Mr Lauf’s Café Classroom
Sipping an expresso in a trendy coffee shop, Kyle Lauf started to plan a radical makeover for his classroom.
This is what was going through my mind:
‘Create an environment where full potential can be reached’
‘Provide skills to cope with the challenges of life’
These were two of the six mission statements for my school in South Africa and they were now starting to take on new meaning.
Coffee culture
I teach Business Studies and Life Orientation, or as I like to say, Entrepreneurship and Leadership. I was in a popular Johannesburg coffee shop when I noticed what was going on around me: people talking and drinking cappuccinos, some writing, a few business meet-ups, one or two individuals reading, freelancers working remotely on their laptops, some social conversations and definitely there were some entrepreneurial deals being done. I’ve seen sales pitches and product demonstrations. I’ve seen marketing plans on laptop screens, and business ideas jotted down on paper napkins.
Business Studies is an engaging and interesting subject that has shown a lot of growth in South African schools, both government and independent. Amongst independent schools it is one of the fastest growing subjects in terms of examinations taken if you look at annual reports of the leading examinations board in the country, the IEB.
I am constantly seeking ways to engage and stimulate my students – from start-up pitches like those on Dragon’s Den to business simulations, to actual practical experience like running small thrift-clothing stands during our school’s annual Ms Eco Fashion Show contest. And now, soaking up the coffee culture, more ideas started to flow.
The café classroom
They say Silicon Valley is fueled by coffee and that the business start-up ecosystem relies on coffee shops and coffee culture. So, I thought, why not reconfigure my Business Studies classroom to resemble a coffee shop of sorts? Wouldn’t this be a way to prepare learners for a future of networking and dealmaking outside of formal office spaces? My goal, of course is to teach my courses the best way possible. However, I also want to instil enthusiasm for learning and a way of thinking, an approach to problem-solving, a way to evaluate and respond to risks and the problems we will face in life. The entrepreneurial way.
In Africa, large and small entrepreneurial activity is where economic growth comes from. Governments and big corporates might create substantial employment but most people will work for themselves or be employed by small businesses. The alternative is the reality of unemployment. And with most of our population in Africa being young people, we desperately need more economic growth. Improved governance and the rule of law is of course a necessity. Developing entrepreneurial ecosystems and vibrant, small, medium and large business cultures, which are increasingly sophisticated, is therefore also an existential necessity.
The makeover
Without much of a budget I canvassed for some old couches. A generous friend offered to re-cover them. A colleague donated bright cushions. My cousin, who is in the building trade in Durban, built me a sturdy board-room table from repurposed pine. I raided items packed away in forgotten storerooms at school.
Then I used an AI image generator to describe the classroom I wanted. After several attempts and learning to be quite specific in my prompts, I started getting usable images. The classroom must contain some desk space, a stylish, relaxed layout, some couches, student art on the walls, as well as something as specific as a chessboard. Full disclosure: I described the teacher in the picture as a slightly younger and trimmer version of me. I tell my pupils who have seen the poster that this is what I will look like after my own make-over.
I am now in my second year of implementing this Café Classroom. I must admit that it felt quite risky to remove all the rows of desks – I just knew I would not have as much formal control of lesson time or the learning environment as before. But it has been totally worth it.
Students genuinely want to come to class. There is enough space for everyone to have a cool place to sit. Conversations take place very naturally and can be integrated into learning outcomes. Business Studies at our school has its unique educational space, its lab of sorts. A local Joburg architect and designer found out what I was doing and drew up some plans for this classroom layout to be duplicated.
Next time you’re in South Africa, look us up and come have a cappuccino, perhaps while we do a feasibility study or SWOT analysis in our Café Classroom . . .!
Kyle Lauf is a, Business, Entrepreneurship and Leadership teacher at an independent high school in Johannesburg, South Africa.
FEATURE IMAGE: by No Revisions on Unsplash
Support Images: Our thanks to Kyle and to Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash
