Classroom Interiors in the 1900s
If you walked into a classroom in the middle of the 20th century, chances are you'd find desks arranged in straight rows with a podium and chair front and center, and a teacher's desk in the front to the side. Classrooms in the very early part of the 1900s would still have had adult-size furniture for younger children, sometimes benches instead of desks. The end of the 1900s introduced alternative classroom interiors meant to focus on the individual learning, emotional and mental needs of students rather than a teacher-centered environment.
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Desk and Seating Arrangement
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Throughout the majority of the 1900s, the typical classroom had seating arranged in straight rows, with students seated directly behind and next to one another. The arrangement focused on a teacher-centered classroom where information was presented in lecture format, verbally or written on the board. The teacher could observe all action going on in the room. A shift occurred late in the 1900s and into the 21st century with a focus on seating that promotes interactive learning, with students seated in groups at a small tables or a large conference table, for instance.
A Clasroom Interior Wired for Technology
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The use of audio-visual devices in the military during World War II spurned the wider use of these tools in classrooms across America. Projectors became a commonplace item in classroom interiors for teaching everything from driver's education to foreign language and flight training. The introduction of computers resulted in their growing presence in classrooms during the 1990s, with 40 percent of elementary schools and 75 percent of secondary schools using computers in the classroom. The emergence of distance education courses in the last part of the 20th century changed the classroom interior in a completely different way, taking students out of the room completely. The classroom was now a home office, library or anywhere you can use a computer with Internet access.
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A Serene, Inviting Interior
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In 1915 Maria Montessori, the first woman to receive a medical degree in Italy, set up a classroom at San Francisco's Panama-Pacific Exposition. She'd had success in Italy with a new method of educating children in a child-centered classroom environment. Notable changes in the classroom interior included replacing adult-size furniture with child-size furniture, no longer bolting it down to the floor. Shelves and closets were originally at adult height as well. Montessori changed this. Rugs and mats allowed children to comfortably work, play and lie on the floor. Montessori classrooms favored simplicity over the typical colorful, cluttered classrooms. Few items were placed on shelves, and walls were painted in neutral colors, creating a quiet, calm environment for children to learn in.
Early Childhood Classroom Interiors
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With the advent of early childhood education and care outside the home, caretakers and educators have had to develop new age-appropriate classroom setups. Interiors are equipped with storage areas and supplies for personal care -- diaper changing and feeding, for instance. Montessori classrooms stress the importance of beautiful and welcoming items, like fresh flowers, non-toxic plants, curtains and sparse wall art at the child's eye level, depicting real-world scenes, people or objects.
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References
- 1900s.org; Classrooms in Schools for Working-Class Children in the Early 1900s; Florence Cole
- Indiana University: Major Developments in Instructional Technology: During the 20th Century; Alena Treat, Ying Wang, Rajat Chada and Michael Dickson; September 2006
- The International Montessori Index: Maria Montessori, M.D.
- North American Montessori Center: Prepared Montessori Environment: Classroom Setup
Resources
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