Six Ways to Create Engaging Elementary Learning Spaces

Key points:

When our district decided to build a brand new elementary school to support growing student enrollment, we wanted to do things differently. Our goal is to shift pedagogy toward a “culture of thinking” that supports greater student engagement and more effective use of one's own learning space.

As part of that mission, we knew we needed innovative furniture for learning environments that would go hand-in-hand with that work. Not only would the new campus serve our expanding student body, but its structure and furnishings were specifically designed to support the most effective teaching and learning experience possible.

Now we know that it's not all butterflies and unicorns, but we feel very optimistic and firmly believe that change has to start somewhere. Ultimately, we are learning what we can to better meet students' basic learning needs through comfort and well-being in the spaces where they spend much of their time every day. This is how we did it:

1. Assemble a diverse selection committee. We formed a stakeholder committee that included district administrators, building principals, classroom teachers, and others focused on creating more “active” learning spaces. We visited two other innovative campuses in San Diego County to gather anecdotal information and observe students and teachers in those environments. Having these stakeholders involved was helpful because no one person should make all of those important decisions. You want it to be a group consensus to make sure you are doing what you collectively believe is best for the students.

2. Create specific spaces for grade levels. Then, we work together to develop a “kit of parts” or furniture packages. Based on specific grade levels, those part kits were designed to support active learning and classroom engagement. The kits were designed to meet the specific developmental requirements of grade level bands. We segment by individual grade and then delve into the exponential growth that occurs as students move from preschool to kindergarten to first grade, taking into account both the learning itself and the size of the students as they grow. We then took a similar approach with second and third grade students (group 2) and then with fourth through sixth grade students (group 3).

3. Involve teachers and acclimatize early. Once the final kits were decided upon and furniture was placed, the site director began actively recruiting teachers for this new school. Once on board, those instructors participated in three different professional learning dates, plus additional ones added during the school year. This professional learning is similar to what Face offers through Empowered PD, provide teachers with learning on how to best use the innovative learning space. Having that “unprotected time” with teachers was extremely important to me. In fact, it was pure gold. We used that time to explain why and how we were designing classroom spaces in a way that supported collaboration, flexibility, and comfort.

4. Put students first. We worked with our furniture and design partner to select a variety of different software tables, chairs and seating that would suit students ages four to 12. There are many moving pieces and many moving bodies, and we didn't want to just have one type of furniture for the entire campus. Some of the specialty furniture we selected included Pal tables with curved leg desks and dividers, which are ideal for students who need some isolation so they can concentrate. We chose a dark color for the dividers to help create a feeling of calm, tranquility and security. No student was actually going to “live” in that workspace all day, but it was an option within the environment for students who felt it met their needs.

5. Let your imagination fly. For our learning commons, a common space similar to a school library, we selected furniture that clearly supports learning and incorporates plenty of soft seating. One of the goals of that space was to provide a place for students to recharge. It is a place where students can come and move around as they need and choose how they want to sit and relax. The Learning Commons features an abundance of “growing pieces” and incorporates natural light and AstroTurf that creates the illusion of an outdoor space.

6. Choose a design partner who “gets” you. We wanted all of the table work surfaces to have high gloss finishes. That way, students will be able to write on the tables with dry erase markers. The next group of students could then easily clean and reuse the surfaces. Our furniture partner didn't even question it; We were told it was entirely possible. They just knew that basically any table we talked about had to be high gloss and they made sure that was the case.

Creating a feeling of tranquility

As I watch students learn, collaborate, and have fun at their new elementary school, my hope is that some or all of them will realize that the space was truly designed with them in mind. In the future, we will see a sense of ease about how everyone lives on campus; That's really what I hope. As certain student behaviors decrease because they know how to better interact with the environment, it will also lead them to be even more engaged and focused.

Ashley Campos, Chula Vista Elementary School District
Ashley Campos is the innovation coordinator for the Chula Vista Elementary School District in Chula Vista, CA.
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