Does the environment dictate the behaviour?

I have a slightly different classroom to everyone else in my school. I chose to create a less formal environment for my learners, initially to create space within the 4 walls, but also to try and provide for different learning needs, including my Maori learners who make up a third of my class. Reflecting on my own learning, I knew that I do my best learning, sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch, in front of the heater. It is quiet and warm.
But that is not everyone's cup of tea. Others like  fresh breeze, perched on a high stool, legs dangling. Others still will lay across a beanbag, music playing, book resting on the floor in front of them,... and so on.
So I decided that letting children experience learning in their best space couldn't hurt...

So I took away the formality (the assigned desks, in tidy groups splattered around the class) and bought in a home like feel (soft furnishings, open floor and spaces) to see how this would impact on the children's learning. And did this make a difference? To learning? or behaviour? What did I find? What did others think?

There were mixed reactions and a few comments on impolite behaviour (but was that the environment or the cohort) I believe the latter. We did have to learn a lot in the early days. Unlike last years class who had played a part in the transforming of the classroom, this years children simply inherited the room. They had a lot of growing to do, to be able to work effectively in this sort of environment. They had had 4 or 5 years at school being told where to sit, who to sit next to, and that all good work transpired at a table.
But one term into this year, I am beginning to see the rewards of placing these responsibilities back on the children...

My students have had huge learning experiences this term caused by their environment.
Looking through the NZ Key competencies:
Self Management: each day choosing appropriate places to work in, gathering their equipment and putting everything away after use.
Relating to others: making decisions about who to work near, dealing with distractions by simply moving, negotiating use of resources like bean bags, learning to deal with people where you wanted to sit. Self chosen whanau groupings are seen as well. A sense of whanaungatanga is being developed.
Participating and contributing: How we share the spaces in the room, and look after everything for the next person. Keeping tables clean, charging laptops.
Thinking: What do I need? where should I be now? What is best for the learning I am about to do?

I think the environment does help to mould the behaviour. The behaviour I hope my environment is moulding is 'student ownership and control over their own learning behaviours.' I hope as the year moves forward that my students will continue to grow in this area developing their own 'ako'

Learning environments

Here's a little blog I penned a few weeks ago.

I have just returned from re-setting up the furniture in my classroom ready for the second term. It has been 6 months and 2 classes since I ditched half my class desks for a more informal classroom with S  P   A   C   E.
Along with many educators out there I was inspired last year to finally make the change and ditch the desks. Luckily I could completely remove desks into an empty room next door and had the green light from the principal. So the transformation began to take place.

Our new totes

Initially I co-created the space with the children's ideas. The existing class couch (definitely worse for wear, but still enjoyed by all), a group table from a disused junior room, beanbags, cushions and some plush red chairs from Trade me, 2 low forms for the mat area, and a small table on wheels that once held a photocopier, all became part of our class space. Desk tote trays were replaced with portable tote buckets.

The idea was to
1. Create space for 30+ senior school students in a small prefab
2. Create places for different learning styles

My original configuration 2012

Today I took to the task of re-organising these furnishings for the winter terms - opening access to the heaters, avoiding lower sunfall, and accommodating spaces for a student teacher. This took a lot less time than I used to spend moving desks, trying to make groupings of children that wouldn't conflict, moving everyone's totes into their new, teacher chosen spots.... This year my time spent in the classroom during the holidays was for planning the learning - rather than planning the behaviour management. That's another story.

Old classrooms can be limiting, and seem so inflexible when compared to the new classrooms and schools that have been built recently, but all it takes is a little kiwi ingenuity and a can-do attitude to make a classroom work for you and your students. Thanks to inspiring teachers like Stephanie for helping me to see the possibilities and take the plunge.

Will upload photo of the new winter configuration soon.