Publish at June 23 2014 Updated October 19 2023
In the world of education, the debate is not just about pedagogical or technological innovation. School design (division of time, organization of space, etc.) is also the subject of controversy, particularly as regards whether or not it should be modified, against a backdrop of concerns about the effectiveness of learning.
With the exception of experimental settings, the classroom has not undergone much change in over a century. It is made up of rows of chairs and tables (or bench-tables) arranged in onion rows facing a blackboard, and this is what distinguishes it from any other room dedicated to work.
Over the years, the nature of the components has evolved. There have been blackboards, greenboards and whiteboards, some of them digital. The initial wooden furniture has become partly metal. But the layout has remained the same. " Pupils two by two or one by one, one behind the other, their gaze either turned to the front (their teacher or the blackboard) or to their notebook or book ".
Any attempt to change this arrangement ends in failure, explains Louise Tourret: " Changing things sometimes means confronting colleagues and superiors, and convincing parents. Because, in the end, representations of the pedagogical 'right order' still seem firmly anchored in people's minds, and not just teachers' minds ".
However, it is undeniable that the defenders of the status quo are to be found more on the side of teachers than any other actor. As there are no institutional rules governing the layout of the classroom, teachers are free to modify it as they see fit. Except that the desire for change on the part of some is curbed by the desire for stability on the part of others.
When it comes to school design innovation, a number of experiments have been carried out. At a basic level, we've tried to change the layout of the desks in the classroom. The U-shaped layout " to see each other, to be able to talk, to work differently in interaction " has met with some success, the aim being to change the relationship between actors by moving from a vertical to a horizontal pedagogy. However, this desire for dialogue clashes with the desire for control that justifies onion rows.
We've also been able to glue the white tables together to form groups of students: " The idea is collaboration, group work enabling everyone to work better and develop different skills: initiative, collective decision-making, mutual aid ".
In addition to these arrangements, which have become relatively commonplace (albeit mostly ad hoc), there are classrooms without desks, where students sit on the floor around the teacher, with markings on the floor. A variation is to have students sit on cushions. An improved version of the cushion is the rocking chair installed in a Pennsylvania school to allow students to rock: " The rocking motion calms the brain, facilitates concentration and promotes logical thinking. " Simple as that!
Beyond the basics, there are more complex classroom arrangements based on new technologies. The first is the classroom equipped with connected computers. But here again, there are mistakes to be made: for example, when computers are installed all around the room and students face the walls! How can we hope to hold their attention?
This may seem obvious, but it's clear that many schools haven't yet thought this through. A variation on the computer room is to equip the usual classrooms with touch-screen tablets, with an extension to a projection screen.
Radically rethought classrooms do exist: screen walls, work islands with pre-installed sockets and screens, discussion areas furnished with armchairs and coffee tables... We invite you to consult our dossier on school architecture to refresh your memory on this subject.
It goes without saying that the environment in which school learning takes place influences the players involved in one way or another. We can therefore trust them to design the classroom as they see fit. This is the aim of the "Hack Your Classroom" project run by the school design team The Third Teacher +. On their website, they explain the methodology for changing the classroom in the same way as was done at theEdutopia initiative.
All of the above may seem trivial if you only think of classroom design as being about furniture or storage. But try learning something complicated when you're sitting awkwardly for several hours at a time, in a noisy atmosphere and can't talk to anyone. You see? Space planning does have an impact on the quality of learning.
References
Palasse-Leroux, Elodie. "The ideal classroom exists: it's equipped with rocking chairs." Slate.fr. Accessed June 23, 2014. http://www.slate.fr/story/88293/salle-de-classe-ideale-rocking-chairs.
The Third Teacher +. Accessed June 23, 2014. http://thethirdteacherplus.com/index/#/remake-class/.
Tourret, Louise. "Our classrooms still look like those of our forefathers. And that's not about to change." Slate.fr. Accessed June 23, 2014. http://www.slate.fr/story/88295/nos-salles-de-classe-ressemblent-toujours-celles-de-nos-aieux.
photo: Thomas Favre-Bulle via photopin cc
You might also like:
Whether they take the form of pixels, period costumes or fantastical tales, these playful uses of history have one thing in common: they shake up our relationship with the past. By inviting us to literally enter into history, to live it and replay it rather than contemplate it from a distance, they open up new ways of transmitting and appropriating it.
Games that are too serious... aren't.
If we're presented with a game with rich, adaptable rules, a relevant territory, stimulating objectives and opportunities to win that encourage us to develop, then we can put all the stakes in the world, but we won't succeed in making it too serious. Only a game that's boring or no longer a game can become "too serious".
Benchmarks of confidence in education
Where do we begin to create educational pathways that will make learners feel confident? We talk about welcoming, listening, being present and having a good atmosphere. It seems essential to first meet the learner individually and then develop the training of the learner group. How does trust come about? What to do if confidence is lacking? What can be done to make this confidence grow?
A virtual class, yes! Here is the program...
If there is no good way to run a virtual classroom, there are mistakes to avoid. We propose an approach, a questioning to design and script
My great life as a teacher 2.0: mediating, organizing outings, evaluating
Does being a teacher 2.0 make you happy. Professionally yes, answers this teacher, invented for the occasion, who testifies of a not so distant future. What place for learners? How to evaluate? How to organize a school trip and what activities to propose in connection with it? Our teacher from the world of 2016 gives us some answers.
