The Analysis of Spatial Organization and Using Status of Urban Alternative School

From the mid-1990s, the discussion on alternative schools began in earnest, and with the increasing interests in them, Korean parents' association of alternative education, KPAAE was launched formally in November, 2008. Among the alternative schools in the nation, thirteen urban alternative schools were studied and analyzed. The result indicated that they are being run by individuals and civic organizations with no approval and the facilities and spatial organization of the schools are poor, which is thought to be mainly due to financial reasons as well as the schools' educational goal that puts emphasis on experiences leading to utilize outside local facilities. With this background, the results from the analysis of the facility status and the spatial organization of urban alternative schools led us to understand the followings: First, it showed that per capita average of area of the urban alternative school is approximately 11.995m, less than 14N, the standard area of institutional schools. Second, depending on the form of facilities, the space of other facilities is shared to make up for insufficient space, and is utilized to a small degree and for multi-purposes. Third, the space reflects the disposition of subject students, and is located in the area with convenient traffic for students' attending the schools conveniently. Fourth, specialized space is run on the basis of educational goals, and the exploring of career and the improving of sociality are pursued through internship programs associated with local facilities. Thus, it is desirable for the minimum per capita area of the urban alternative school to meet 14N, the standard area of the institutional schools in order that the urban alternative school may overcome the spatial limitation and the financial hardship stemming from the practically difficult constructing of new buildings and the small scale operation, and it may make flexible use of the space, and the students may live their lives smoothly. Also, it is thought that for the activating of the urban alternative schools, the plans for utilizing various facilities associated with local facilities should be considered.