Why We Need More Coffee Shops and Less Teacher Lounges

From the desk of Alice…

Every now and then I like to splurge for a latte at a locally owned coffee shop instead of heading straight to my office.  While sipping on my favorite latte, I like to read and write and people watch.   I have found that the change of scenery is perfect to help me see a different perspective, articulate a new idea and just catch my breath before a long day ahead.  It’s a way to recharge but still get some work done.

The last time I went to this coffee shop, I realized how many groups of professional people came to the counter bantering about work, ordered their beverage of choice, chatted with the barista and then continued with their colleagues.  Some of these conversations sounded important while others were more light-hearted.

In contrast, I started thinking about the infamous Teacher’s Lounge.  I remembered the small boxes with papers in them, the vending machine, the gigantic trash cans, and the not so attractive chairs.  People used to eat lunch in the lounge to capitalize on duty free lunch, but otherwise, no one lounged in the lounge.  There is no lounging in schools, last time I checked.  And there is definitely not a lot of brainstorming or problem solving in the “lounge”.

So I decided right then we need to replace the lounge with a coffee shop.  One with all the hip furniture, music playing in the background, and maybe even a local pastry or two.   Instead of school rooms where we are either a guest or the host, conference rooms that feel stilted, or the sterile “lounge” that we tried to get out of quickly, our schools need a place for professionals to gather up, chat about ideas, get perspective, and enjoy a beverage a two.  What if we opened it early and kept it open late like a real coffee shop so groups could gather leisurely as well as across the day?  We all know that teachers are at school early and stay late…why not provide a place to relax a little, get perspective, and see how that impacts our ability to problem solve in schools?

I am not saying my coffee shop model is the answer to all the problems in schools, but I am pretty sure we have tried crazier things.  How about schools find a sponsor, charge rent for the space (much like Target and Starbucks) and see how things go?  We might start talking to each other, laughing, and coming up with some ingenious solutions without a forced meeting and at the end of the day, be perfectly satisfied.