If we were to assemble a list of adjectives to describe school, comfortable would not make the cut. Written for Edutopia, this article traces the infamously uninviting classroom back to the hard benches of colonial “reading and writing” schools and the regimented rows of the industrial model — and dismantles the myth that discomfort builds self-disciplined kids rather than pampered softies.
Over the past thirty years, comfort has transformed workplace, recreational, and home design — from ergonomic chairs to upgraded hotel bedding. Yet schools remain the great exception, still defended by nothing more substantial than “we’ve always done it that way.”
Eight truths about comfort
The article lays out eight truths that can settle an argument that should have been arbitrated long ago:
Once we accept these truths, we can begin creating comfortable and effective schools where learning is the focus — and misguided nostalgia for the rigid “way it was” is relegated to the trash heap of history along with caning and dunce caps.