Classroom Design
Why classroomdesign matters I
n the first part of our look at classroom design, Melanie Laing, Director of education interiors
specialist Innova Design Solutions, explores the impact good classroom design can have on pupils’ performance. Teachers often say they get used to the
classroom they’re given, adjusting their teaching methods and classroom management style to suit the layout, environment and class size. In the perfect world, of course, you’d have a
classroom designed to suit the way you like to teach, to make it easier to communicate with pupils and spend more time teaching, rather than having to manage clutter, old fashioned style furniture and a lack of storage space. That’s why classroom refurbishments or new
builds are golden opportunities teachers should grasp with both hands. The chance to create a space that truly works for and benefits you and your students is a valuable one, so how can you help decision makers to come up with a classroom design that is appealing and produces great results?
Get hands on The most important thing teachers can do when a classroom re-design is announced is get involved in the process. By offering your views on what would make a productive classroom, you have the chance to influence designers and key staff to create something that works for you. Teaching staff at the Cambridge campus of Bellerbys College worked closely with our designers on the refurbishment of a number of science labs, offering them the unique opportunity to tailor their classrooms to suit future and more progressive teaching styles. The collaboration produced striking, individual layouts for each space, giving teachers the freedom to focus on educating rather than working around the constraints of the classroom layout. Getting students involved in the consultation
process can also be an advantage – after all, the space is as much theirs as it is the teachers’, and taking on board their views about how a classroom should look and feel will help to generate a real sense of ownership, creating a
space students will take pride in and care about. Students can often provide an interesting perspective on how classroom design can be more accommodating for teachers. The entries Innova received from 11 to 16 year old students for our recent Lab of the Future competition focused heavily on how school science laboratories can be optimised for teaching staff, showing that students recognise that freeing up the teacher’s time means they can focus more of their attention on students’ needs.
Consider the space If you’re used to adjusting the way you teach to fit with the limitations of your classroom, changing the way that space is configured can feel revolutionary. A study conducted by the University of Salford found that improving classroom design can boost a pupil’s performance by up to 25 per cent, and even simple changes to layouts can have a huge impact on student conduct and academic achievement. For example, relocating the teacher to the
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www.education-today.co.uk
May 2015
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