Physical Environments

Dear Reader,

Please notice the picture above. It may be a bit extreme, and it’s not fitting for the standard elementary classroom, but nonetheless it is still the kind of classroom that I’m sure you’ve all seen once or twice. Do you think that this kind of class inspires inquiry or collaboration? I certainly don’t think so…as a student, my favorite classroom–the one that I first learned to really love school and learning in–was my second grade class. My teacher had her very own electric fireplace installed and rather than just relying on the harsh flourescent light bulbs she had multiple lamps throughout the room that shrouded our learning in a cozy ambiance. In the winter she put up a Christmas tree that we got to help decorate, which I question now since it was a public school and didn’t have a religious affiliation, but I loved having it there. At the beginning of each unit she would also spend a day or two letting us create all sorts of things to hang from the ceilings and walls that corresponded to what we were going to be learning.

Letting us create the decorations was one thing in particular that aligned well with what I learned in school. Giving students a say in what their room looks like is just part of having a student centered room where students are valued as learners and their input is desired. Such classrooms are much more meaningful to students than classrooms where the teacher dictates what and where everything must be. But I digress. Even though we did talk about that aspect of physical environments in my education classes, in consideration to the time spent on other material, it was barely discussed. I supposed it makes a bit of sense that classroom management and teaching material comes first, but does one have to be taught at the cost of the other? I think that we should put a higher value on the role that the physical environment of a class has in learning.

When I packed up my things at the beginning of summer for camp I didn’t consider room decor at all. Rather, I focused on bringing as little as possible (I figured that I’d only ever be in my room to sleep anyway). However, I soon realized that stark walls remind me a bit too much like prison cells and the lighting in the room was absolutely terrible. I was way too harsh, yet dim for my liking. Therefore, I found some of my old paintings to put on the wall and I got a lamp to put on my desk. With just a few changes it’s amazing how much homier the room now feels. Even other counselors have commented on it. But what does this have to do with classrooms? Well, it goes to show how the physical environment can affect mood of a room and be a factor in how someone determines if they want to spend time in the room. How awful would it be to spend your entire day in a room where you have no interest in being? And on top of that, how much more difficult would it be to learn or teach in said room?

Two of the alternative schools that I’ve studied, Reggio Emilia and Waldorf, have a big emphasis on physical environment because they recognize its importance. What they have going for them, however, is that they desire particular environments at the get go. Many of the public schools in the US were built awhile ago, back when schools were modeled after prisons, and may not be able to afford the renovations required to create the best learning spaces. Additionally, teachers aren’t given unlimited decorating budgets. Often they spend their own salary on buying materials and items for their classes. So what are we going to do, America?

This web page has a few examples of room arrangement that anyone can do in order to get a better teaching environment, but really, this is just the tip of the iceberg. What are some other ways that classrooms can be more welcoming environments for students and teachers? Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below!

Toodles,

Madison

Discovering Reggio Emilia

Hey there friends!

So several months ago I had a friend tell me about an independent study class she was doing where she was studying Reggio Emilia, which is a town in Italy with a unique approach to early childhood education. Being me, I asked her more about it and then eventually bought a book about it (see My Reading List) to learn more. What struck me about this so called Reggio Emilia approach is how deliberate every choice in the school is made. As the author of my book wrote, “No space in unimportant, no space is marginal” (Cadwell, 1997, p. 101). In Reggio Emilia, meaningful and complex themed projects are carefully chosen for and with students, and spaces that foster their learning and growth in the best way possible are maintained. They view the environment as the “third teacher.” This is something that I haven’t seen as much of in my education. We talk all of the time about creating strong lesson plans and creating supportive classroom cultures, but the physical classroom is often forgotten. Perhaps this is due to how little we can change about the architectural aspects of the places classrooms we’ll be in. However, we can focus on what we put in our classes and how we arrange the space that we’re in. After all, as Vea Vecchi quoted in my book, “For plants to thrive and flourish, they need the best conditions. Your children do also” (p.94).

Another thing that struck me about Reggio Emilia is how they view their children. Rather than the cultural norm of seeing young children as fidgety and incapable, they see children as being capable, strong, and prepared. This perception strongly influences the interactions between teachers and them, and throughout the book I was amazed at how long the children could stay focused on tasks that they were engaged in and the kind of complex thoughts that they were able to have about the projects that they were working on. In my methods courses we always discussed having strong expectations, but this book helped me see how much even the youngest of children are capable of if they’re given the chance. And this doesn’t just apply to the Italian children. The Reggio Emilia approach was adopted by the author in a few schools in St. Louis and the American children impressed me with their insights just as much.

While they’re lots of other things I could say about Reggio Emilia, the final thing that I’d like to note is how similar it seemed to align with the values of Waldorf schools. For example, both approaches have a strong emphasis on nature and art. One of the things that Reggio Emilia talks about is “One Hundred Languages” or the thought that children have many ways to learn about the world and express what they know, but are often only given one or two ways to do so. Therefore, they try to give students the opportunities to learn in various different ways that are very hands-on, just like Waldorf schools. For example, in the book that I read, the students learned about plants through growing their own beans, keeping a plant log, and then applying what they learned about their beans in order to design their own indoor garden. In the Reggio Emilia approach the students’ thoughts and input are highly valued, which is evident through the responsibilities they’re given, the decisions they get to help make about their own learning, and the discourse between the students and teachers.

I obviously have only just begun to learn about Reggio Emilia, but I am very pleased that Waldorf schools aren’t the only ones who think that it’s necessary to give students the chance to explore the world through all of their senses in ways that utilize the arts and include nature as a core aspect of the curriculum. What do you think about this approach? Let me know in the comments below 🙂

Toodles,

Madison

One Hundred Languages