Teachers have long poured energy into enhancing their learning spaces. But now, some are crafting spaces that could grace Architectural Digest, writes Chavie Lieber.
#GenZ teachers in particular are curating #classrooms that dazzle on TikTok, complete with cubbies and bespoke furniture, and that aim to create a soothing vibe for students (and the teachers).
“I love to decorate for the kids, but it helps me too,” says Kayleigh Sloan, 27, who’s meticulously renovated her classroom for first and second-graders in Northern Idaho to channel a 1970s coffee shop. “I go in early, I stay in late, so I’m not going to lie, I want a space that’s for me too.”
Melanie Rabulsky is the co-founder and creative director of Schoolgirl Style, a Michigan-based school-decor company that has a huge online following and pulls in about $4 million in annual sales.
“Our biggest following are young teachers coming out of college,” Ralbusky says, “and they all love pastel.”
Not everyone is awarding the classroom glow-up a blue ribbon. Ellen Moskowitz, a school administrator in Westchester County, N.Y., says she has spotted at least a half-dozen “overly decorated” classrooms in one school, as well as giant floor cushions “that our fire marshal won’t really like but lice will really love.”
Academic research she’s studied indicates classrooms should reflect the students, not the teachers, says Moskowitz. “If your room’s walls are filled on day one, it doesn’t allow the student to claim the room as their own,” she adds. “This doesn’t allow students to have their voices be the center.”
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