It’s that time in the summer holidays when social media is awash with photographs of classrooms. Before and after shots; work in progress shots all jostle with areas of the classroom with which the poster is ‘obsessed’ – really???
So, what’s your theme this year? Rustic boho? Shabby chic? Or whatever can be found in the stock cupboard now that all the other classrooms are finished? Staple guns (remember the coin trick) with the correct staples loaded; blu-tack without odd chunks of plaster; rolls of backing paper and not quite enough corrugated border to finish that last display, are wielded for hours to titivate and create the learning environment. How many pairs of hands have you borrowed from friends and family eager to help out but whose enthusiasm wanes rapidly after labelling the first 30 books?
For some teachers preparing their classroom is part of the summer holiday ritual and gives them ownership, especially in a new classroom or school. For those who it is their first classroom the excitement is immense. There is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying this part of the teaching year, a great learning environment is vital. But we must remember that a great learning environment is more then the pretty displays, more than the table layout, more than fully coordinated labels – it is about the atmosphere that the teacher creates – safe, positive, compassionate, nurturing.
If you are firmly in the ‘I’m doing no school work this summer’ or the ‘minimalist classroom décor’ camps then these social media bragging posts will not bother you one jot. But what about the nervous ECT or the experienced hand whose summer has been monopolized by unexpected events? Beautiful images of the ‘perfect’ classroom can be helpful and give ideas to ‘borrow’; but equally can be unhelpful, sending the viewer into paroxysms of despair as they feel unable to match these paragons of virtue with impressive interior design skills.
Share your classroom on social media by all means. Those of you scrolling past these spectacular images – remember that no one posts bad news pictures of the display that went wrong; the collapsing bookshelves or the unidentifiable, sticky surface on every table and chair. They are a self-selected sample who will have curated their images carefully.
There are over 264,000 primary teachers in the UK, most will not post beautiful images of their classrooms on social media – so if you haven’t done yours yet, don’t worry – you are in the majority!
