Third Places and School Community

“Life without community has produced, for many, a life style consisting mainly of a home-to-work-and-back-again shuttle. Social well-being and psychological health depend upon community. Third places are informal gathering places. They are the heart of a community’s social vitality, the grassroots of democracy, but sadly, they constitute a diminishing aspect of the social landscape." - Ray Oldenburg

Who remembers "Cheers"? The television third place of libated conversation and humor, where everyone knows your name.

Are we creating school-based places where climate and community become positively established?

Left to their own devices, students and staff will build segregated hangout bubbles in hallways, offices, and nooks beneath stairwells. Third places are comfortable confines between the private life of home and the prearranged areas of school and work. Informal and inviting, Oldenburg says third places offer tremendous opportunities for learning, "Managers have learned if they let people work where they want and when they want, productivity goes up. Additionally, if you get people sitting together, talking together, innovation comes quicker."

You would be hard-pressed to find an education conference without at least one session called, "Innovative Learning Spaces." Thankfully, rows and cubicles are becoming viewed as roadblocks to modern, collaborative learning. Libraries, churches, and community centers are examples of community-based third places. Bosu balls, carpet squares, and tinker centers accessorize classroom-based third places. Are there places at school that exist between the private and the formal where students and staff gather to tell jokes, discuss politics, and share their stories?

Oldenburg says there are ten essential functions of third places. Among these are; promote democracy, establish unity, create friendships, personal development, and intellectual forum. It was not uncommon for my father to hang out with the guys after work. Often, their third place would be my grandma's kitchen or patio. EZ-pops, my grandfather, kept the garage refrigerator fully stocked with Old Style. Today, I enjoy fitness classes at the local gym. Not only do I get to break a healthy sweat, but kickboxing and cycling have become opportunities to chat casually with neighborhood friends.

Our school library is nearing completion of a major remodeling effort. Eighteen hundred square feet of this project is a dedicated learning cafe. A few critics have expressed their displeasure calling the coffee shop a frivolous waste of money and space. However, school leaders and project designers see "Pete's Cafe" becoming a social hub for students and staff, a purpose-built third place. Much like Cheers, Starbucks, or Barnes and Noble, comfortable seating, casual decor, food, and beverages, will provide an inviting place to gather, connect, and grow.

Oldenburg's research from 1989 focused on face-to-face interaction, but the internet has become a principle place for social interaction. Can third places be established in social media? Whether it's in-person or virtual, I believe in the power and longevity of informal learning. I am looking forward to raising a coffee mug in the name of our school community.

References and Related Reading

The Great Good Place... - Ray Oldenburg

Our Vanishing Third Places - Ray Oldenburg

Ray Oldenburg - Project for Public Places

Q and A With Ray Oldenburg - Steelcase 360

photo credit: byronv2 cafe al fresco via photopin (license)

What Teachers Can Learn From Effective Coaches

In my educational world teaching and coaching involve the same processes. The people that impacted my own learning most significantly were coaches. Could it be that great coaches were ahead of their time with respects to instructional best practices? Let's take a look at ten coaching practices that thankfully have found their way into the classroom. http://www.coachwooden.com/files/PyramidThinkingSuccess.jpg Standards-based Grading - coaches aren't concerned with arbitrary measures of success such as letter grades. Great coaches identify a requisite set of skills that are necessary for advancement and success. Promotion and achievement are based upon clearly identified levels of skill mastery. Authentic assessment - coaches are looking for their athletes to demonstrate their skill mastery under game-like situations. The best coaches incorporate game simulations and competitive, game-like drills into their practices. Winning coaches will use the contests as assess...

Board Games in the School Library: 3 Reasons Why It's a Winning Play

"Play is the highest form of research." - Albert Einstein “Play is the work of the child.” – Maria Montessori In our recently remodeled school media center, we have a space dedicated to active engagement in fun learning activities. Part maker space, part literacy lounge, board games are being incorporated to promote a culture of joyful learning. Whether it's a game of Rummy , Yahtzee , or Scrabble , family game night serves as a communication elixir and solidifies our domestic climate of togetherness. Shouldn't similar opportunities for interaction, challenge, and fun exist somewhere in our schools? Broken families, cultural fragmentation, and poverty are impacting opportunities for children to play. As we unpacked and tagged our new media center games, I was more disappointed than shocked by the number of students who had never played Monopoly , Boggle , or Sorry . One skeptical teacher commented, "Oh great, now we're letting students pl...

Self-Directed vs. Self-Determined Learning; What's the Difference?

"We need to move beyond the idea that an education is something that is provided for us, and toward the idea that an education is something that we create for ourselves." - Stephen Downes In this age of abundance of information, shifting classroom pedagogy isn't nearly enough to make learning in school more relevant and authentic for the learner. Self-directed learning ( andragogy ), and self-determined learning ( heutagogy ) are the ideals necessary in making students " future ready " to live and learn in a web-connected world. While original research applied these concepts to mature learners, it has become apparent that even young children have an abundant capacity for recognizing and directing their learning. Anyone who has observed toddlers learning how to walk and talk understand the motivation and skill development that quickly develops during these processes. Considered by some to be on a learning continuum, self-directed learning, and self-determined ...

Nocking the Arrow

Search This Blog