Children spend a large percentage of their week in the school classroom, and we expect that they will learn as well as they can while they’re there. However, research has found that factors such as the physical and symbolic design of the classroom can play a part in exactly what children learn.
60% of the school buildings across the country were built before 1976 and are in a desperate need of repair. This could be a good time to look at investing in bespoke education buildings that are better suited to learning.
Lighting
Having more natural light can have a positive impact on the performance of pupils, but many of the buildings don’t let in anywhere near enough.
Temperature, Air Quality and Noise
If the basic conditions of a classroom are not up to scratch, including windows, ventilation, temperature regulation and plumbing, it can affect the ability to learn. In order to get the best from students, the temperature should be between 20 C and 24 C, and an excessive amount of noise can also adversely affect learning. A low level of air quality might not be the first consideration, but this can reduce attendance rates and impact on teachers’ performance.
Design of Seating
When planning the design of bespoke education buildings, you should be considering the layout of the seating. It’s important to think about how the classroom will be used and which layout will be best, including clusters of desks or a lecture-style design.
Decoration
Often classrooms are filled with lots of decorations, particularly in lower years, but these can actually be distracting for some children, especially younger ones, so it’s beneficial to look at exactly what is displayed on the walls and how this could be affecting their ability to learn.
A big part of decor off course is the floor which in most school halls is probably made of Laminate Wood Flooring which is normally sourced from links including irwintiles.ie/index.php/wooden-flooring.html
Teaching Staff
Another area that can affect the performance of students is the gender of the teaching staff. There hasn’t been a huge amount of research in this area, but it has been found that a female influence saw no differences between male and female students and a male role model led to better performances from boys.
The research studies show that even the smallest of changes to the design of a classroom can have an influence on the performance of students.