The "open classroom" emerged as a reaction against the industrial-era enclosed and authoritarian classroom. Although contemporary school architecture continues to incorporate and express ideas of openness, more research is needed about how teachers adapt to new and different built contexts. Our purpose is to identify teacher reaction to…

Open concept schools were a popular architectural design in the 70s. They were built to provide large areas of flexible space for team teaching with small enclosed areas for restrooms, science labs, and special needs classrooms. Because there are no barriers and no closed doors, an attitude of inclusiveness is created merely by the building's…

The author conducted a 3-week qualitative case study at the School of Environmental Studies (SES), a senior public school with an environmental studies focus. He argues that SES's physical design facilitates collaborative, multidisciplinary teaching practices especially suited to the school's environmental studies curriculum. He also shows that…

Open plan schools have been largely contested in Portugal; many teachers, administrators and even parents consider this model of schooling inappropriate and therefore a failure. Recently however the Escola da Ponte, one of the open plan schools that has survived, was recognised as one of the country's most innovative educational facilities.…

The Plowden Report encouraged the design of more compact and flexible school buildings to accommodate its vision of child-centred teaching. These schools came to be known as "open plan". By the late 1970s about 10% of schools were of open-plan design but researchers found serious weaknesses in the quality of their work. Plowden's ideals were not…

This article examines the argument that "green" schools enhance educational performance. Having set the context of the relationship between environmentalism and the design of schools in the twentieth century, the article explores the performance of a number of green schools built in the UK between 1980 and 1995. The aim is to discover whether…

Examines adaptations made by one high school when the surrounding city shifted from a textile mill-driven manufacturing economy to a post-industrial service economy. Using data from an extended field study, the paper examines how school discourses emerged from three related sources (a corporate sponsor, competition for good students, and preparing…

In a pinch for spaces a New Jersey school district turned an abandoned supermarket into an open plan school -- in two short months, for less than $1.40 per square foot. Remodeling was accomplished by a few vocational education students, their teachers, and parents. (Author)

Administrators at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa, have discovered that an open campus helps the student assume more responsibility for his actions, develop the capacity for making wise decisions about time use, and promote his own educational development. (Author/DN)

Trends changing from "fad" status to acceptance as the norm for contemporary schools are flexibility, adaptability, a reduction in fenestration, compactness, use of color, carpeting, and many new construction materials. (Author/MLF)

Some work has been done with identifying the components of and constructing a taxonomy for alternative schooling, but the movement itself has dealt primarily with means, rather than goals--and thus falls short of being truly "alternative." (MB)

A discussion by its director of the establishment and the three years of operations of Central Park East, an alternative public elementary school in Manhattan. (JM)

This review of four schools compares organizational properties to demonstrate that, while methods of control and instruction do vary, pupils are generally fitted to the tempo of the school rather than their own learning speed. (MB)

Good planning, favorable labor and construction conditions, and a little bit of luck combined in a Wisconsin elementary school built for $18.74 per square foot. (Author/MLF)