Pam Mundy is a renowned education expert with decades of experience across the globe. Her career spans all levels of education, from early childhood to high school (K-12), with a particular specialism in early childhood development. Pam has worked with diverse schools and organizations worldwide, including South East Asia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Africa,Central and South America, China, and the USA. This rich international experience has given her a deep understanding of educational developments across various cultural contexts, which is invaluable in her current role as Executive Director of Pam Mundy Associates Ltd. In this capacity, Pam advises schools and governments on strategic planning, leadership development, and the brokering, partnership and implementation/ establishment of new schools in various geographies.
Photo: Pam Mundy
Pam is recognized for her contributions to the development of international education and the launch of new schools, including in challenging environments such as Saudi Arabia’s NEOM “smart city” project where she was Founding Director of Schools and Education. As Pam puts it, “I started school at four years old and haven’t really left since. It seems education is in my blood.”
Pam’s influence extends beyond individual schools. She serves on the boards of various educational institutions in the UK and internationally, including ACS International Schools, Charterhouse Lagos, and Chatmore British International School, Bermuda. She also participates in international Ministry of Education committees and research groups. Recently, she co-authored the book “International Schools: Navigating Leadership, Culture and Context,” sharing her deep understanding of the complexities and challenges faced by educators in a globalized world.
We spoke with Pam about her experience in education and how she is reimagining the concept of “school” in the broadest sense. We discussed the cases and models that Pam finds important to highlight in terms of finding the new points of view to education now.
Is School Changing with the World?
— Do you see any new, radical school models emerging that are trying to break away from traditional education and reshape the educational landscape today?
The Reggio Emilia Approach: Born from a Dream of Free Citizens
Pam Mundy: I think there are many new models, and it’s quite logical that they are emerging now. For example, Loris Malaguzzi created the Reggio Emilia approach in response to the end of World War II. Of course, COVID was not a war, however in so many ways, it was a battle, an absolutely terrible time. So, I think it was a turning point for people to say, “You know, we’ve been doing the same thing for years and years. Let’s look at this differently. Besides, society and children are different now.”
I’m very fortunate because, at the moment, I’m working with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) in Dubai and with a government agency in Saudi Arabia. They are saying, “Okay, let’s just stop where we are now and see what new things we can do, how we can make education truly engaging for children, truly exciting.”
There’s an appeal to children’s natural curiosity, and there’s a growing understanding that technology is not just something you bolt on from the outside, it’s not just about an interactive whiteboard, or an iPad, or a phone, it’s much more than that, it’s an intergral aspect of learning and life.
— Could you share some examples or tools from your experience on how to achieve this? Perhaps we could imagine the entire city as a space for learning, with the school building serving only as a hub, a place for meetings.
Pam Mundy: I’m very fortunate to be working with some truly progressive architects right now: Blackney Hayes Architects, Trung Le, Bogle Architects — and we have the most amazing conversations. I’m starting to move away from the word school, when one says “school,” people envision one thing: a building, corridors, classrooms. I don’t really know what a classroom is anymore! That concept is very ‘old school’.
Schools designed by Blackney Hayes Architects and Bogle Architects. Photos from the websites of architectural bureaus
— Indeed, we can no longer exist in these classrooms and corridors because we are different, and the world is different. But school remains the same.
Pam Mundy: Yes, it does. I’ve always had this phrase in my head , ‘Challenge, to the point of irritation, those who say ‘it can’t be done’, My response is always the same. “Why not?” Why not? Well, if we can’t do ‘that’, what can we do? What will work? I think it’s this open-mindedness and ‘ca ALWAYS do’ outlook that helps to move things forward.
Schools as Sightseeing
Pam Mundy: I’m eager to see what happens with many of the innovative projects in the UAE, US and Saudi Arabia. Teams coming together to design some of the most ‘out there’ projects involve architects, designers, tech specialists and educators – the perfect storm!
— Speaking of this particular case, perhaps you could give some other examples?
Pam Mundy: I’m working with some projects, some new projects in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the US and they are really starting to look at design for purpose – flexibility, authentic sustainability and innovation are key . If you take Dubai, if you take Saudi Arabia, if you take Riyadh, for example, you have these incredible hotels, these incredible towers, amazing buildings in terms of shape, and then you have ‘the schools’. If we can build the Museum of the Future, why can’t we do something similar for a school?
The School’s Labyrinth
Pam Mundy: People are now looking at how the building interacts with people, you know, not just how people interact with buildings. It works both ways.
I worked with a schools for a group in Brazil. It’s a really interesting building, designed so that the lab tables in the science lab are stored within the ceiling. So, when you need them, you bring them down, and when you don’t need them, they go back up. It’s a mix of traditional classrooms, yet there’s are some unique, features, design-wise, and choice of materials – some features that are also reminiscent of Zaha Hadid. It’s a fascinating space, and the children respect it, because they are allowed to touch and use everything. This part of the design, it changes how children interact with the building because there is no need to restrict children’s interaction with the environment, spoil things, because these are your things, things for you, for the children, not simply for aesthetic purpose.
There’s a school in Texas , it has a central, storied design with an ‘agora’, based on spaces to bring people together as they wish, parents, teachers, students, a ‘live and active’ space. Throughout the building, the rooms have glass walls, everything is visible learners and educators can write on the windows, you can slide them open, you can move the walls, and it’s a fascinating design. It was truly unique at the time. From the outside, it looks like an ordinary traditional school, once inside, it’s a completely different story.
— This is an interesting idea, that a school can be quite ordinary from the outside, but once you enter, you are inside of a magical world. Architecture of space can be a specific tool, that changes and influences educational atmosphere…
Pam Mundy: Yes. One of the biggest lessons that I learned, and it stays with me whenever I work with a school client at the design stage, is something that an architect friend of mine shared with me, when we were planning to meet for coffee in London at the Royal Festival Hall, We came to the entrance, and he said, “Okay, you go, ahead and I’ll follow you. Go where the building leads you. Don’t ask me, just go where you think the building wants you to go.” So, I did, and then we repeated the exercise, with him leading, through the building again, and he explained to me why I went the way that I did, how the building “led” me, how it was designed to facilitate certain pathways and choices, it was fascinating. It taught me so much about design, form and function!
— I think it would be amazing to talk with students about emotions that the school has on them while they make a journey through the building.
Pam Mundy: You just made me think about something. I was wondering, why don’t we design buildings that care for children and the team working with them?
— That’s a very interesting point. Actually very often as a child, you learn that this world is not for you. It excludes you from public spaces as they are mostly designed by adults for adults.
Pam Mundy: Absolutely. Often, when I work with schools, I suggest to teachers, “Look at this space from a child’s perspective.” Sit down, you know, if you work with young children particularly, sit on the floor, lean on your elbow, see what the child might see from the angle they are looking at, not from your perspective as an adult. I really strongly believe in this, that everything intended for children should be designed for the convenience of children, not simply for the adults who use it. Supporting them and genuinely facilitating their life and experience in a place where they spend most of their day, is crucial to their. You have to understand how they feel, how they might be, in this space.
The Beauty of Imperfection
Pam Mundy: For me, the most important area, the area that really deserves innovation, is design for early childhood spaces, that respect this incredibly important phase of life and are appropriate for such young children. There has to be a concept for the was in which we can make a difference. We need to look at who these children are, how capable and creative they are and really think about the fact that the future is actually ‘now’. We are a quarter of the way through the 21st Century, hurtling toward the 22nd century and they can’t wait for us to be ready! I think that some aspects of design in Japan are a fascinating example, and I think the simplicity of the buildings, the lighter color, the lighter wood, real and natural materials, not plastic, and the space, and the air, and the ability to have this lightness and this brightness and access to the natural world, alongside a different approach to design, it’s very important.
Yokohama International School: Japanese Traditions and Architectural Innovations
I also love the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi, applied to and describing many things. In traditional Japanese aesthetics. Wabi Sabi, although challenging to translate exactly, describes the acceptance of imperfection and transience, appreciating beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete, the ‘beautiful and yet ordinary, perhaps a beautiful pot that has a crack in it, a knot in an otherwise perfect piece of wood. I believe that the ‘perfect’ design for an education building is one that embraces this concept.
I’m fortunate to work worldwide, and see some ‘interesting’ building designs, alongside amazing new concepts. I also see that people are starting to pay more attention to this. We can learn from many other countries, as they can fro each other. A few years ago, I was working in Indonesia with a group of kindergartens. Most were operating within a very small, non-purpose built space, yet did the most amazing things with what they had. For example, there was no dedicated space for a ‘sleep room’. Thinking imaginatively, they designed small, cosy beds that actually retracted into the wall, so that when you looked at the wall, you don’t see them, and when it was time to sleep, they could be folded out into the room, so the room became a sleeping space, with flexible lighting that could be dimmed accordingly, and other features conducive to restful sleep. A total inspiration and so effective! Lighting and ventilation have such an impact!
Ora Kindergarten, photo: EdDesign Mag
Pam Mundy: Have you been to the ORA Nursery in Dubai? It’s also called the Nursery of the Future.
— Yes, I am familiar with the project.
Pam Mundy: It has a very futuristic design, quite an amazing capsule design. However, if one actually looked at it initially as a functioning building for young children, it was quite challenging, where in some aspects, form had overridden function. Happily, the team used the design creatively and once adapted, it retained the innovative features and worked brilliantly. There is also the ‘circular’ concept design for a well known Nursery in Japan – fascinating!
— Yes, it is Fuji Kindergarten, we visited it with EdDesign Mag. It is a great example of a design masterpiece that gets unperfect with the time, but you see the presence of life, of children activities, and it feels and looks very natural.
Pam Mundy: Yes. It’s strange that we don’t think about this normality, imperfection, the real world for young children – including in design. We know that the difference between a good and a bad haircut is six weeks. The difference between a good and a bad childhood experience and the issues caused by that can last for 60 years. That’s frightening and should really alert those of us with the opportunity to make a difference, considering well-being and learning in every aspect of human – centred design. We have to remember that the children and young people in our education settings are our most powerful and yet vulnerable citizens. We are, alongside them, designing the future.
Fuji kindergarten, photo: EdDesign Mag
February 2025
