Educational environment plays a very important role in the development of children. I could remember going to school in Hong Kong, where the confined classrooms were filled with 30 to 40 pupils (fig.1 shows in sketch of the layout of one of my classroom). All the educational activities were done in the same classroom; even lunches would be delivered to the door and dished out to pupil’s desk (fig.2 shows a sketch of the desk I used to work on). Therefore, apart from the morning breaks, we would spend the whole day in the same classroom. Freedom to communicate and move around the school was very restricted back then. However, I know the schools in Hong Kong are changing recently, in terms of the way children are taught and the systems of the schools.
Educational spaces are much more fun to work in when compared to the past. Fun spaces would encourage children to interact more in the class. Designers could incorporate brighter colors or themes into designated spaces to attract the children, enhancing the connection of children to the educational environment (fig. 3 shows a Noah Ark themed educational space at the Skirball children learning center.)
Classroom layouts should be flexible to accommodated multi function or different activities of classes. For example, tables and chairs should be easily movable to suit the needs of different class activities (fig.4 shows the node chair by IDEO, it has wheels at the base of the chair, offering the ease to shift and transform classroom layouts to suit different activities.) Similarly, teacher median should not be fixed to one location, as this will restrict the freedom of transforming the layout of classroom.
Lighting in classrooms also plays a very important role in the development and performance of children in class. In the Robert Gifford book (p.338), a study suggested children in a classroom with daylight paid more attention to the teacher when compared to the ones without daylight. Hence, reading scores were higher in the class with daylight. Looking at those evidences, I could say it is essential to bring natural light into classrooms wherever possible (fig. 5 shows a classroom filled with natural light)
Noise is another element that designers should design for in educational environments. In a study conducted by Arline Bronzaft from the Gifford book (p.333), the study consists of two classrooms, one had a frequent train passing by and the other had a relatively quiet background. The study shows that, reading scores were lower in the class with train background. Therefore, unwanted noises can be very distracting, and in turn, it could affect the performance of the children and teachers. Designers should incorporate acoustical treatments to classrooms where distracting noise are present.
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