A 2024 study revealed that a growing number of teens were losing interest in schools. Does that sound shocking? To a lot of us, it’s commonplace to find, not only teens but even younger learners throwing tantrums and excuses to skip class.
School engagement is down, first days rarely give our kids butterflies, and back-to-school stories are a tragedy. This is alarming, not because there’s collectively something wrong with a generation. Perhaps the current education system and classrooms fail to inspire creativity and learning.
Human beings are designed to be curious, trying to make sense of the world around them. This happens naturally even from childhood provided the child is busily involved in the learning process. If you suspect that’s not the case in your classroom, it’s time to make some concrete changes.
Continue reading as we will discuss four practical tips for designing a classroom that inspires learning. The tips focus on deeper engagement, greater intrinsic motivation, and better academic outcomes as the ultimate goals.
Redecorate With a Student-Centered Eye
Visual appeal matters and our first question to you is whether your current classroom inspires creative learning. Most schools take it to the extremes. They design classrooms in extremely bright shades and patterns or keep them beige and bland.
Interestingly, both approaches may fail to stimulate students’ brains as far as creative learning is concerned. Colors can indeed evoke certain emotions and moods, which is why it is important to tread carefully. To keep it student-centered, avoid using too much red or yellow as both colors can make kids aggressive or irritated.
They may be bright, but they’re not a good classroom color choice. You can stick to calming tones like shades of green or blue. Better yet, have your professional commercial painters customize each wall.
EA Pro Painters shares that choosing the right color scheme can seem daunting. If that’s the case, the experts will advise you on color psychology, age appropriateness, and practical considerations like paint types.
Certain walls can be painted with singular colors, whereas others can include murals to boost student engagement. These are particularly useful for students up to seven years whose brain links are not fully mature yet. Hence, they rely more on visual materials to establish communication.
You can use red or yellow but do so sparingly and only in zones where high energy levels are needed. A mix of colors, when used in a balanced way, can make a classroom appear more interesting. Students will be drawn to the learning process.
Keep the Seating Arrangement Flexible
What is the seating arrangement in your classroom like? While modern-day arrangements do allow students to sit in groups or pairs, their seats are often assigned. Even if your classroom uses cushions or beanbags for a more informal setting, active engagement is all about flexibility.
Consider taking the Montessori Approach. Maria Montessori, an Italian educator, firmly believed in fostering a sense of independence, responsibility, and collaboration in students. She discouraged the use of traditional rows of desks and benches but encouraged flexible seating arrangements.
The purpose of this also gets defeated when the teacher always assigns a student’s seat. How about allowing students to sit where they learn best? Give each child the chance to choose their sitting spot, albeit on a condition. They must make their choice based on where they learn best and not where they want to be.
This may require a bit of experimentation and scaffolding in the beginning. Let’s see a few ways to make it happen –
- Provide diverse seating options, including regular chairs and desks, bean bags, floor mats, roundtables, and more. Allow students to explore each option to see what works best for them.
- Ditch the fixed rows and create separate learning zones. Examples would be a reading corner, a quiet study area, a space for group projects, etc.
- Make your expectations clear by communicating the aim of exploration. Each student must find the most suitable study setup. Don’t open up all options at once but keep expanding gradually or during specific activities.
- If some kids are struggling, you can intervene to help them understand their learning styles and preferences.
- Don’t let your students’ choices be set in stone either. Instead, consider periodic rotation so each child has new opportunities to learn and interact with their peers.
Adopt a New Approach to Classroom Rules
Classroom rules designed to foster a safe, positive, and productive environment cannot be done away with. There is currently a dire need to tighten the rules, as a Pew Research Center study found. Around 72% of high school teachers reported that the use of smartphones continued to be a major classroom distraction.
For similar reasons, more schools in California have issued new rules surrounding smartphones. These tech devices have been banned but students keep bringing them. In schools where the rules are followed, teachers report a decline in bullying and a pleasant rise in socialization.
Depending on the age group and learning capacity of your classroom’s children, rules are necessary. However, you can consider adopting a new approach to these rules just to inspire greater learning and creativity. At the beginning of each annual session, ask yourself, “Who is the classroom being designed for?”
You can shift from the concept of classroom rules to that of ‘classroom norms.’ Let’s be upfront: Most students end up considering classroom rules as white noise by a certain age. Norms, being more fluid and open than rules, give students a clearer picture of what is expected of them.
Norms are like agreements where students collectively agree on how they will treat each other, interact in the classroom, and work collaboratively.
While rules set by the teacher give the impression of governance and control, norms carry a sense of autonomy. They can promote a more positive and inclusive learning environment where each student feels responsible, respected, and validated.
Get the Kids Moving
Have you noticed how children often resent being seated in one place for a long time? That’s not because they are mischievous or restless. It’s simply the nature of a child to be curious, and to enjoy moving about as they learn.
Movement is also an essential aspect of learning and development. Students of all ages (especially young learners) appreciate not being confined to the same spot. Going forward, think about incorporating movement into your classroom schedule.
There are many ways to integrate it, including specific movement breaks or an instructional design that includes movement. You can have the classroom space redesigned to encourage movement from one station to another in flexible seating arrangements.
Another good way to keep the mind and body stimulated is to introduce exercise balls for sitting. Don’t shy away from including a full-blown exercise or stretching class where students get to develop their social and emotional skills too.
These classes do not have to mimic a typical adult exercise class. It can be fast-paced to suit children’s attention spans and full of music, props, and whatnot.
Is classroom attendance a problem? Well, it looks like it is for a majority of American schools. Chronic absenteeism, characterized by missing at least 10% of the school year, is spreading faster than an epidemic.
Our children are displaying negative feelings towards schools due to boredom, bullying, confusion about the ‘rules,’ and transportation challenges. While teachers may not have the solution to every problem, they can play a significant role in fostering student engagement.
We just discussed four practical ways to inspire learning and productivity. Make some changes to your classroom design and culture and watch how students look forward to each school day.
