If you are asked to close your eyes and imagine a classroom – what do you see?
For most of us, it conjures a vision that consists of rows of desks and chairs seating students who are either bent over their books or listening to a teacher standing in front of the blackboard.
Think however if the learners as well as the way they learn are undergoing rapid and significant changes, can classrooms remain unchanged?
No.
A singular change needed in classrooms is the way they are set up.
The current setting of desks in rows is suited to the industrial model of education where teachers teach what they think is important and students are expected to learn.
Yet if we are looking at an increasingly democratic approach to education where students are informed about educational choices and are encouraged to voice their opinions, our class room settings should reflect this as well.
Having an imposing desk at the top of the class represents power and control. Most of us can recall the dread of being summoned up to the teacher’s desk to have our various sins of carelessness, indiscipline or general laziness highlighted.
Can there be an alternative way of organising classrooms where the teacher’s desk does not intimidate? Should the teacher’s desk have apermanent position as the Sun in the Solar System?
If we believe that education for the future is about helping children examine, evaluate and extend current knowledge, then we need to create classrooms where children can think creatively and divergently. This will involve providing opportunities for children to discuss, debate and critique - in other words learn not just from the teacher but from each other.
Co-operative learning encourages children to gain knowledge in a non-threatening environment which is essential for nurturing creativity. Try thinking out-of-the-box when you have been asked to stand up and have everyone’s eyes trained on you!
Classrooms need to be flexible to allow permutations and combinations of settings – which in turn support collaborative learning.
For most of us, it conjures a vision that consists of rows of desks and chairs seating students who are either bent over their books or listening to a teacher standing in front of the blackboard.
Think however if the learners as well as the way they learn are undergoing rapid and significant changes, can classrooms remain unchanged?
No.
A singular change needed in classrooms is the way they are set up.
The current setting of desks in rows is suited to the industrial model of education where teachers teach what they think is important and students are expected to learn.
Yet if we are looking at an increasingly democratic approach to education where students are informed about educational choices and are encouraged to voice their opinions, our class room settings should reflect this as well.
Having an imposing desk at the top of the class represents power and control. Most of us can recall the dread of being summoned up to the teacher’s desk to have our various sins of carelessness, indiscipline or general laziness highlighted.
Can there be an alternative way of organising classrooms where the teacher’s desk does not intimidate? Should the teacher’s desk have apermanent position as the Sun in the Solar System?
If we believe that education for the future is about helping children examine, evaluate and extend current knowledge, then we need to create classrooms where children can think creatively and divergently. This will involve providing opportunities for children to discuss, debate and critique - in other words learn not just from the teacher but from each other.
Co-operative learning encourages children to gain knowledge in a non-threatening environment which is essential for nurturing creativity. Try thinking out-of-the-box when you have been asked to stand up and have everyone’s eyes trained on you!
Classrooms need to be flexible to allow permutations and combinations of settings – which in turn support collaborative learning.
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