Educational Origami

I have to ask what is a classroom?

I know that sounds a little strange but its a reflection on the world we live in. The other day I had a year 11 study class period one. For the first day in I don’t know how long the sun was out and it was a nice comfortable warm day. The students asked if they could sit outside and work. After a minute or two’s reflection I agreed and the students and their laptops moved out into the courtyard area and settled into to work. A couple of groups were doing french and german oral comprehension, a pair of students were quizzing each other on physics, another couple were listen to music while working on their art portfolios.

All of the students were engaged and working. They all were working effectively and efficently outside of the classroom while still having all of the facilities of the schools network via wireless.

I had my year 13 for the final time yesterday, they are on study leave for their IB ITGS examinations. The students and I went across the road to the local cafe, as both a celebration of two years of work, but also to sit and discuss the information systems embedded in the cafe. While there was a fair amount of hilarity, there was also a good discussion which had relevance and significence on IT systems and business

Again I have to ask what is a classroom?

So what is a classroom?  I feel that all to often we as teachers are tied up with the concept of the physical space as the place of learning. That to teach we must have tables or desks, chairs whiteboards etc. And I guess that for “Teaching” this might actually be true, but are we about teaching or learning? LEarning can and does occur anywhere. Teachable moments are not restricted to classrooms, learning isn’t limited to the desk and seat in the room with 4 walls and a whiteboard.

Every 2 years we take students on a community service trip to either Nepal or India, as I saw in the Year 13′s leavers book, this years trip to Nepal was the highlight of many of the students time at school. They learnt so much, they experienced more than they could possibly have from a classroom. They savoured the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and texture, highs and lows of a very poor country struggling at the lower end on the third world.  I don’t know if anyone has coined this term, but I am going to do that now – this was ADVENTURE BASED EDUCATION. There was learning, there was teaching, there were revelations and epiphanies. There was engagement, context and relevance. I love the definition of adventure that OPC uses: “Any undertaking where the outcome is uncertain“. We had uncertainty, and that helps with engagement and focus.

And there wasn’t a whiteboard in sight. So what is a classroom?

The world is my classroom