School Environment
Over the week I watched a documentary on HBO that
addressed the economic changes that were happening in San Francisco. The purpose of the documentary was to review
how the economic impact the technology industry has had on the city. One of the
components of the documentary addressed how the technology industry attracts
the best and brightest of workers throughout the country and overseas to come
to San Francisco. The documentary addressed how well the technology companies
treat their employees. The employees have a very relaxed working environment,
in which they can dress down and most do not wear suits and dresses. They do
not have the typical cubbies and stark atmospheres that you typically see in office
buildings. In these companies, they have music rooms, full eatery/lounge, game
room, and vending machine for computer parts that are free. This the is the new
working atmosphere that our students will be become accustomed to. This lends
to the question; What type of school environment does your students have? It is a stark, bare classroom where the
students do not have access to technology. It is a friendly environment that is
welcoming and students feel comfortable to learn. In our school two of our
teachers tried a concept of alternative seating. The teacher moved most of the
desk out the classrooms and brought in floor pillows, crates, bar chairs. All
of this was done to create a more relaxed environment where the students don’t
have the typical seating arrangement. I
am not sure if this contributed to an increase in learning, but it lends to
think about since this is how the new working environments are transforming to.
Great post Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteStudies show that empployees enjoy coming to work in environments that are more relaxing and inviting. But it does make me question if these environments are successful for learners and workers who have short attention spans. I think these easy and free environments are good for driven and hyper focus students and employees.