[purplexowl]

So I saw someone post a picture about this on Facebook but with no information. I was intrigued so I googled a few things to figure out what this "school without classrooms" in Sweden was all about. I found a blog on it and the website for the school organization in Sweden that does not have any formal classrooms. It's called Vittra. Instead of individual classrooms and grades, students are taught in groups based on levels. The school seems more open and in the pictures many students are on laptops or reading quietly to themselves. There does also seem to be some private rooms where students are tutored one on one. As long as at lease one parent is a Swedish tax-payer the school is free.

I'm just wondering what you guys think about this. I can't decide if I think it's a good idea or a sour one.

Here are the links in case you're interested in reading more:
http://vittra.se/Default.aspx?alias=vittra.se/english
http://knstrct.com/2012/01/10/a-scho...with-no-walls/

[subczy]

It probably does work there. The u.s. is behind in education for many reasons. We aren't ready for that imho.

[teenytiny]

Although the rooms themselves are very appealing in a posed sort of Ikea catalogue kind of way, this does not look like a rich learning environment to me. It looks really empty.

I don't see children's artwork on the walls. I don't see references to numbers or letters anywhere. No number lines. I see very few supplies. Where are the paper, pencils? I don't see lots of bookshelves with books, only a very few books with kids. I don't see creative building materials (blocks, legos, etc).

I don't really understand this, but from what I see, it does not look authentic or enriching to me at all. It looks very much like an interior designer's (someone with no teaching experience) idea of what a "modern school" should look like.