How To Organise The Learning Space In The Classroom To Optimise Student Participation And Achievement

Although classroom space is finite, even in the most basic 'square box' classroom there are opportunities to exploit the different ways students learn and, more importantly, the ways that students must learn, if their learning is to be the best it can be.

Use the learning space to promote a combination of learning styles

The first consideration when planning how to use the learning space in the classroom is to have a clear idea what the purpose of each learning activitiy is going to be. Good teachers know how important it is to take account of different student learning styles and also understand the need for a variety of learning activities. This may mean that the learning space has to be rearranged frequently to take account of the activity that is taking place.

Some teachers, however, have become skilled at arranging their classroom space in a particular way that allows them to teach their students directly, in 'teacher talk' mode, but also to use the same learning space for more student centred activities such as pair work, group activities, individual learning stations and class games.

This kind of classroom configuration usually means placing tables and chairs in blocks that then free up classroom space to allow the teacher to move around much more freely than is the case with desks in rows, and, just as importantly, makes it much easier for students to get out of their seats and engage in learning that is more active.

It's more important to use the classroom space for learning rather than teaching

This is, I think, the most fudamental aspect about how we use the learning space. As principled professionals, teachers want to give students the best possible learning experiences. We don't do this if we simply lecture students directly, and never offer students other ways to experience learning. We have to accept that it's more important for our students to learn than it is for us to teach. So teachers should plan to have some learning activities where students can work with other students in pairs or groups, where they can walk around the classroom seeking out information, where they are able to have some choice and control over what they do and where they do it.

The evidence from research suggests that real learning, powerful learning, happens when students are allowed to make their own sense of the information they encounter, in other words when they construct it for themselves. Students only do this to a limited degree if we only ever 'tell' them and expect them to absorb it, let alone re-use that information. So we need to get students moving , both literally and metaphorically, through a carefully planned repertoire of activities that meet their learning needs.

In my experience, all students respond well to being able to get out of their seats, at least some of the time, and soon get used to the idea that lessons can be chunked into different segments.

Activities such as information trails around the classroom, learning stations where the students visit different parts of the classroom for different activities, and simple activities like throwing a ball to different students to answer a question are all great ways to exploit the learning space and all enhance the learning experience for all students of any age.

Use the learning space to give 'old habits' a new slant

A major consideration for some teachers is that they have become used to delivering lecture-style lessons from the front of the class and the students sit in orderly rows and absorb the information. The truth is that all teachers use this lecture-type mode some of the time, and it's just as easy to deliver your lecture 'chunk' from the middle of the classroom with tables in an informal arrangement as it is from the front of the class.

In fact it's better, because you can move more naturally to engage all students with eye contact and physical proximity, which draws them in more effectively than if you're stuck at the front.

My advice to teachers who are hesitant about trying more informal seating arrangements in the classroom is to start small. Think of one activity per lesson where you use the learning space more creatively, making sure that you know why you want to try this [because it's different from your normal mode and because you've identified the real educational need for doing this activity]. Explain openly to the students that you want to give them a wider range of learning opportunities and make clear the ground rules and what's expected of them to make it work.

After the activity, hold a de-brief session with students about how successful the activity was. Make sure everyone understands why you did that activity in that way. My guess is that it won't all go smoothly first time but it will work well enough to persist with it again in other lessons. The feedback from the students is important here - most will have enjoyed using the classroom space in this way and will let you know.

Use the learning space creatively to promote good behaviour

Although some teachers worry that it might be more difficult to keep control than when students sit in 'traditional' rows, there are real advantages to a more open plan arrangement. For example, I have found that often it's easier to prevent breaches of discipline by being able to move quickly to a particular table where you sense the problem is likely to start. Sometimes just by being right next to a particular group of students while you're delivering some information to the whole class makes the point that you can access all parts of the classroom space easily, and this often deters students from misbehaving.

Once students realise that the teacher is able to deliver the 'lecture' from anywhere in the classroom space they become aware that the teacher now is potentially more effective by being more mobile and less predictable than standing at the front. Even if you're the kind of teacher who walks up and down the aisles between desks in a formal classroom arrangement, a more open plan classroom space gives you more options which you can use to your advantage.

Use the learning space to support learning and to celebrate success

Another aspect of using the learning space to best effect is the opportunity static classroom space provides for supporting learning and celebrating achievement and success. Most classrooms have bulletin boards, and even if they don't the bare walls can be used to great effect.

There are two main ways to use wall space in the classroom:

• to support learning by displaying key words, informational posters, motivational material such as quotes, that teachers and students can refer to regularly and often to make learning accessible
• to show examples of student learning - completed projects, sample exercises, student achievement charts that show students making progress over time

When I started as a new teacher of modern foreign languages in the early seventies, senior colleagues advised me to 'brighten up' the classroom by putting posters on my walls of anything to do with France and Germany. They said it would help students get a 'flavour' of the country of the language they were learning. Things have moved on since then, and now we've become much more aware of how we can use wall displays to really support learning.

Now it's common to see in all classrooms, not just modern language classrooms, lists of key words that explain key learning concepts for the subject being studied. Often there are also posters that explain the learning process itself or steps to successful learning.

In my current classroom, for example, as well as a comprehensive set of high frequency French words,I have a series of posters that explain the Accelerated Learning cycle championed by Alistair Smith, a leading UK expert on learning and teaching. I also have one wall covered in motivational posters designed to encourage students to think proactively about how they learn. I refer frequently to these learning support aids and use them as a starting point to consolidate important points about learning I want my students to understand and use.

The remaining wall space in classrooms should be taken up with examples of student learning. It's important to plan some activities that lead naturally to students producing some visual realisation of what they have been learning. It's equally important that teachers display work from all students over the course of a topic being studied.

Of course as teachers we expect our students to take great care over the presentation of their learning, but it's the learning we want to highlight and celebrate, not the quality of the artwork or how savvy some students are at using ICT to present projects. If we're really celebrating success then all student work has a place on our classroom wall, although, as ever, we need to use our judgement to make this strategy work to best effect.

Many teachers find this part of their role fun and rewarding - they enjoy making the classroom space look bright and attractive - but the criteria for choosing what to put on the walls are connected with how well the material promotes or celebrates learning - pretty pictures are not appropriate if they have no connection with the learning.

Some teachers find it a chore and ignore it. It's not always easy to find the time, resources or energy to follow through with this, but the effort does pay off because research shows not only do students like being in bright positive surroundings but they also seem to learn more effectively and achieve more when they are able to benefit from this kind of stimulating environment, and teachers should refer to this material often and stress how useful it is. The aim is to get students to see the value of using the learning space in the classroom in this way.





Return from Learning Space to Effective Classroom Management


Return from Learning Space to Classroom Management Success

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