{"id":11714,"date":"2022-09-27T00:25:40","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T04:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/?p=11714"},"modified":"2022-09-27T00:32:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T04:32:04","slug":"schools-are-rethinking-classroom-design-to-encourage-collaboration-creativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/2022\/09\/27\/schools-are-rethinking-classroom-design-to-encourage-collaboration-creativity\/","title":{"rendered":"Schools are rethinking classroom design to encourage collaboration, creativity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MIAMI \u2014 There are no walls between the seven classrooms on the third floor of the Medical Academy for Science and Technology, a former hospital that houses a magnet high school for would-be doctors, nurses, physical therapists and pharmacists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a recent morning, the students in Isha Brown\u2019s literature class were huddled in groups, analyzing the symbolism in \u201cA Streetcar Named Desire.\u201d At the other end of the basketball-court-size room, far enough to be out of earshot, students from another class took turns reciting speeches. A boy stood in front of a whiteboard in a corner, rehearsing his presentation on family planning. And on leather couches in the middle of the room, a cluster of students in scrubs chatted quietly, their IDs dangling from lanyards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The space, upgraded in the 2015-2016 school year, is continuously changing. The seats in eye-catching blue, purple or orange might be lined up in neat rows, or rearranged in a circle for face-to-face discussion. All the furniture is fitted with wheels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe mobility helps in my debate class where I have about 37 students,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWe can get three debates on three different topics going at the same time by just rearranging the tables. I can weave in and out, listening in, and then the kids rotate. More kids can participate. That couldn\u2019t happen in a traditional classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The academy, known as MAST, is just one example of how schools are experimenting with classroom designs more conducive to the different ways students learn and, increasingly, the different ways teachers want to teach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea isn\u2019t new \u2014 there was a movement in the late 1960s to build \u201copen classrooms\u201d \u2014 but it\u2019s made a comeback recently out of a desire to create a collaboration-minded workforce that will thrive in the open office spaces being built by companies such as Google and Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[…]<\/p>\n\n\n

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On the third floor of the Medical Academy for Science and Technology (MAST) in Homestead, Florida, all desks, tables and chairs are fitted with wheels, making them easier to push and pull into circles for group discussion, or paired up for partner activities. Credit: Brenda Iasevoli for The Hechinger Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In other places, in the absence of schoolwide funding or administrative interest, the movement is grassroots as teachers revamp their classrooms themselves, spending their own money or even making their own furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of a classroom that can be rearranged to fit the activity \u2014 individual work, class discussion, group projects \u2014 has faced some pushback. Critics of the so-called open classroom argued in the 1970s that schools had attempted an overnight transformation without training teachers on how to adjust to the new space. Educators today have issued similar warnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peter Barrett, the lead researcher for a 2015 study on classroom design in the United Kingdom and emeritus professor at the University of Salford, warns against \u201csilver bullet\u201d thinking. \u201cI strongly believe teachers should be explicitly trained to see the physical classroom as a holistic element to be actively thought about and used to optimize children\u2019s learning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building on brain science<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For educators, this redesign movement isn\u2019t about creating an Instagram-ready classroom filled with trendy standing tables and funky seating. It\u2019s based on brain research that is still in the early stages but has shown that, when it comes to learning, space matters. A space that allows for movement can reduce student fatigue, improve performance and promote student collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barrett\u2019s study of 153 U.K. classrooms in 27 schools found that adjusting particular classroom characteristics \u2014 light and temperature, the amount of flexibility and student choice \u2014 boosted academic performance in reading, writing and math by 16 percent over the course of a year. A quarter of that improvement was attributed to letting students decide when to get up and where to sit. In 2016, a study using brain imaging to examine the effects of standing desks on high school students revealed improvements in working memory as well as in students\u2019 ability to plan, organize and finish tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Second-graders Sarai Sepulveda (left), Jaxson Murchison (middle), and Parker Dubey balance on stability balls as they complete an art project at Thomas Hooker Elementary School in Meriden, Connecticut. Credit: Brenda Iasevoli for The Hechinger Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cBrain research tells us that movement in a classroom matters, choice matters,\u201d said Robert Dillon, director of innovation for the University City school district in St. Louis, Missouri. His work consulting with districts and schools across the country on how to make the most of classroom redesigns has tripled in the past two years. \u201cIf kids don\u2019t have these things, they will make these things happen,\u201d he said. \u201cThey will be disruptive. They\u2019ll get sent to the office. They\u2019ll ask to go to the bathroom, just so they can have some space and the chance to move.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuyler Sanford, 17, a student in Isha Brown\u2019s literature class, said the classroom\u2019s flexible setup \u201callows you to work at your own pace.\u201d When students work in groups, he\u2019s able to walk around and ask his fellow students for help. \u201cIt\u2019s really communal,\u201d he said. \u201cThe freedom is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeping an eye on students working across such a large space may sound exhausting, but Brown said the effect on students, who are energized by the arrangement, is worth the effort. \u201cKids love the idea of constantly moving around and doing different projects, because they get tired if they\u2019re expected to just sit in a room. I would get tired, too, so it really works out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[…] <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is a shift from seat time to engagement,\u201d said Jose Murguido, a partner at Zyscovich Architects who has designed several schools for Miami-Dade, including MAST. \u201cYou really have to understand how people learn, so that the time in the classroom is productive as opposed to just doing the time. If the learning environment is static, it will result in disengagement in young people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Fewer breaks in learning\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooke Markle, a seventh grade language arts teacher in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, noticed several years ago that her students preferred doing their work anywhere but at their desks \u2014 on countertops, on the floor, under a desk, sitting on top of it. \u201cI had 30 students, so the desks took up the entire room,\u201d she said. \u201cI decided they had to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two summers ago, she replaced the desks with vinyl, runnerless rockers and Adirondack chairs, adding spray-painted donated recycled tires and gallon-size plastic buckets with homemade cushions on top. She had no idea the results would be so dramatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKids stopped raising their hands to ask for bathroom breaks,\u201d Markle said. \u201cThere were fewer breaks in learning. That was a pleasant surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Seventh-graders Evan-June Pineo (left) and Grace Simpson say the variety of seating choices in their language arts classroom at Mechanicsburg Middle School, in Pennsylvania, helps to keep things fresh. Evan-June especially likes the floor-level rockers because the movement helps her to concentrate. Credit: Brenda Iasevoli for The Hechinger Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Last year, the Mechanicsburg Area School District began replacing desks with whatever type of furniture teachers thought would work best. \u201cWe are thinking more strategically in the district as a whole about how to change the learning environment to help our students gain the skills they\u2019ll need after they graduate,\u201d Markle said. \u201cStudents will need to innovate and collaborate. We see these changes as helping them to achieve that goal.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Thomas Hooker Elementary School in Meriden, Connecticut, two second grade teachers ditched the desks in their classrooms two years ago. On a recent morning in one of those revamped rooms, Melissa Sciarretto worked with a few students on their reading at a table, while the rest of the class sat on beanbag chairs and floor cushions, clicking through a game-based math program on their laptops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight-year-olds Kamilla Armstrong and Juliette Ortiz sat on wobble stools next to a round table as they tackled math problems on their laptops. Kamilla pushed off on the table to set her chair spinning, fast. \u201cThis helps me think when my brain is full and I need a break,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cActually, I think it distracts you,\u201d Juliette said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, really?\u201d Kamilla responded. Juliette rolled her eyes and smiled before getting back to work.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Wobble stools allow second-graders Zariah Atwater (left), Juliette Ortiz (middle), and Kamilla Armstrong to rock and spin in between solving math problems at Thomas Hooker Elementary School in Meriden, Connecticut. Credit: Brenda Iasevoli for The Hechinger Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sciarretto acquired the furniture using $4,000 in GoFundMe donations, combined with more than $6,000 from the school budget. \u201cThe seating is more collaboration-friendly,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen they look up, they see another kid, and so I think they naturally started going to each other for help from there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are rules. Katie Somerset, 8, kneeled on a stability ball, balancing herself precariously as she worked. Sciarretto told Katie to sit correctly a few times, before sending her to a cushion on the floor. \u201cI know I\u2019m not supposed to kneel,\u201d Katie said, \u201cbecause it\u2019s hard to control the ball. I could fall over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small steps for success<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s those types of distractions that drive some teachers crazy. Shaina Ramos, a second grade bilingual special education teacher at P.S. 257 in Brooklyn, knows the feeling well. Two years ago, she applied for grants through DonorsChoose to buy new furniture in her classroom: stability balls, floor rockers, wobble chairs, standing desks and tall stools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transition didn\u2019t go smoothly at first. \u201cI\u2019d see a student moving out of the corner of my eye, and I would have to say \u2018It\u2019s OK; it\u2019s OK\u2019 to calm myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But she stuck it out and the investment started paying off. Students with attention deficit disorder who were allowed to rock or wobble in their seats could concentrate for longer on tasks they usually dreaded, she said. They were writing complete paragraphs. They would get up, go to a dictionary, look up a word, walk over to a classmate and talk about the assignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey weren\u2019t just confined to their desks, forced to sit still and stare at a blank page,\u201d Ramos said. \u201cEventually, I just told them, \u2018As long as I see you\u2019re working, go for it \u2014 rock, bounce, stand or move around.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Second-graders Chayse Rowland (left) and Sathya Pedapudi choose a couch to sit on while clicking through a game-based math program in their classroom at Thomas Hooker Elementary School, in Meriden, Connecticut. Credit: Brenda Iasevoli for The Hechinger Report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Last year, Ramos\u2019 school tried flexible seating in all special education classrooms. But it didn\u2019t work out \u2014 the teachers were frustrated by how much the students were moving during class, Ramos said. Some teachers added all-new furniture and then had to remove it entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFailure happens because people try to go from zero to 60, as opposed to saying \u2018I am going to try this one little thing,\u2019\u201d Dillon said. He suggests teachers start by allowing kids to go to the back of the room and stand if they need to. Then, keep their attention and encourage collaboration by letting them use whiteboards. \u201cThe idea of ripping out all of your desks?\u201d he said. \u201cSetting yourself up for failure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Murguido, who has designed more than 400 schools over the course of his 30-year career in Miami, across the country and as far afield as Germany, said classrooms need major changes to provide the right setting to help students succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhatever the economy of the future, kids will need to learn to collaborate,\u201d Murguido said. \u201cThe challenges that lie ahead are greater than any particular person can tackle individually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Iasevoli, Brenda. \u201cSchools Are Rethinking Classroom Design to Encourage Collaboration, Creativity.\u201d The Hechinger Report<\/em>, The Hechinger Report, 30 Mar. 2020, https:\/\/hechingerreport.org\/schools-are-rethinking-classroom-design-to-encourage-collaboration-creativity\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This article gives several examples of successful flexible seating classrooms, as well as citing academic studies that support the benefit of these classroom designs. Given the strength of flexible seating in promoting collaboration, better quality learning, student-led education, and a variety of learning styles, it seems to be a good fit for the requirements of the DPP space. The photos in this article are quite inspiring for furniture types and layouts to consider.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MIAMI \u2014 There are no walls between the seven classrooms on the third floor of the Medical Academy for Science and Technology, a former hospital that houses a magnet high school for would-be doctors, nurses, physical therapists and pharmacists. On a recent morning, the students in Isha Brown\u2019s literature class were huddled in groups, analyzing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":11716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11714","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-focus"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11714"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11727,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11714\/revisions\/11727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}