Rehearsal Space: The Scenic Arrangement of the Classroom Environment

In this chapter, we discuss how the classroom environment can and should be considered figuratively but also literally. We begin by examining the literature on environmental factors and how classroom arrangement impacts the student experience of the class as well as the teacher-student relationship. In addition, we think through more abstract conceptualizations of “space” to frame the interactions that happen in the classroom, regardless of its physical arrangement, as a kind of structured environment. We then lay out some theories of scenic arrangement from theatre studies to contextualize how we approach classroom design. Reflecting on our experiences working on a wide variety of campuses, we discuss when and how to make physical adjustments, while also emphasizing how little control we likely have over the physical resources and arrangement of the classroom itself in most situations. Finally, we contextualize the concept of environment more abstractly, thinking about the practices that frame the metaphorical environment of the work that we do. We conclude with some brief final reflections on the intersection between environment and classroom experience, especially in our increasingly mediated and mediatized world.