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How Can your Classroom Furniture be Put to Best Use?

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Abax Kingfisher Pty Ltd

Classroom furniture is often purchased to last for the long term, which means that many classrooms in modern schools are still using equipment from years ago. That being said, these learning environments might not always be properly addressing the requirements for students as 21st Century learners. When purchasing primary classroom furniture or high school classroom furniture, educators need to deeply consider what their environment encourages students to do. By making these assessments, classroom furniture choices can best reflect the types of learning environments that students should be having in contemporary classrooms.

With all furniture for schools, the paramount considerations are durability, reliability and ease of use. If students feel uncomfortable in classroom furniture which is too hard or too heavy, or the wrong size, they will be more likely to fidget, or to associate the classroom with a space they don’t want to stay in. Furthermore, small damage issues which arise from poor quality furniture – things like unbalanced legs, scratches or splinters – further connote disrespect between students and their environment. This is why furniture must carefully be assessed to be robust enough for the challenges of everyday classroom use.

Once these considerations are made, educators should discern whether certain pieces will reflect the growing technological needs of schools and students. Furniture which is flexible, multi-purpose and group-orientated will naturally be better for technology-driven lessons. This could look like large communal tables, or tables and chairs with wheels so they can be repurposed easily. Heavy fixtures – tables which cannot move, or chairs which are too heavy – might be too rigid to be useful in a fast paced classroom.

Primary classroom furniture needs to consider the message and atmosphere it communicates to students, who over the course of the year should start to treat the classroom as their own space. Teachers can consider the use of furniture to indicate certain learning styles, maintaining that certain tasks like physical activity or quiet reading, is kept in areas to establish good routines.

High school Classroom Furniture on the other hand should take into account the needs of the whole school; different teachers and learners should be able to acclimate and use the space to their own requirements. Flexibility becomes important for furniture considerations in secondary settings. If furniture is able to be multipurpose and effective for a variety of learning and instruction styles, it will be successful in high schools.

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