IDEAL CLASSROOMS

Schools and their education styles are different from each other. Educators are all dreaming and working on creating an environment where learning is at its best. Here are three different views about this topic.

Rita Pin Ahrens, the director of education policy for the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center According to Ahrens, classrooms should be inspiring. They should be designed differently either with desks or cushions, some in rows and some in circles, and should be tailored by the teacher according to the needs of students or the content of the lesson. She thinks that the classses should be full of the works of students. She says that students will feel better and produce more in spacious rooms with plants or flowers and comfortable seating. Fast internet access whenever needed is required and music can be a good idea where appropriate.

Nicholson Baker, the author of Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids According to Baker, the smaller the classses are, the better. Decorating the walls with posters, lists or rules is not a good idea for him. He thinks that too much decoration is distracting and not suitable for a learning environment. The cleanliness of the classes, however, is essential.

Michelle Rhee, the founder of Students First and the former chancellor of Washington, D.C. public schools Rhee claims that the high school classrooms should be designed by students themselves. There should be both private areas and spaces for group work. Classrooms should be designed with interactive technology, books, and e-readers.