reinforcing belonging and support.
    • Community Hubs: Open, flexible gathering spaces with movable furniture and writable surfaces invite impromptu discussions, group work and cross-age mentoring.
    • Transparent Thresholds: Glass walls, wide openings and low partitions maintain visual links between studios, making every student feel part of the wider learning life—even when working in a quiet nook.
    An open community hub with lounge seating, shared resources and breakout zones—illustrating Deep Connections through collaboration and belonging.

    Research shows that subdividing large schools into smaller units strengthens teacher collaboration and deepens student relationships. By designing for these connections, we ensure learning is a rich social experience—where communication, cooperation and resilience grow naturally from the very way spaces connect.

    3. Active Learning Environments: Freedom to Explore, Learn and Grow

      NEP 2020 shifts us from rote, desk-bound instruction to “experiential, play-based and inquiry-driven” learning—yet a static classroom where children remain seated all day works against this vision. Active Learning Environments acknowledge that students learn by moving: around the campus, through varied settings and into fresh experiences.

      In EDI’s practice, this means:

      • Seamless Indoor–Outdoor Flow: Covered walkways, gardens and courtyards interlink with studios so a science experiment can spill outdoors, and a reading circle can gather under a tree.
      • Flexible Activity Nodes: Mobile furniture, roll-away surfaces and writable partitions let teachers reconfigure spaces in seconds—turning corridors into drama stages or alcoves into pop-up labs.
      • Embedded Play & Inquiry Stations: Strategically placed maker tables, art walls and sensory corners invite spontaneous exploration as students move between lessons.
      A covered colonnade linking indoor studios with landscaped grounds—illustrating seamless indoor–outdoor flow and active learning pathways.

      These design moves keep learners physically active and mentally engaged, catering to kinesthetic learning styles and preventing fatigue. By embracing movement at every scale—from a simple path that doubles as a discussion trail to entire open-air pavilions—schools become dynamic environments where active pedagogies thrive and NEP’s hands-on, arts- and sports-integrated approaches come to life.

      4. Diverse Learning Spaces: Future-Proof, Flexible and Inclusive

      NEP 2020 calls for innovation and adaptability—our schools must evolve as teaching methods, technologies and community needs shift. Diverse Learning Spaces answer this by offering a rich variety of settings that support different activities, moods and group sizes without major overhauls:

      • Quiet Retreats and Focus Pods: Sound-insulated nooks or small booths for individual study, reflection or one-on-one tutorials.
      • Collaborative Studios and Workshop Bays: Mid-sized zones with writable surfaces and loose seating where teams can brainstorm, build prototypes or rehearse presentations.
      • Makerspaces and Tinker Labs: Dedicated areas stocked with tools, raw materials and display racks to support hands-on exploration across STEM, arts and crafts
      Students collaborating at a high table outside glass-enclosed focus rooms and group studios—illustrating the variety of settings that support Diverse Learning Spaces.
      • Performance & Presentation Terraces: Raised platforms or stepped seating zones that double as theatres, debate stages or demonstration zones.
      • Indoor–Outdoor Pavilions: Semi-open shelters and courtyards that let lessons spill outside, providing fresh air, natural light and adaptable group configurations.

      By weaving this spectrum of distinct spaces—rather than relying solely on uniform rooms—schools can seamlessly shift from silent reading to group design challenges, from digital labs to live performances. This variety future-proofs campuses: they accommodate new pedagogies, integrate emerging tools and pivot quickly for health, weather or community uses. In embodying NEP 2020’s forward-looking spirit, Diverse Learning Spaces ensure every learner finds the environment that best fits their task, temperament and creativity.

      Conclusion: Turning Vision into Everyday Reality

      India’s NEP 2020 lays out a far-reaching vision including learner centred pedagogy, experiential inquiry, local relevance, holistic development, equity and digital integration. Our four spatial strategies—Learner Choice, Deep Connections, Active Learning Environments and Diverse Learning Spaces—translate its core into built form. Yet NEP also calls for universal access, technology enabled learning and celebration of regional culture. These dimensions extend beyond these pillars and remind us that design is only one piece of a larger puzzle.

      The real barrier to change is often awareness not budget. Many schools and even government programs invest in cosmetic upgrades without understanding which spatial shifts truly matter. The first step is to recognize where your campus falls short of NEP’s intentions. Are your environments genuinely flexible? Do they foster connection rather than isolation? Do they invite movement and offer the variety that honors every learner’s style? Once that awareness is in place, practical solutions big or small will follow.

      Translating policy into practice is a collective journey. By highlighting what purposeful space can achieve, we spark the conversations that lead to action. When school communities grasp what is truly needed beyond paint colours and furniture catalogues, they can begin to reimagine every corner of their campus as an opportunity for choice, belonging, discovery and growth.

      Featured Project: Wellington College International Pune
      Photography: Noughts & Crosses

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