There’s a bit of a problem with schools these days… they’re now all about schedules, assessments, targets, and, of course, the endless admin, and although none of that’s bad as such - in fact, it’s important for many reasons - it does mean that the human part of education, which is things like curiosity, creativity, and connection, has started to go missing. But the fact is that kids learn best when they feel supported, safe, and seen, and teachers teach best when the environment helps them out. With that in mind, keep reading to understand more about how to make education feel human again.

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

How Do Students Feel When They Walk In?

One thing that can instantly help with the human touch is the tone of a classroom, and that can be set before a single word has to be said. If you can get things like the light, volume, temperature, and layout right, that’s going to decide whether a room feels welcoming or stressful. Even the flooring is important - soft, warm, durable surfaces are going to reduce noise and be more comfortable, and that’s one reason why schools invest in specialised education flooring solutions.

Making a room practical is one thing, but if you can make it practical and work for the people who need to be in it, that’s even better, and it’s something that can ensure kids learn better and teachers work better altogether.

Let Curiosity Lead Things

It’s so easy to think of kids as just needing to work through a checklist, but the truth is, they’re not robots, and ticking things off a list is going to be boring most of the time. What they need is for their curiosity to be allowed to shine through, and they should be allowed to explore new ideas instead of just memorising things.

That’s the difference when you bring the human element into learning - if you do, there’s going to be time for questions and working out answers, which is much more interesting and memorable than just being told facts with no additional information and no time to delve any deeper.

Make Time For Connection

Classrooms can run like machines sometimes, with kids going in, being told what they need to be told, and then leaving again, with nothing really being achieved, and definitely no fondness for the classroom being born.

But what if you can add some genuine connection? Because connection is ultimately what builds trust, gives people motivation, and ensures young people have the resilience they need to try things and keep trying even if they get it wrong at first. So it’s a good idea to add these human moments into the day, and allow time for laughter and fun, or just checking in to make sure everyone’s okay. It’s these things that are really just as important as hitting all the academic goals, especially when you think about how the kids can take these ideas out into the real world and form other connections in life as they get older.

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