Elevate Your Classroom

We all know that the classroom is more than a place for the transfer of knowledge, it is a ‘center of learning’ and to learn we must nurture the ‘learning mindset’.

It is sometimes challenging to get students thinking positively about the learning experience. When we're young and impressionable and experiencing a multitude of sensations and experiences we don't always understand. Being a student is hard and struggling with learning can seem like the end of the world.

The first principal of learning must be positive encouragement whether from a parent, a peer or a teacher. As children we start to learn early, and will spend hours mastering the skills of crawling, walking, and talking – but at some point we feel that we lose the ability to learn and we begin to stay ‘I can’t’.

The classroom is the formal learning area for the vast majority of the population. With the changing expectations and opportunities for when we finish our education we must ask, is my classroom serving the purpose required not only for todays but also for tomorrow’s student? 

As teachers, you're in a unique position to guide your students through more than just the day's lesson. You're helping them learn to manage life lessons and skills for long-term success.

To encourage and stimulate the students we need to energize the learning environment. First we must consider the basic ‘life requirements’, we must provide, plenty of natural light, ample ventilation, a comfortable temperature and controlled noise.

Beyond these basic requirements we need the students to take ownership of their learning area – this may start with their personal space like storage or classroom desk but should increase to the classroom and then to the whole learning environment or school.

A student centered learning space engenders ownership by providing a learning environment for every individual learning style. This will include but will not be limited to,

·        A choice of seating, fixed, active and soft seating

·        Multiple working heights,

·        Collaborative and solitary work areas,

·        Mobile furniture,

·        Writable surfaces,

Colour schemes are influencers – some colours are calming and some will energize, as a rule of thumb bright colours are best left to highlight a particular feature or product to provide stimulation.

Mobile furniture can be used to create different learning zones within the same classroom, from class debates to teacher instruction.

Giving the student responsibilities will empower them and promote ownership, the student is no longer just a participant but becomes the focus. Finding a way to include the students in discussions about their learning environment is a very positive way to help them take pride and reduce any possibility of negativity of the learning institution.

Contact [email protected] for a no obligation consultation on educational furniture and learning space design.

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