The latest movement in progressive learning is flexible, reconfigurable classroom furniture that supports agile learning. It’s now well established that students learn better when engaged and connected and a flexible space delivers that platform.
Classrooms that can be quickly and easily redesigned to facilitate group work collaboration, communication, socialisation, and those that integrate with technology and devices become student centred which provides students with the space in which to do their best work.
Changing mindsets from the classroom being an educational facility to instead being a place which belongs to the student, where the student configures the space, allows students to move freely within it and choose where they want to be and how they want to be there.
They may choose to be on the floor, near the window, at the front of the room or in a small group, learning curled up in the corner on a beanbag, at a round table with friends, sprawled on a rug or sitting in a nook with a tablet. Students who are no longer worried about their personal comfort can get on with focussing on the task at hand and empowering students by giving them control over their environment allows them to take ownership of their space and therefore their education which is proven to improve learning outcomes.
Allowing students to choose where they work, and with whom also encourages social learning and relationship building - vital life skills. Life is about making decisions so encouraging students to think outside the box, to change it up, to share space with others, to negotiate for the space they want, to create layouts that work for the group and to adapt to change are real world experiences that they will face in their future places of work so exposing them to this early can only be beneficial.
Also, by moving within the classroom and changing spaces, students find it easier to focus and remain alert over the course of the day. They can also solve problems more effectively as they quickly team up to collaborate and creatively problem solve, arriving at a more resourceful solution.
The key is to offer a variety of seating, be it bean bags, rugs, chairs and lounges, placed at round tables, long tables, low tables and high benches that face each other, the front or the window, as not everyone learns sitting in a chair.
VE Furniture’s educational range supports agile learning with mobility, flipping tables, stackable chairs, bean bags and soft furnishing ranges and with built in power to suit a variety of learning activities and styles.