Past: Lauren Mehrbach and Chris Beingessner. This piece was originally published by Singapore American Schools

Last twelvemonth, the SAS middle school worked with Fielding Nair International, an educational architecture firm, to renovate our sixth course A-side team space to create a more flexible learning environment. This summertime we are embarking on two more renovations, to 6B and 6C, to provide all of our students and faculty in sixth-course access to a learning environs that is more flexible. Every bit Jacobs and Alcocknote, "The near fundamental structures in our schools are oftentimes inhibitors to progress: our schedules, our physical spaces, the grouping patterns of learners, and the configuration of the personnel." [ane] Equally we piece of work to provide a more personalized learning experience for our students, we observe that physical space is limiting our ability to practise so. As most adults in our community were served well by a traditional classroom environs, parents may have some questions nearly why we'd make this change.

How does a flexible learning environment chronicle to personalized learning?

"Flexible learning environments imply that the school adapts the use of resource such as staff, space, and time to best support personalization."[2] So, what does personalization hateful at SAS? It's a combination of different structures, instructional strategies, and curricular approaches that allow a kid to have access to what they demand when they need it, to know what their next steps are in their learning, and to pursue areas of force and involvement. We use the terms flexible learning environments, customized pathways, and competency-based progressions to frame our understanding of the elements necessary to create a personalized experience for children.

What is a flexible learning surround?

When people think of a flexible learning surroundings, they ofttimes recollect only of the physical space. While it is true that the space is flexible in nature, at that place is much more to a flexible learning environment than just the concrete floor plan or furniture choices. Modern flexible learning environments also address other elements of the learning environment such every bit how students are grouped during learning and how time might be used more flexibly during the twenty-four hours.

Personalized learning in action in Spanish class

Flexible Physical Infinite

Afterward the renovations, the sixth grade learning communities will take a flexibility that didn't exist in the prior layout. Teachers and students tin notwithstanding configure the infinite to work in an environment similar to a traditional classroom if that is what is best for teaching and learning. However, we besides know that non all learning involves 22 students in a single room at chairs and tables.

The new learning communities feature additional flexibility, creating spaces for groups of different sizes. There are small breakout rooms throughout the space so groups of students tin work collaboratively. Some examples of what might happen in the smaller breakout spaces include activities like book partnerships and literature circles, math explorations, contained piece of work, or collaborative work on a group presentation. A teacher might besides pull a grouping of students into a smaller breakout infinite to re-teach a concept or provide a lesson that extends the current concept for students who have already grasped information technology. In that location is also the ability to open the space to bring all students on a grade level team together for large group activities. Some examples of when the infinite would be opened upward include visitors making whole grouping presentations to the students, or sharing learning celebrations with the community. 6th-grade math instructor Kris Munden sums information technology up this way: "In a traditional classroom with 4 walls, you lot're restricted by those four walls. Simply hither we don't merely have four walls, nosotros have a agglomeration of walls that tin open and close, then we can make the space fit what we demand, rather than the infinite dictating what we tin practise."

Flexible Fourth dimension

In that location is much more to a flexible learning environment than the physical infinite. The flexibility extends to the employ of time. All of our middle school core teams currently accept the ability to flex their schedules and often practice and then. What do we mean by this? Each grade level has a block of time dedicated to our core program: English/Language Arts (ELA), math, science, social studies, and PE. Teams can reorganize that scheduled block in numerous ways to allow for dissimilar uses of the fourth dimension. For case, they might revise the schedule, shortening classes, to create a cake of time for a guest speaker or a home base activity. In sixth grade, they often employ a schedule that shortens core blocks to create a flexible block of time afterwards lunch. Students, with guidance from their teachers, identify what learning they desire support in, and sign up for specific workshops to reinforce those skills during this block. Sometimes this might be remediation of a concept taught earlier in the day. Other times it will be an extension activity for students who take already grasped the concept from earlier in the day. At times, these blocks of time are besides used to make explicit connections between the disciplines. Students may utilise this time to piece of work on unit culminating projects that bring learning from multiple subjects together. These flexible blocks help students personalize their learning path, brand connections across disciplines, and requite them vocalism and pick in their learning.

The 6A learning hub

Flexible Student Grouping

Traditionally, students are grouped together for a specific form at a specific time at the beginning of the year, and that grouping doesn't change. A student'south classmates for ELA grade, for case, remains static all year. Withal, this presumes that all students are the same, and demand the exact same learning opportunities, at the exact same time. We know that all students are unique, and so this model has its limitations. Our teachers work closely together to plan for educational activity based on educatee need. If a grouping of students needs extra time on a certain math concept, they are given that actress fourth dimension during a flexible block, regardless of which math class they are scheduled into. Teachers examine students' formative work on a regular footing to identify what learning they need side by side. Students are then grouped and regrouped in response to that data. The research affirms this, besides: "Using data to frequently adapt student grouping strategies to student needs is a key aspect of personalization; it is yet another way that instructors can be responsive to student needs and allow students to have diverse paths through content."[3] Regardless of whether your child volition be in a renovated space or not, teams of teachers beyond the middle school are finding means to focus on flexible student grouping.

Does a flexible learning surroundings meliorate learning?

When teachers are working more collaboratively, they see connections across the skills and content from their specific courses. Our survey data shows that students working in the 6A space felt that their teachers knew what was going on in other classes, and the students were more than probable to make connections between subjects than those not in a flexible learning environment. Interdisciplinary planning and conversations allow teachers to develop mutual linguistic communication for skills that transcend subject field areas. For example, writing a claim, supporting it with evidence, and using reasoning occurs in almost all discipline areas, though not always in the exact aforementioned format. In a flexible learning environment, teachers more hands calibrate their linguistic communication, and students make overt connections between subject area content and skills. While this may not show up explicitly in a standardized exam result, students build their ability to see the world every bit inter-connected, which we know information technology is. In fact, the creation of disconnected subjects for schools goes dorsum to 1892, when the National Education Association in New York "set public school institutions onto a pathway of discipline divisions."[four] Since nosotros don't feel the world in discrete subjects, it makes sense that nosotros ready upward opportunities so students won't either.

Additionally, using flexible grouping and time allows students to exist pushed further in their areas of force and to get boosted fourth dimension and back up in areas of challenge. A study by the Rand Corporation indicates "that compared to their peers, students in schools using personalized learning practices are making greater progress over the course of two schoolhouse years, and that students who started out behind are now catching up to perform at or to a higher place national averages".[5]

How does a flexible learning environment increase teacher effectiveness?

Nosotros all have partnerships in our lives that increment our effectiveness—peradventure information technology is a co-worker who helps u.s.a. see things at work we might not otherwise see, or a spouse, who shares responsibility for parenting. Working closely with someone on a common goal (increasing functioning at work, or raising children to be skillful humans) enhances our lives. We make ameliorate decisions and perform better when we have a partner, or squad to support united states of america. The same happens with teachers. When they are working more collaboratively together, the benefits are substantial. Teachers learn from each other and become more than regular feedback on their instructional practices. The level of transparency in a more flexible environment encourages teachers to piece of work at the highest level possible. Some say that the flexible environment ensures they bring their "A game" daily. The teachers feel a sense of commonage responsibility for all students' learning.

Want to see it in activity? You can become a glimpse of what our first middle school flexible learning environment is like hither.

For more, encounter:

  • Creating the Future of Learning: Singapore American School
  • Empowering Learners: 10 Lessons on Innovation Leadership
  • Powerful Learning Experiences: Why All Students Deserve Access

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[1]Jacobs, H. H., & Alcock, M. (2017). Bold moves for schools: How we create remarkable learning environments. Alexandria, VA, United states of america: ASCD.

[2]Wall, One thousand. (2016). The Impact of Physical Pattern on Educatee Outcomes (New Zealand, Department of Teaching). Retrieved from https://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Principal-Secondary/Holding/School-property-pattern/Flexible-learning-spaces/FLS-The-bear on-of-concrete-design-on-pupil-outcomes.pdf

[3]Pane, J., Steiner, E., Baird, One thousand., & Hamilton, L. (2015). Continued Progress: Promising Evidence on Personalized Learning. doi:ten.7249/rr1365

[4]Jacobs, H. H., & Alcock, M. (2017). Assuming moves for schools: How nosotros create remarkable learning environments. Alexandria, VA, USA: ASCD.

[5]Pane, J., Steiner, E., Baird, M., & Hamilton, L. (2015). Continued Progress: Promising Testify on Personalized Learning. doi:10.7249/rr1365