Open Classroom and Open Education

Open education is a theory of education based on the principle that education and its curriculum should be active, fluid, and individualized. The primary concern of open education is to facilitate meeting educational goals while fulfilling the unique, individual potential of each child. Open education is particularly relevant to curriculum studies because of this flexible format. Originating out of various grassroots communities, open education incorporates many differing theories of education. It is sometimes referred to as informal education.

Modern open education in the United States has been greatly influenced by the primary education system of England. During an educational revolution after World War II, many English educators began incorporating ideas that would later become open education. In 1967, the English minister of education commissioned a report assessing aspects of primary education and called attention to changes made using open education approaches, urging all other schools to adopt similar practices. This report was commonly known as the Plowden report. Its observations influenced many educators, including the early childhood educator, Lillian Weber. Having visited England, Weber returned to the United States an advocate for open education, directing further influence toward open education. Likewise, Canadian politician Joseph Featherstone brought attention to the open education system in a series of articles for New Republic in 1967. Since that time, England has incorporated open education into its nationwide program. Conversely, open education in the United States has been confined to private and laboratory schools, reaching its peak popularity in the late 1970s to the early 1980s.

A description of an open classroom appeared in a 1970 issue of The Saturday Review, written by Ronald Gross. This article summarized four basic practices of the open classroom: (1) decentralization and organization of space into smaller, flexible units; (2) encouragement toward individual and group exploration/activity within that space; (3) incorporation of diverse, hands-on educational material; and (4) individual/small-group educator-led instruction.

Curriculum in open education revolves primarily around the individual student. It emphasizes individual interests, and highlights the influence learning materials and their arrangement within a classroom may have upon children. Although the starting point of learning is the children's experiences and interests, this is not by any means the extent of it. Open education is often misunderstood in this regard. Educators in an open classroom may often follow a specific, daily curriculum. This curriculum is supplemented and altered through interaction to complement spontaneity. Therefore, although lessons may be taught and learned, the manner in which they are done so is rarely repeated.

Open curriculum emphasizes context as an integral part of education. To maintain context-given content, open curriculum suggests integration. One section of the Plowden Report, “The Need for Flexibility and Balance,” describes how teachers in England have successfully integrated subject-based curriculum into context-based curriculum. Open classrooms, like many of their traditional counterparts, recognize that subject division may obscure context.

Integration may be achieved in numerous ways. Many students and classes choose a specific area of study or problem to resolve. Along with their study, students may write, calculate, and perform any number of experiments or activities ranging through all areas of learning to achieve their objective. With unnecessary barriers removed, subjects such as writing may be taught as tools for learning a subject of interest, rather than as a particular subject to be learned. Often projects are sparked by a first hand experience that children may share in the classroom. Experiences may be spontaneous such as observing birds from a window, or plannedsuch as a day trip to a farm. Together, they serve as a springboard for learning, by either generating interest for learning or being initiated by the child.

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