McLuhan said “we shape our tools, and thereafter our toolsshape us.” I generally blog about technology tools but in my current MEd class we had a discussion about how one defines technology. On our wiki we defined it as: Tools that extend our capabilities ease the process of what we do.
Well then things like furniture, chairs, desks, light fixtures, bookshelves are pieces of technology too. It’s just that they’ve been around so long, we don’t consider them to be technology anymore. They’ve become “transparent.” We often question how technology can impact student learning, so why not extend this back a little and question how furniture can impact student learning.
I’ve been thinking of this because I’m not a big fan of the furniture in my classrooms. I don’t have a lot of control over the layout of the classroom because I share these rooms with other teachers. I used to think that where I taught was not remotely as important as how I taught until I started to consider that how I taught might be strongly influenced by the environment of my classroom.
Classroom layout #1
My media class is in a computer lab (a techie teacher’s dream right?). I only teach in here one period a day. This is really the “business” room. I have no space to display media related work on the bulletin boards and I have no resources in this room. The desks are arranged around the perimeter of the room with all the monitors facing the middle of the room. I imagine that this is for two main reasons: 1) because all the outlets are along the walls; 2) because it’s easier for classroom management. I’ve got a teacher’s desk at one end of the room with a projector, and there are big tables filling the center of the room.
How this affects my teaching:
My students spend most of the class with their backs to me. It takes me weeks to learn their names and much to my embarrassment, weeks into a course I would still get students mixed up. I have a much harder time forming relationships with my students in this room than I do in my other room. I have to yell more because it’s hard for me to be heard at the back of the room. Students are more isolated and because the layout of the classroom makes group work challenging, it doesn’t happen very often.
I suspect students do not feel like this classroom is a community. I’m sure there are things I could do to help resolve this issue, but I can’t deny the fact that the physical space affects my approach to teaching. It’s easier to work with the space than against it.
Classroom #2
Traditional English class.
Like the media class, I only teach in here one period a day so I don’t feel much ownership over this room. I don’t have any student work up on the wall (unlike my classroom last semester where I taught two classes) because the room doesn’t really feel like mine to decorate. The room is … well … usually an absolute disaster. There’s a blue hoodie that’s been on the desk at the back of the room since January. There are papers and books everywhere. I’ve staked out a tiny corner of the filing cabinet for my file folder. I’m sure if I complained or even gently suggested, that the messiness would improve but it’s not “my classroom” so I kind of feel like I’m going into a friend’s house and complaining about her kids’ toys cluttering the living room (and to be fair it seemed much tidier this morning).
The desks are in rows but paired together. I feel barracaded behind the circa 1930 teacher’s desk, flanked by gigantic filing cabinets on my right, and an imposing wooden tv cart on my left (oh and a data-projector cart in front of me.)
How it affects my teaching: I still feel like I’m the “sage on the stage.” The students all face me instead of each other and my desk clearly signals my “status” in the room. I also feel incredibly inaccessible. On the other hand, the paired desks make me much more likely to use strategies like think pair share and it’s very easy to move the desks for things like literature circles. Still I wish there was more open space in the room to allow students to move around.
I wonder what would happen if we took all the big monolithic teachers’ desks out of all the classrooms one day. I bet we’d have chaos. I bet the teachers would lose it. And then I bet we’d have change. We’d have to eventually change the way we think about those transparent forms of power and control that exist in the classroom. I’m not arguing that those power structures are created by the furniture but they’re certainly supported by the furniture.
And don’t even get me started on the fluorescent lights…
Hi Danika,
One thing I’ve noticed in my role this year is that many of the elementary classrooms I spend time in do not have a teachers desk. They have random piles of materials on shelves around the exterior, and horseshoe desks to work with students. Students generally have no worries moving all the “stuff” off these desks to create a space to work with others. Teachers in these elementary schools also teach in the same room all day, so this is a logistical difference. I wonder if in secondary schools, where teachers tend to often have their prep periods in their own classrooms, if the teachers desk will be a fixture that stays despite changes in the culture of the classroom? Is there a way to set up the room where the teacher can leave a work station that is not the centre of focus when students are in the room? I agree that learning spaces are incredibly important to creating a community of learning. Great post. Thanks for sharing!
I think younger likely correct. If additiong a one to one laptop environment creates a shift towards a more constructivist, student centered class, as some of the research I’ve read indicates, it follows that the physical environment would have a huge impact on teaching styles. Would make an interesting research project and experiment. Force a physical change and see if there is a pedagogy shift.
That would be you’re, not younger. Stupid autocorrect.
I think we should get our interior design ideas from successful and innovative organizations’ offices. Also, I wish we had more higher tables that required no sitting.
agreed – I always love teaching in a science lab b/c students can and often do just that – stand for most of the class.
Oh yeah – I can totally see chaos if those teachers’ desks all got raptured up one night. In fact it makes me laugh right out loud when I think of what it would do to some of my more memorable teaching colleagues. On another note, it certainly is remarkable how adult workspaces in the education system are given more attention (I mean $$$$) than student work spaces. I can only think of two principals I worked with who spent money on student desks – classrooms were appalling in their broken old, splintered, gouged desks and tables and this went on for years.
I’m with Royan here, let’s look at how Google sets up their workspaces. I’ll bet it isn’t traditional at all.
Very thought-provoking, Danika. I totally agree with you about the lab environment. For that reason, I always make my students meet in my “regular” classroom for lessons and directions before they go to the lab. I can use my computer and Smartboard to show them things and it has worked well for us.
I actually like my teacher desk! This is because it is shoved in a corner to be hardwired into the network (so no wireless aggro) and has my computer on it. It’s also right beside the Smartboard so the students use it for all their presentations, too. My core students have become so proficient with this setup that they remind me of little indoor gazelles, springing back and forth from one device to the next
I hesitate to mention Tony Clement’s name, but there was a big article in the paper recently on how his new office has no desk. He made a number of interesting comments but then blew it for me by stating that this made him a 21st century guy. He thought
(Sorry for snide comments if you and your readers like him!)