The Cemetery Method

The "cemetery method" is a reference to the practice of arranging classrooms that is similar to cemeteries in that the students are in rows, very still and very quiet. 

That may have been acceptable decades ago when schools were designed on the factory model. During the Industrial Age factories needed workers who were on time, obedient and able to perform standardized tasks. They did not want workers who were creative thinkers.

This arrangement was considered ideal in the 19th century when schools were preparing students to enter the workforce as factory or farm workers. Not only was thinking not required, it was not considered desirable. Workers who followed orders were needed, not creative people. The students were being trained, not educated, to become an identical cog in the bureaucratic machine. [Listen to Sugata Mitra's talk at TED concerning the purpose of education and the global, human computer.]

This physical arrangement was also ideal for "teaching" since the teacher was the owner and provider of all knowledge. Students were the passive recipients of this knowledge, and learning was defined as the ability to memorize and store facts. Isn't that what we are still doing in most classrooms?

However, that arrangement is, as school architect Prakash Nair says, an obsolete relic of a bygone era. Preparing students to be successful in life in the 21st century means that we must change schools at the most fundamental levels. This includes everything from the policies we implement, from the national to the local levels, to how curriculum is organized and learned, to the way we organize students in a school and in a classroom. 

In his book, The Global Achievement Gap, Tony Wagner of Harvard University articulated what he calls the 7 Survival Skills for the 21st Century. Many of these skills were not considered desirable for students or workers during the Industrial Revolution. However, in the 21st century these skills are absolutely critical. 

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence
• Agility and Adaptability
• Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
• Effective Oral and Written Communication
• Accessing and Analyzing Information
• Creativity and Imagination

As you can see, the factory model, or cemetery method, persists well into the 21st century. Visit most schools, walk down the halls (another obsolete remnant of the factory model - "cells and bells") and notice how many classrooms are still teacher-centered - the teacher standing in front of the class, students sitting in rows facing the teacher and students raising their hands for permission to speak. Don't stop there; do a Google search for "classroom" in images. Or take a look at the advertising from supposed 21st century providers of curriculum, software, professional development, etc. What images do you see? 

If you see images such as these on the web sites or promotional materials of providers of curriculum, consulting or professional development then you can be certain that they remain in the factory model paradigm. They do not really have an understanding of the 21st century education paradigm.

The majority of people today, from superintendents to classroom teachers, from consultants to publishers, from business professionals to corporations believe that bringing all the latest technologies into the schools makes them "21st century". It is entirely possible, and is usually the case, that schools with all the latest technologies are continuing to provide factory model education. They are just doing it digitally instead of with paper and pencil. See more about that here in my post, "Will the real 21st century school please stand up?"

Today, in the world of the 21st century, schools continue to be expected to prepare students to succeed in the workforce. But the workforce has changed dramatically, and students require a different set of skills to succeed. In his book, To Sell is Human, Daniel Pink defines the 21st century workforce. He provides some interesting statistics:

• The U.S Census Bureau estimates that the American economy has more than 21 million "non-employer" businesses, and they constitute the majority of businesses in the United States. 
• 30 percent of American workers now work on their own, and by 2015 the number of nontraditional workers worldwide will reach 1.3 billion.
• Entrepreneurs will become a majority of the American workforce by 2020.

While there is much talk about enabling students to be more creative, to be able to analyze situations, to be able to identify and solve problems, to be "college and career ready", our schools continue to place students in physical environments which actually prevent this kind of learning. 

If we want students to be innovative, creative, self-directed, independent and interdependent thinkers and doers, then first of all we must design a physical learning environment which supports that kind of learning. They certainly will not develop those skills sitting passively in rows being spoon-fed facts to memorize, be tested on then forgotten. 

Students will not, indeed cannot, practice being self-directed, independent and interdependent, collaborative, problem-solving, entrepreneurial, etc. if they are spending their days in teacher-centered classrooms arranged in rows. (Even classrooms in which the rows have been replaced by groups the teacher-centered paradigm prevails.) Students learn how to develop these skills through opportunities to practice these skills, not by being passive recipients of lectures.

The research on brain activity by Rosalind Picard and her colleagues at MIT’s Media Lab suggests that students’ brain activity is nearly non-existent during lectures - even lower than when they are asleep. Lectures equal brain “flatlining” and, as Professor Eric Mazur of Harvard University’s Physics Department puts it, students “are more asleep during lectures than when they are in bed!”  [i]

At the most basic level the physical learning environment must provide spaces for students to learn in three modes: independently, collaboratively in small groups and in large groups. Instead of rows arrange your classroom to include a variety of areas designed for different purposes. (Note: this means that not every student will be doing the same thing at the same time. Having small groups rotate through several activities or centers is the same as everyone doing the same thing at the same time.)

In order to be self-directed and independent students need freedom of movement and easy access to materials and equipment. Learning centers, which are typically considered to be only for early childhood, are actually appropriate (as well as needed) for all grade levels, EC-16. Here are some possibilities, including examples from my own classroom. Learning centers can be . . . 

A place in your classroom -

(This lists assumes that these centers are in addition to any digital resources, supplementing those resources with kinesthetic activities.)

• Writing Workshop supplies - provide paper in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. A variety of writing implements in various colors. 
• Math Center with lots of math games and activities for kinesthetic learning. Minimize or eliminate worksheets.
• Science Center - materials for constructing products and testing hypotheses.
• Loving Literature Center - in addition to the books we had at our school I also borrowed books, both fiction and nonfiction, from other school libraries in the district and from the local public and university libraries. We did 6-week thematic, interdisciplinary projects, and I would usually bring in about 150 books related to the theme.
• Novel Groups - my class usually had three "novel groups" (literature circles). There was a place in the classroom where students could access materials related to their novel; these were discussion and activity guides based upon Bloom's Taxonomy. I used the book, A Novel Approach. Each student had a calendar which showed them which activities to do for each chapter. The groups ran themselves, and I supported them as needed.
• Here is a recent article, 19 Back-to-School Classroom Ideas That Will Knock Your Students' Sock Off, with ideas for decorating a classroom (elementary); some of these are learning centers.

A place on your campus -

• A lab
• A library
• A music studio
• A particular teacher's classroom
• A DaVinci Studio - supporting science and art
• A woodshop
• A maker space
• A garden
• A treehouse

A place in your community:

• A museum
• A park
• An architect's office
• A nonprofit organization
• A homeless shelter

A place online could also be a Learning Center - global locations which are accessed virtually via web sites, videoconferencing, email or Skyping (museums, NGOs, laboratories, universities, aquariums, experts, other classrooms and students). 

Additionally, web sites such as Kahn Academy and edX offer everything from mini-lessons to full university level courses free of charge.

What can you do in your classroom? Here is what I did:  

There is a possibility that your district or campus isn't ready to begin transforming their learning spaces into spaces designed to support 21st century learning. But the physical environment of a classroom in a school building built on the factory model can be transformed into a space that supports students being self-directed, independent and interdependent. 

Let me share with you how I transformed my classroom as an elementary teacher. The same can be done at the middle school, high school and university levels with a few modifications. All it takes is the desire and some "thinking out of the box", or "out of the cell".

Physical Arrangement

As you can see, I am not a graphic artist. I have a professional graphic artist working on a new rendition for me, but until I receive it I will use this to illustrate how my classroom was arranged. There was a huge banner across the front of the room that said, "If it isn't good, it isn't done!" to convey the very high expectations I had for my students.

When I was a classroom teacher (4th grade) I had the teacher's desk re-purposed for use by the students (one time it served as a Buddhist altar during a project on Japan). When you walked into my classroom you would see the front half of the room furnished with large tables (I had all but 2 of the student desks removed and brought in large tables). 

The back half of the room was divided into two areas. To the right was a huge, inexpensive rug, 12 x 18 (purchased from a roll at Home Depot). To the left was an area with a small table and 3 chairs, the teacher's desk, a student desk which just fit into a cubby-type space between the bookcase and the wall, an aquarium and one or two large potted plants, such as a palm or a ficus tree. This was called No Man's Land; up to 3 students could go into this area to focus on whatever they chose; when a student was in No Man's Land it meant that they were not to be interrupted. 

These three main areas were designated by low bookcases serving as dividers; they also doubled for various displays, including student-created products, books and more books, a Writer's Workshop supply center, a MOVE IT, Math! Center with many games and activities and student-designed displays - - - whatever was needed at the time as we moved through our PBL21 thematic units. At one point they displayed students' handmade "rice paper" upon which they wrote their haiku when we were studying Japan(ii). For our unit on the Middle East students brought rock collections (desert and oil fields = connect to geology) and dioramas they created (unassigned - they just wanted to do this). All of the displays were created as a direct result of the students' ideas, not mine. It was our classroom, not my classroom. Students felt ownership and pride as they made decisions and their ideas were supported. Student motivation was extremely high.

What the kids were doing with this space

If you walked into this classroom you might see a pair of students working together on a project for science; a novel group holding a discussion; an expert group conducting research and planning how they will teach; a jigsaw group where experts are teaching each other; 2 or 3 students working alone on their creative writing; 1 or 2 students stretched out on the floor taking notes for his/her individual research report; a student working on a logic puzzle; a student playing a math game; a student conferencing with me on his/her writing; a student setting up a display; students planning a skit based upon a story written by one of the students; a student sitting on or under a table, or on the rug, reading. 

You would see students moving about the room freely, accessing materials as they needed them. You would notice that the students are all engaged and highly motivated. If you asked a student what kind of thinking they were doing at the moment or what skill or content standard they were learning, they could tell you.

This organization of the physical space supported and encouraged self-directed, independent and interdependent learning. It was a student-centered classroom, and I facilitated. The class could run itself. 

This did not happen by accident - teach them the strategies

Students need a toolbox of strategies. Beginning on the first day of school the students learned, practiced, refined and used many strategies which I had to teach them. They came into my classroom expecting to be told what to do and how to do it every minute, expecting to ask permission to get out of their seats to sharpen a pencil or to get a drink of water or a snack. [iii] 

We focused intensely on a variety of strategies and tools the first part of the school year. Teachers often say they do not have time to do that. The truth is, you do not have time to not teach these strategies. Once they are learned, the teacher needs to get out of the way and let them go. You will make up the time spent teaching these strategies because you will not be repeating directions over and over, you will not have to redirect students because they are already totally focused, and you will not have to spend time dealing with disruptions. 

Strategies you will need to teach include:

• 7 Survival Skills for the 21st Century 
• Multiple Literacies for the 21st Century 
• Social/Emotional Skills 
• Project planning
• How to collaborate
• How to find, evaluate and use information
• Note-taking, or annotation skills
• Thinking tools such as the 6 Thinking Hats, concept mapping, Bloom's Taxonomy, mind-mapping, doodling (great memory booster) . . .
• How to teach others
• Self and peer assessment strategies
• Presentation skills
• Organizational skills

 

What does a student-centered learning environment look like?

Here are some examples of student-centered learning environments - notice that teachers are not at the center of attention and the absence of rows of student desks.

A kitchen classroom at the Kitchen Garden Foundation, Australia.

 

Students collaborating on creating a world map: 

Students at the "Zoo School" in Apple Valley, Minnesota have personal cubicles:

This school has no classrooms other than the science labs, music production studio, a science/art lab and a multi-media production lab. There are enormous, wide open areas which students and teachers use as needed. The campus is connected to the Minnesota Zoo. The real name of the school is the School for Environmental Studies. The students collaborate with the staff at the zoo by conducting ongoing research and developing and implementing various programs at the zoo. They also conduct research and present recommendations for the city parks department. Learn about the Zoo School here.

An outdoor classroom at the Zoo School is built out over a pond. But, when I visited it looked like this:

These two photos are from the P. K. Yonge Elementary School in Gainesville, FL. This is a school designed by Fielding Nair International.

  

A fifth grade exploration studio contains a number of areas inside and flows to the outside as well.

?I hope that this post has provided you with some new ideas and inspirations for how to create the optimum physical environment which supports student learning and the development of those 21st century skills and multiple literacies.

If you are a teacher stuck in a factory model school where the paradigm is "cells and bells" you can still create an oasis in that desert by rearranging your classroom. I did it. I was the only teacher that did this in two schools where I taught. If you have no resources to obtain tables then scoot the desks together, and make some room for a big open area and a No Man's Land. Bring in a rug if you can, some plants and an aquarium (go to DonorsChoose.org to request donations). These few items will make a huge difference!

Another great resource for you is an article on creating purposeful spaces called Campfires, Caves and Watering Holes.

If you have already created 21st century learning spaces in your classroom we invite you to send us a photo!

 

PD Exercise - William Glasser stated that children will not learn until four needs have been met - the need to belong, the need for freedom, the need for power and the need to have fun. 

Brainstorm at a faculty or PLC meeting how these needs are being met at your school, and specifically, how the physical environment meets these needs.

[i] A Rich Seam

 [ii] The Rice Paper and the Japan Project - Making the paper - First my class and I went for a walk. It was Spring and there were wildflowers blooming in abundance. The students each picked some flowers and leaves. Tiny or small flowers work best. When we got back to the classroom the students arranged their flowers and leaves on a large sheet of white tissue paper (12 X 18 inches), and placed another sheet of tissue over that. Then they used a paintbrush to "paint" the paper with a 50/50 mixture of glue and water. We laid them on shelves to dry. These were their personally designed sheets of "rice paper". A day or two later they learned about haiku, created their own, wrote them on the rice paper and were placed on display. They were beautiful!

Our study of Japan was part of a campus-wide project in which each classroom studied a different country. At the end the students got passports (we created them to look just like the real thing) and "toured the world", taking turns - one day half the students toured while the other half made presentations; the next day they switched. Tourists included parents, community members and district administrators. 

 [iii] About snacks - My students learned that they could bring snacks, and if they got hungry before lunch, they simply retrieved their snack quietly and unobtrusively, ate it, and went on with their work. It just was not a big deal! The same for beverages in the class. No one ever spilled one, and if they had, they would have quietly cleaned it up and moved on. 

TIP - I kept a fresh loaf of bread, crackers and a jar of peanut butter on hand. Occasionally it was needed. Most schools have breakfast programs now, but you never know when someone may be running late for some reason and not get there in time for breakfast. Hunger is not conducive to learning or best behavior - at any age. More schools are also implementing mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack programs.

[iv] Learn more here about facilities designed by Fielding Nair International.

[v] Also see "Children should not have to sit still and be quiet."

I appreciate your comments. Also your assistance in sharing this post with your connections is greatly appreciated. If you haven't done so yet, please join the 21st Century Schools group on LinkedIn.

Anne Shaw

Email me at [email protected]