Flexible Spaces Promote Student Engagement

Flexible Spaces Promote Student Engagement

By John McCreery, AIA
As printed in School Planning & Management, December 2008

As school systems look to gain maximum long-term value from their facilities, while also realizing the benefits of flexible learning environments that support a variety of activities, extended learning areas (ELAs) have become increasingly prevalent in school buildings today. These multipurpose spaces work well at all levels, from elementary through high school, and are typically cost-effective and easy to maintain. If properly planned and designed, ELAs can accommodate many different types of instructional and student-based activities, including individual tutoring, small-group interaction and team-based projects, and large-group instruction and events.

The most effective ELAs are designed with both flexibility and the school’s educational vision in mind. The design of the ELA should complement the school’s mission and key goals. Do teachers seek opportunities for integrated team teaching and large-group instruction? Are there plans for frequent student-based projects requiring small groups to meet and interact? Does the school welcome volunteers, who may need spaces outside the classrooms to provide tutoring or lead special activities? Is the school looking to create a more intimate learning academy setting in which students can be closely mentored and supported?

Creating a Sense of Community
ELAs can provide an effective and highly functional link between classrooms and public spaces. Whether part of a grade-level, departmental, or integrated team teaching environment, ELAs can promote a sense of a smaller community within a larger school environment. The most successful ELAs are designed to include lockers, display areas, informal seating, drinking fountains, and access to individual restrooms and other facilities and resources that help create a more self-contained environment.

Flexibility is crucial to the successful function of ELAs. Operable walls between ELAs and adjacent classrooms create an array of options for larger or smaller group instruction. A ratio of four classrooms to one ELA is ideal; in some cases, an ELA can support as many as six classrooms if needed. High-quality partition walls control sound when closed, and carpeting and acoustically treated wall surfaces can also help with mitigating noise. Portable furnishings enable students to gather informally, work as a team, or study independently. Ample natural light –displacing electric light when possible, flexible lighting controls, and wireless access also help make the space more effective for a variety of tasks.

Interior windows between classrooms and ELAs are essential for passive supervision. Operable partitions encourage teachers to break out of the “box” of the typical classroom. These basic tips combine to engender a stronger, closer sense of community in which informal interaction and mentoring can be achieved in a dynamic, stimulating, safe, and productive atmosphere. This sort of learning environment decreases behavioral problems and enhances positive student engagement.

Structuring a Learning Academy
The new Thurgood Marshall High School in Dayton, Ohio, benefits from four multipurpose ELAs that support the school’s concept for self-sufficient learning communities. Designed to accommodate 645 students, the school is organized into three academies—the Academic Magnet, Humanities and Cultural Studies, and Leadership and Service.

Each of these academies utilize ELAs that supports four classrooms, a science room, and a special needs classroom, with the Academic Magnet using two sets of ELAs and classrooms. Each ELA includes student lockers, modular tables, couches, and chairs. The spaces also include drinking fountains and individual restrooms, providing a small, “school-within-a-school” environment. Students benefit from dynamic classroom environments that can take advantage of the ELAs, and they are not required to rush from one part of the school to another to reach their classes.

Faculty and administrators at the new high school have found that students seem less stressed within their learning academies. Expectations are that behavioral issues, including tardiness will be reduced. Teachers have the option to team-teach, using the ELAs for added classroom space and to host small groups of students working together on projects. Students also enjoy the ELAs as a “living room” environment within each academy—a relaxed, informal, and safe gathering area that inspires a strong sense of community. The small number of classrooms sharing each ELA enables teachers to easily negotiate the space among themselves.

Students at Thurgood Marshall High School take pride in the learning environment, and have commented that the ELAs, with the carpeting and comfortable furnishings, resemble a commons space that might be found on a college campus. “We even have our own restrooms!” a group of students exclaimed. The ELAs clearly support the school’s goal of increasing mentoring relationships between students and teachers, and promoting student self-esteem and motivation.

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