Originally appears in the Spring 2012 issue

“Feng shui, an ancient Chinese discipline, examines the relationships between person and place […] emphasizing how a place will be experienced emotionally and physically…”[i]  “Feng,” meaning wind, and “shui,” water, is a 7000 year-old system and practise that purports to help create balance. The foundational principle is that everything has an energy which thus affects the overall feeling and healthfulness of a space, as well as those in a space.

This basic description may seem not only harmless but intuitive and even inarguable. After all, each of us knows what it’s like to feel resonance with a location or environment, or to feel repelled. According to feng shui principles, these feelings come as a result of what’s in the space, or what isn’t, and how it’s all arranged.

Feng shui, however, has had its fair share of controversy. Many of us have had our introduction to feng shui come via television clips and home decorating displays, usually focusing on products for sale that make unlikely claims of being able to increase your wealth or cure your ailments. The result has been a blend of misunderstanding, superstition, and ultimately the loss of potentially helpful ideas that at the very least can help people feel more at ease with their surroundings.

By moving past the gimmicks and new-age veneer, we can glean some authentic, helpful insights about space and stuff through feng shui. “What surrounds us seeps into our pores and saturates our lives.”[ii]

The following tips can not only be applied to the home, but to our work spaces and classrooms as well. In a classroom with 10, 15, 30 or more people in sharing time, space, and ideas, feng shui can help provide a feeling of greater clarity and spaciousness. By turning our conscious attention to the subtle energies and blockages, as well as the symbolic effects of objects and appearances, we can improve the sensation in our classrooms. In doing so, we can further support the abilities of our students.

De-clutter

Classrooms are notorious spaces for years of old papers, outdated books, and projects and artwork from students who have long since moved on. Select a few inspiring pieces from previous years to hang—continuity is after all an important feeling, both for teacher and student. Recycle or donate anything else that no longer serves a current purpose. Fix anything that’s broken, or ask custodial staff for help. Try to have cracks and peeling paint repaired—or, if that’s not an option, hang an awe-inspiring print over top. A clear, unmarred space has a symbolic impact on the mind: if our surroundings are less chaotic, the same will hold true for the minds and psyches of our students and ourselves.

Clean

Don’t you find that along with a spring cleaning comes sensations of clarity, renewed hopefulness, and rejuvenation? Take a little extra time or submit a request to janitorial staff to clean windows, which un-muddy our perspectives, and dust, metaphorically clearing away mental cobwebs. No matter the time of year, offer a fresh start for your classroom and your students. A clean slate can be invigorating to students. Consciously or not, they will experience both a feeling of relief and an internalized sense that the teacher cares enough to invest time in the shared physical space. Further, a focused block of clean-up time—with the music playing and the mind getting clearer—saves time searching and re-filing later!

Light

Ensure adequate brightness, and metaphorically shed greater light for your students. Widen their perspectives, illuminate them, and open your own eyes to new or deeper ways of seeing. If your classroom doesn’t naturally come with enough, or those burnt out bulbs still haven’t been replaced, consider bringing in a lamp or two from your home or a local charity store. Remember to also inquire about your classroom or school budget; often you’ll find that if you ask, you can be reimbursed.

Movement

Ideally, your classroom has a window, and better yet one that opens to let in fresh air, removing stale energy and circulating vitality. Regardless, ensure that the entrance-way to the classroom is free from any barriers, and that there is a sense of welcoming to the doorway. Consider placing your desk facing the entrance so that you can greet students as they come in. Focus first on physical access, next on what it feels like to enter into your room, and additionally, to move around in it. Is it awkward? Lifeless? Suffocating? Ask yourself: if you were a student again, would you want to come in—and would you want to stay?

Arrangement

Ensure that no one feels fenced in. Whether you choose clusters, a horseshoe, the runway, zigzag, or any other formation, try out various seats when the students aren’t there, putting yourself into their perspectives. Can you see? Do you have to strain? Would you be tempted to chat with a neighbour or text underneath that desk? Most successful seating arrangements inspired by feng shui are forum-style. In rows of twos, threes, and fours, with space in between each for students or myself to pass through, I arrange them facing the front board. Each small row is on a curve or diagonal, similar to an amphitheatre. This makes for more cohesion, less chitchatting, and fantastic, vital movement. It feels like we are truly working together.

Flow

Try to avoid a scattered or random feeling to your classroom. Aim for a focal point, and intentionally attend to the direction and flow. This may feel obvious, given a chalkboard or Smart Board at the front of the room. Yet, just because these are there doesn’t mean we’ve really thought about how to physically channel other areas in the room towards them. Moreover, perhaps there are alternatives to a front board for a centering element. Could there be a backdrop of inspiring phrases, images, or student-made creations? Whatever the convergence point, teachers should consider the overall movement of the room and aim for a unified or interconnected current.

Position

“Where you sit in a classroom can often express your feelings about school. Most teachers will attest to the fact that students who choose to sit in the front of the classroom are often more attentive. Feng shui suggests that locations are imbued with specific characteristics. Where a person is positioned in any space can affect his or her experience.”[iii] Feng shui experts find great meaning in the precise section in which a student seats themselves, particularly in relation to the entrance/exit, window, front, or back. Each of these holds a symbolic connotation, for example, to wisdom, empathy, or self-assertiveness. More practical and accessible for us educators, however, might simply be to reflect upon the balance. In considering successful dyads and distracting trios, as well as cultivating safety and support for each member of the class, think of harmonious distribution: is there equilibrium of gender, culture, assertiveness, and varied ability, strength, and interest?

Colour

Feng shui principles, like colour therapy, place significant importance on colour and tone. It’s easy to understand why—different colours evoke different feelings. The key is to bring alertness and choice to your colour decisions. Internally ask your students what they would like to see improved. Is it concentration? Precision? Creativity? Empowerment? Generosity? Patience? Self-reflection? Each of these, according to feng shui, can be nurtured by using distinct hues. The five colour palates in feng shui are Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood, each corresponding to several recommended tones.

Fire colours are reds, bright yellows, and purples. Earthy tones include beiges, ecrus, and lighter yellows. Greys and whites are Metals. Water colours comprise blues and blacks, while those of Wood include greens and browns. As for their specific energies, it is said that red can inspire increased energy, pink can bring out greater contentedness, white brings on clarity and reduces a hyperactivity, yellow can lift the mood, orange can bring joy and hope, purple is said to be associated with wisdom and thoughtfulness, and blue can invigorate creativity or calm.

If you do not have a choice over paint colour, you could hang posters or art, or staple up bristol board. Think of it as a backdrop, and contemplate the hue carefully at the start of the year.

Greenery

Plants are fundamental to feng shui. Choose from Dracaena, Bamboo, or other indoor non-thorny plants. I habitually bring in Jade, a symbol of good luck, and the Peace Lily, placing it in an obvious sightline in the classroom. Using plants brings natural life into the space, necessarily improves oxygen flow, provides students with an opportunity for tending responsibilities, and softens hard or unpleasant edges and corners. Hanging plants make an excellent addition as they bring energy, colour, and vibrancy to the often overlooked ceiling area.

 

As teachers, most of our time is spent juggling the competing priorities of offering care and concern for our students, delivering engaging content, addressing challenging behaviour, and fulfilling administrative duties. We observe and diagnose our students in areas that need attention and strengthening. We try to listen as much as talk.

One element of our teaching lives that is often left last on this list is the physical space of the classroom. Yet, it is our office and our students’ second home. Primary, elementary, and intermediate teachers know how critical vibrant spaces are to the vitality of both student and teacher. High school educators frequently have their energy diverted towards high volumes of content preparation or marking. Secondary instructors may also feel a little uncertain because our backgrounds have perhaps been focused more on material than on dynamic presentation of space. Even though the life of a teacher is frequently in a state of flux as we share space or teaching responsibilities, there are nevertheless a great number of positive effects that can emerge from feng shui-inspired care over the physical arrangements of the classroom. Indeed, “[o]ur surroundings can influence us. Affecting cures in a negative learning space can make a wonderful difference. A classroom that is psychologically comfortable can assist in better learning.”[iv]

Ultimately, through the lens of feng shui, we can understand that a classroom is both a place of potential—a catalyst even—as well as a reflection of what we are currently feeling. Through the simple tweaking and reawakened mindfulness offered by feng shui, we can cultivate equilibrium and peace, rejuvenating tired or unconscious energy and creating increased movement and ease.

 

Endnotes

[i] Wydra, Nancilee, Feng Shui in the Garden. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1997, p. xi.

[ii] Ibid

[iii] Ibid

[iv] http://classroomfengshui.com/logic.html

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Deena Kara Shaffer is a poet, teacher, education consultant, and business owner in Toronto, Ontario, who recently spent a year teaching in Valencia, Spain. She writes, crafts curricula, and makes outdoor spaces beautiful via her company, Taddlecreek Landscape Design (www.taddlecreekdesign.com). Her debut poetry collection, The Grey Tote (Signal Editions, 2012), engages themes of dying and death with forthrightness, empathy, and grace. She can be reached at deenakshaffer@gmail.com.