Student-Led Classroom Design

When given the choice, the environments students choose to work in does not look like the typical classroom. Mrs. D., our head of school, shared a link to this article about the Swedish Telefonplan School that’s designed with the students’ preferences in mind.

From inside the Telefonplan School. Image via Zilla Magazine (hat tip Edudemic).
The inside of the Erika-Mann Elementary School. Photo by Jan Bitter.

It’s a lot like the Erika-Mann-Grundschule in Berlin, and the type of open-plan rooms that Montessori Middle Schools aim for. I particularly note the design gives lots of space for small group work. Adolescents tend to cluster, but seem to work most productively in smaller groups.

The group of Lamplighter Montessori students work in parallel but help each other out.

And given the choice, students often prefer the floor to the tables.

Fulton School students choose to sit in the window to work on their math.

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