George Lucas Educational Foundation

Learning Environments

Learning is enhanced by the space where it happens. Discover how to make a difference by optimizing seating arrangements, classroom decor, and even building design.

Sort by:
Recommended
  • 7 Zones Every Middle School Classroom Should Have

    Setting up and organizing a classroom environment with more intention can help maximize the space for student engagement—and learning.
    3.1k
  • The Sensory Room: Helping Students With Autism Focus and Learn

    Imagine a safe space where students with autism can go to calm their bodies and then get back to the business of learning.
    1M
  • A classroom with large rectangular tables and a futon.

    Dos and Don’ts of Classroom Decorations

    What you put on your classroom walls can affect your students’ ability to learn.
    Youki Terada
    7
    105.8k
  • Teacher and student high-fiving

    8 Proactive Classroom Management Tips

    New teachers—and experienced ones too—can find ideas here on how to stop disruptive behavior before it begins.
    74.2k
  • 4 Ways Classroom Design Impacts Executive Functioning

    Effective classroom design can help elementary students develop skills like organization and task initiation.
    10.7k
  • Flexible classroom

    Flexible Classrooms: Research Is Scarce, But Promising

    An ambitious study of 153 classrooms in the United Kingdom provides the best evidence that flexible spaces can boost academic performance.
    48k
  • An illustration of a figure examining data

    The 10 Most Significant Education Studies of 2020

    We reviewed hundreds of educational studies in 2020 and then highlighted 10 of the most significant—covering topics from virtual learning to the reading wars and the decline of standardized tests.
    24.2k
  • A colorful classroom with couches, collapsible desks, and scoop chairs

    7 Outstanding K–8 Flexible Classrooms

    K–8 educators from across the country give you a peek at their classrooms—and explain how they managed the transformations.
    48.8k
  • The Benefits of Taking Kindergarten Outdoors

    By exploring outside their classroom—and even their schoolyard—two teachers found their students’ learning potential became boundless.
    2.8k
  • Strategies for Supporting Students’ Speaking and Listening Skills

    Many students struggle with these skills, which are tied to academic success. Here are a few ways to teach them explicitly.
    2.7k
  • Setting Up Libraries to Be the Best Space in School

    We took a peek inside school libraries across America to see how librarians are reframing the space to support students’ social, emotional, and creative growth—while still prioritizing excellent reads.
    3
    699
  • 4 Effective (and Frugal) Ways to Decorate Your Classroom This Year

    Teachers can use classroom decorations to promote and showcase student learning while spending little or no money.
    4
    902
  • The author's flexible classroom, with many different seating arrangements such as chairs, couches, yoga balls, and stools

    Designing Flexible Seating With Students

    A veteran elementary teacher shares what he’s learned from eight years of building a student-centered environment.
    16k
  • A classroom nook with a couch, armchair, and coffee table

    High School Flexible Seating Done Right

    Interested in switching to flexible seating? Get funding ideas, helpful tips, and how-to photos from the pros—your fellow high school teachers.
    19.7k
  • Making the Most of Your Classroom Walls

    Classroom walls don’t have to be Instagram-worthy so long as they display the right information and allow students to shine.
    4k

Follow Edutopia

  • facebook icon
  • twitter icon
  • instagram icon
  • pinterest icon
  • youtube icon
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

George Lucas Educational Foundation

Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.
Edutopia® and Lucas Education Research™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of the George Lucas Educational Foundation in the U.S. and other countries.