Researchers on the SINTEF project “Tomorrow’s Schools” (Morgendagens skoler) have delved into how the physical environment in schools is used and experienced. And how do user experiences correspond to the goals of Norway’s Education Act?
Researchers have looked specifically at land use, floor plans and lighting and sound conditions for their study.
Some schools are good role models
The project identified model schools in Tromsø, Trondheim, Bergen and Nordre Follo that were considered good role models for school planning. The goal is to find solutions that can support better schools for tomorrow.
Previous studies show that the school’s physical environment affects learning, teaching and well-being for teachers and pupils. The building qualities impact the pedagogy.
“The fields of pedagogy, architecture and design have defined much of the current research on the physical environment of schools, but this research has been fragmented and not very interdisciplinary,” says Solvår Wågø, a research manager at SINTEF.
The researcher’s message is that pedagogy must be afforded a greater place in planning processes.
Evolving working methods require new solutions
Schools have undergone major changes. Today, they invite more interaction and activity than they used to, Wågø says. This requires a different way of teaching and thus distinct spaces to teach in. Furniture requirements for six-year-olds are different than those for a 15-year-old or an adult.
“A lot of schools have chairs that force six-year-olds to sit with their legs dangling. A traditionally furnished classroom doesn’t provide choices for sitting in different ways. Some children solve tasks best while lying on the floor,” she says.
The “cultural axis” at Huseby School in Trondheim connects the primary and secondary schools. Photo: Solvår Wågø/SINTEF
Various layouts – but what works?
A number of variations on open solutions, flexible layouts, home areas and shared spaces with different room sizes have been tested. But until now, how and whether the different layouts have led to achieving the educational goals is not clear.
The researchers therefore conducted a systematic survey of recent findings in the field. They also investigated the learning environment at the selected schools, including asking pupils and teachers about their experience of the physical school environment.
Users must be involved in the planning
However, pupils and teachers may experience the transition to new, flexible learning areas and expectations for new pedagogical practices as challenging.
“Involving users is critical for success with implementing changes. Pupils and teachers need time to adjust to innovative school buildings,” says Wågø.
Here is the researchers' advice:
- Give pedagogy a greater place in the planning processes surrounding new schools.
- Flexible solutions that take into account fluctuations in pupil numbers and year group variations are becoming more important.
- Emphasize plenty of daylight. Map the need for light that compensates for limited daylight in the Nordic countries, which have many dark hours.
- Ensure a view, preferably towards green surroundings. This provides mental calm.
- Reducing social noise should be emphasized more in planning teaching areas. This is especially important for second-language learners and pupils with sensory challenges.
- Meet the pupils’ need for a "home area" in the school building. This contributes to a sense of safety.
- Facilitate informal and spontaneous use of the school's indoor and outdoor areas. This creates ownership of the school facility in the local community.
- Remember that user involvement is crucial to success.
The importance of daylight
Previous research also shows a clear link between satisfactory daylight design and positive effects in schoolchildren, including less absenteeism and better academic skills.
“An international research project in the UK evaluated various design aspects, including air quality and temperature. Of all the considered aspects, light had the strongest individual effect on learning in children,” says Claudia Moscoso, a research manager at SINTEF.
Of all the considered aspects, light had the strongest individual effect on learning in children.
On the other hand, research shows that poor window design is associated with high cortisol levels (stress), increasing myopia, worse mental health and concentration in schoolchildren.
“This is particularly relevant in the Nordic countries, with long winter months that reduce our exposure to daylight,” says Moscoso.
Views provide a mental break
More daylight also means more views. The literature review shows that views, especially of nature, provide mental relief.
Connections have also been made between nature exposure and improved cognitive functions and mental health in children and young people.
“Of the schools that were included in the study, Holen School has an attractive view of the fjord, and Fagereng School looks out over green areas. In both cases, the view was considered mentally relaxing,” says Moscoso.
View of the sea and buildings from the evaluated classroom at Holen School. Photo: Claudia Moscoso/SINTEF
Social noise can hinder learning
An effective learning environment also requires good sound conditions, enabling pupils to experience minimal noise disruption, grasp the instruction and maintain concentration.
“Children’s hearing is not fully developed when they start school. They have to learn to interpret words and signals, as well as how to cope with noise. What you want pupils to hear therefore needs to have a significantly higher sound level than unwanted sound,” says senior research scientist Anders Homb.
The researchers investigated the acoustics in rooms that they expect will be most relevant in the years to come, classrooms of 60-80m2, but also larger rooms.
They found that mitigating social noise should be given more emphasis when planning teaching areas. Large room solutions and teaching landscapes greater than 100m2 are generally not very suitable for communicating instructions, unless sound-absorbing systems are installed.
“A lot of children are sensitive to acoustic conditions, which perhaps especially impact second-language learners, pupils with sensory difficulties and language teaching in general,” says Homb.
Different pupils have different needs
According to Norway’s Education Act, all pupils have the right to a learning environment that is adapted to their needs.
Norwegian building codes largely take into account the needs of people with mobility, visual and hearing disabilities, but inclusion also requires addressing the sensory challenges that many children have.
“Familiarity, security and knowing where to find a sheltered place when the world feels a bit big and bewildering is good for everyone and absolutely necessary for some,” says Wågø.
The home area is where the class, group or grade has its “home base” at school. Interviews reveal that pupils, teachers and management all experience their home area as a safe place to be.
Familiarity, security and knowing where to find a sheltered place when the world feels a bit big and bewildering is good for everyone and absolutely necessary for some.
Pupils at all the model schools use the locker area and hallway as learning spaces, and many of them say that they work best outside the home area or classroom. As one pupil put it, “We work on project work in the hallway, practice presentations in a corner, sit on the stairs, in the amphitheatre and other places.”
These flexible spaces indicate a need for spaces where pupils can sometimes sit by themselves, in different ways and in different environments. Often these are places that were not specifically planned as learning areas.
School as a hub in the local community
Wågø believes that good architectural design is a necessary tool for achieving important societal goals.
“The choice of solutions for buildings and outdoor spaces also affects the social sustainability of the local community. Architecture is a tool that can influence and enable new practices,” she says.
The informal and spontaneous use of schools and outdoor areas means that the pupils and the local community are likely to have a sense of ownership of the school facility.
In the bustling areas at Holen School, you see pupils playing table tennis and shuffleboard after school, others who play in bands practising in the music room, and many people who spend time in the afternoon and on weekends in the schoolyard where the children can play.
“People boast about how great it is here,” says one of the teachers.
Useful for municipalities
The main goal of the Tomorrow’s Schools project has been to establish a knowledge-based foundation for the interaction between architecture, pedagogy and learning that can be used when planning future school facilities.
Bergen municipality is in the middle of working on a new school use plan, which is the municipality’s most important document for planning school buildings and future school structures.
“So the recommendations in the report are particularly relevant for us,” says Lina Gaski, who heads policy plans for kindergartens and schools on Bergen’s city council. It’s been useful and exciting for us to be part of the project.
Reference: Solvår Wågø, Karin Rendahl, Hans Petter Ulleberg, Claudia Moscoso, Anders Homb, Ellen Saur: Morgendagens skoler. Rom for læring, lek og utvikling (Tomorrow’s Schools. Space for learning, play and development), SINTEF academic publishing house, 2024.
