The School Environment: Common Purpose in Separate Spaces

Abstract

Space and environment constitute significant parts of the school experience. In this chapter student co-authors try to understand the importance of the spatial elements of their own schooled experience while at the same time trying to place an emphasis on the importance of creating a positive classroom environment. The authors challenge the notion of passive environments by sharing their own thinking about spaces as fertile pedagogical tools. The chapter outlines the ways in which students perceive and conceive of the spaces they occupy on a daily basis as well as how they interact with each other and the spaces of their school environment. This, the authors argue, shapes the entire educational experience, and as these student-authors largely attended schools with supportive and active environments that nurtured their educational successes, one need only imagine how more threatening environments might change the equation.