In the same way companies changed the layout of their offices — and thus changed the way their employees engage with work — a movement has been gaining traction that is changing school furniture in Australia, and school classrooms as a whole.
The common school setting has students sit in rows and columns with the teacher in front. With the advanced world of today that boasts self-driving cars and self-learning artificial intelligence, however, education innovators have pushed for a change to the classroom layout with support from studies.
Today’s Independent and Mobile Students
Research suggests that today’s youth can learn best in environments that promote autonomous learning while fulfilling their need for movement. The younger the student, the greater the need to move.
Sitting still will only take up a chunk of their focus and effort. As such, allowing freedom of mobility can enhance concentration and lead to better learning outcomes.
How a Classroom Should Be
How should your school’s classrooms look like? Compared with the traditional room setting, the classroom of the future will not follow a set template.
You can purchase and arrange school furniture in your Australia classroom according to four principles: comfort, practicality, versatility, and aesthetics.
Arrangement Enhances Learning
At the same time, the seating arrangement of students will matter. Way back in 1977, an environmental psychologist already expressed how the class layout should change according to the activity of the moment.
Further research in succeeding years, including recent ones, show how the seating arrangement can impact student engagement and participation, thus affecting learning.
Adapt to Situations at Hand
This research on seating arrangement ties in with the previous principle of versatility. Your classroom layout and seating arrangement should be versatile enough to adapt to different activities. You can then make your students learn more about the topic at hand, about their classmates, and about themselves.
With the research backing up the push for change in classroom design, you may want to reconsider things in your own school. Your students will only learn better, and you will have fulfilled your role of spurring their learning on.