A student centred learning environment. Students’ ideas about good spaces for learning

Abstract

The aim of the study is to shed light on students’ ideas about good learning environments (spaces for learning) and how their ideas fit in with actual arrangements in school. Student-centred learning is in focus, as it reflects the possibilities for students to influence their own learning environment.

By a space for learning, we mean the physical learning environment such as places in the school building that are available for different learning activities, the arrangement of furniture in the classrooms and technology. The study is limited to the space inside the school building or activities on behalf of the school, such as fieldtrips. The results are reviewed from the perspective of a student-centred learning environment and student engagement, which has gained increasing attention in the research literature. It is assumed that a physical learning environment in coherence with students’ ideas about good places for learning is student-centred and a supportive condition for student engagement in school; consequently, it might enhance students’ well-being so that they are less likely to drop out.

A student-centred learning environment is based on constructivist approaches to learning, assuming that students’ active participation in shaping their study environment is a fundamental condition for learning; thus, the learner must be active in building his or her own understanding. This calls for environments to provide multiple activities that enable individuals to address their own learning interests and needs and to study at multiple levels of complexity. The structure of daily school work must allow space for students to influence and participate in decision-making regarding their own learning environment. There is evidence to suggest that this kind of learning environment can support higher levels of perceived autonomy and student motivation. Different studies stress student autonomy and increased influence on their learning environment as one of the fundamental conditions for student engagement.

This research is part of a larger project on school practices in upper secondary schools in Iceland. Data were collected by classroom observations in 130 lessons and 17 group interviews with total of 56 students in nine upper secondary schools. To encourage discussion in the interviews, a diamond ranking method was used, involving nine pictures that participants were asked to arrange in a diamond shape. At the top of the diamond are pictures displaying an environment that students categorised as a good space/arrangement for learning, and at the bottom are the arrangements that students regarded as a space that was not good for learning, in the middle is an arrangement that was considered neither good nor bad.

The results show that classroom arrangements in the majority of the observed lessons could considered to be traditional, with students sitting at individual tables and everyone facing a blackboard in the front of the classroom. These were teachercentred lessons dominated by one-way instruction. This arrangement can hardly be seen as supportive of student-centred learning. Students’ ideas about a good space for learning seemed to largely contradict the actual arrangements. They valued the learning environment when it gave them the flexibility or power to make decisions about their learning preferences. They liked to sit in groups where they could choose whether to work or consult with other students. They also liked the environment, for example libraries, where they could expect a quiet area and various working conditions. However, they did not value rigid environments for learning, one that is crowded, too hot or does not provide them with the flexibility to affect their situations. The students in this study were given few opportunities to make choices and had scant possibilities of influencing their learning. The students’ ideas cohered well with international recommendations about innovative learning environments as well as results from other studies, thus making it worthwhile for education authorities at all levels to listen to them. Even though this study is limited in scope, hopefully the results can contribute to the discussion about ways to support students in constructing their own learning, knowledge and understanding. It is important to listen to students and provide them with opportunities to influence their own learning conditions in schools.