In December, Lien De Saegher already won the Klasse Award in the context of the Flemish Thesis Prize with her master’s dissertation (master in Urban and Regional Planning – Faculty of Architecture). Now she has also won the thesis prize of the Flemish Association for Spatial Planning (VRP). Here the assessment by the jury.
“In her master’s dissertation, Lien investigated how the first seeds for ‘space education’ can already be sown in primary school. Her research shows that primary education still approaches housing in a stereotypical way. The ideal that is put forward is the detached house, and some teaching materials also attribute negative connotations to living in the city. Interviews show that teachers are open to ‘spatial education’, but do not always have an affinity with the subject. The thesis also maps out children’s perceptions. Most of them want to live in a villa, but children from the village think they will live in an open or semi-open building. Lien made a creative teaching package and tested it successfully. It turned out to bring about a slight shift in housing expectations towards more compact forms of living. This kind of research has never been done before and is the first to expose the fact that teaching aids support a stereotypical view of space. The thesis lays an important foundation for further research into how teaching aids can come more into line with spatial reality. The jury encourages Lien to find channels to further disseminate her teaching package.
(Co-)supervisors of Lien De Saegher’s master’ dissertation were Hans Leinfelder and Jana Verstraete.
- On 11 February 2021 Lien will explain her research during the Duolezingen. Afstudeerprijs 2020. 2/2
Photo: © Lien De Saegher