Desks in the Hallway: A Texas School Takes Learning Out of the Classroom

In any traditional school, the hallways are empty during class periods. Indeed, if you find any students wandering around without a hall pass, they're in trouble. So I was pretty intrigued to read about the innovation happening in the hallways of Dubiski Career High School in Grand Prairie, Texas. The school is bringing learning out of the classroom and putting desks and whiteboards into the space usually reserved for passing periods.

The two-year-old vocational school set up hallway-based learning stations across the three-story campus "to allow for presentations, formal lectures, and other similar learning experiences to occur." The school made the move to convey "that learning occurs in many different places and in many different ways." This doesn't mean there aren't still traditional classrooms at the school, but the hallway opens up a new realm of possibility. Literally.

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Of course, this was pretty easy for Dubiski High because the school was designed to resemble an office park or business. It doesn't have the narrow, locker-lined hallways of older school buildings, where desks might pose a fire hazard. The spirit behind this decision, however, is certainly replicable.

My best teacher from high school frequently let us drag our books to the hallway—we sat on the floor—when we needed more space to work on a group project or presentation. Sure, half the fun was that it felt slightly illicit to be in the hallway during class time, but we probably subconsciously got the point—the same one made by Dubiski. No places is off limits when it comes to learning.

photo (cc) via Flick user Conspirator