Examining the Open Education Classroom

Abstract

Interest grows in the open education or integrated day methodology, as practiced in British primary schools and elsewhere.' It is hoped that this interest will lead to a closer and more precise description of what actually occurs within these informal classrooms. This paper offers, first, a preliminary specification of four key organizational features of the open education environment: (1) the organization of space, (2) the organization of time, (3) the way in which children are grouped together, and (4) the organization of instruction.2 Generally, its approach is descriptive, for although it is necessary at times to present the justifications advanced on behalf of these operational practices, a thorough articulation of their rationale is not intended.3 In each instance, optimal conditions are assumed to prevail, as the purpose here is to portray these features in their purest state. Later, as the issues of definition, appropriateness, and evaluation are considered, a less accepting, more critical approach will be taken, in the hope of generating further theoretical consideration of both the means and the ends of open education.