Figure 1.--New Zealand schools, both private and state are purpose-built facilitites. Many offer bright-airy learning environments. Some teachers retain formal classroom organization. Many other teachers are experimenting with more flexible learning environments. |
The most basic and single most important facility is the classroom. Most New Zealand schools, including both private and state schools are purpose-built school facilities. The classroom facilities vary widely from school to school. Many New Zealand children one attended small rural schools. This is no longer the case. The smaller rural schools have increasingly been closed and the children bused to larger schools in population centers. Thus there is today a rough equivalent in both urban and rural schools. New Zealand clssrooms are for the most part well equiped. Many provide bright airy envirments for the children. The schools when we visited were just beginning to integrate the computer into classroom activities. Most schools have modern functional school furniture. The classes were well ewquipped with green boards and maps. Primary teachers scow considerable imaginatin in how they decorate the room. Secondary class rooms tend to have traditional layouts with althe desks pointed ton the fromt where the teacher is located. Primary classrooms tend to be more flexible, refelecting the teachers' and Teachers in New Zealand act as facilitators, rather than as fountains of knowledge. A teacher is a "guide on the side" and not a "sage on the stage." There are times when teachers arrange their classes formally. At other times, however, the classrooms are broken dowm and the teacher moves about the room helping individuals or small groups. There are not as many textbooks in many New Zealand classrooms as one might expect. Workbooks in some cases have replaced or supplemented textbooks. Many teachers want their classroom organized to facilitate tutoring and students helping other students. Many primary teachers try to create cozy little places where children can read or persue other activities.
