Learning Environments

The classroom environment is an integral part of the learning process and no teacher or student can be unaffected by it. It is the learning environment for both the teacher and their students (Emmer et al., 2000). In any school, the class teachers and students have to adjust to the building architecture – the overall space, the position and number of doors and windows, the height of the ceiling and the insulation qualities of the walls. Yet, as Bennett (1981) reminds us: ‘This does not indicate architectural determination. Architecture can certainly modify the teaching environment, but teachers determine the curriculum and organization’ (Bennett, 1981, p. 24). Teachers and students have the opportunity to ‘express their ‘‘personalities’’ through the arrangement and de´cor of the environment and the arrangement of space’ (Ross, 1982, pp. 1–2). However, creative arrangements need to be undertaken in the knowledge that specific physical conditions and space allocations can have important consequences on the attitudes, behaviours and even the achievements of students.

How an area of space is used in a teaching/learning situation is clearly important, but often taken for granted. The particular pattern of juxtaposing furniture and spaces within the confines of a classroom (or open teaching area) is done for a variety of purposes. In some instances, the teacher arranges a particular pattern because he or she is convinced that this configuration aids learning. As examples, single rows of desks might be considered to be most useful for students listening to an expository, teacher-directed science lesson; a grouping of desks in clusters of four might be far better for sharing materials in an art lesson; and a circle of chairs with the desks pushed to the sides might be the most appropriate for a literature lesson. However, the teacher may have other reasons in mind that explain a particular pattern. Perhaps the teacher is concerned about a general atmosphere of restlessness in the class and wants convenient aisles and spaces so that ‘seat work’ can be continuously surveyed. In this case, the classroom spaces take on a greater significance than the furniture, because the opportunities for supervising are uppermost in the teacher’s mind. It is impossible to separate these ‘emotional climate’ needs from the physical setting (Konza et al., 2001).

The following guidelines may be helpful in making decisions about the classroom – the teacher’s special learning environment along with thirty or more students!

First, use a room arrangement that facilitates a teaching and learning style and does not impede it. The classroom teacher needs to be aware of whether the physical environment he or she has provided facilitates the student behaviours desired. That is, unless the two are interrelated or congruent (the technical term is synomorphic), then undesirable effects are likely to occur. In broad terms, a teacher may desire to organize the class on the basis of territory or by function; the former focuses on a teacher-dominated purpose while the latter emphasizes a resource specialization, student-initiated focus. In classrooms organized by territory, the major decision is how to allocate and arrange student desks and chairs. It is assumed that each student has his or her own domain or work space and that this is the basis for considering how certain learning activities will occur. Classrooms organized on the basis of function enable students to engage in generative learning (Harris and Bell, 1990). They are commonly found in junior grades in primary schools in specialist subject areas (e.g. media or science) and subjects using computer-based projects (Anderson-Inman and Horney, 1993) in many secondary schools. In this case, the allocation of space is based upon what specialist material/activities can be accommodated in a given area, and the matter of the location of desks is only of minor consideration.

Second, ensure that high-traffic areas are open and not congested. There are always high-traffic areas such as around doorways, the pencil-sharpener, computers, certain bookshelves and the teacher’s desk. According to Emmer et al. (2000), high-traffic areas should be kept away from each other, have plenty of space, and be easily accessible.

There are numerous classroom shapes and sizes but it is possible to highlight the common elements of classrooms. The typical classroom is 12 metres long and 8 metres wide and is designed to accommodate approximately 30 students. One wall is typically taken up with blackboards or whiteboards and another wall often contains several pinboards. The teacher’s table is usually at the front of the room and students’ desks are arranged in four rows of seven or eight. In this relatively formal classroom situation it is likely that the ‘action zone’ (Brophy, 1981) for interaction between the teacher and students will be found in the front and centre. That is, students seated near the front and centre desks facing the teacher are more likely to be the focus of the teacher’s attention, rather than the students seated on the margins or at the rear of the room. Many teachers are able to devise very different, creative patterns of use within the confines of the standard classroom (Cohen et al., 1998). Small-group activities are facilitated by clusters of desks. A common area formed by the combination of five or six desks may be ideal for spreading out documents and charts as well as providing close physical contact between a small group of students. The desks can still be oriented towards the blackboard and the teacher or they can be located at points in the room which maximize space

between groups.

Depending on space available, many different arrangements are possible. In devising the location of students’ desks it is important to remember their needs, including:

1. a need to be seated at points in the classroom where they can comfortably undertake the learning activities;

2. a need for them to be located at desks or tables adjacent to peers with whom they have a close and mutually positive relationship;

3. a need for them to have access to the teacher and to resources in the room.

Large items of furniture such as cupboards can be used as dividers within a room. Pieces of pegboard can be used to cover the sides of a cupboard and thereby provide additional display space. It is also helpful to have one or two large tables in a classroom even though they take up a lot of space. These tables can be used for a multitude of purposes including storing audiovisual materials, storing unfinished work or for displays of completed projects/units. The placement of computers in the room is an additional complication. A single computer might be located in any convenient corner but a pod of five or more computers can cause difficulties in an already crowded room. Some primary schools have all their computers located in a separate computer laboratory.

Learning stations and work centres are areas where a small number of students come to work on a special activity. These areas need to be located so that they do not distract from major learning activities. Learning stations are examples of functional areas which are often established in primary schools. A learning station is simply an area in a room where a group of students can work together at well-defined tasks. Usually, all resource materials are provided at the one location and tasks are included on colour-coded cards so that individuals or groups can involve themselves with minimal supervision by the teacher. In addition to the traditional specialist rooms in secondary schools such as manual arts centres, home economics and science laboratories, it is interesting to note how this has been extended over the last decade to include sophisticated

language laboratories, media centres and micro-computer laboratories (Cohen et al., 1998; de Castell, 2000).

Pin-up boards are a major element in any classroom because they can be used to display various items of interest such as student work, charts, posters, class rules and routines. Primary school students might have class banners, class photographs, birthday charts and monitor charts (Konza et al., 2001). Secondary school

students might prefer posters on media topics, environment and sporting figures (Glickman, 2003).

Plants can add a very positive effect to a classroom and of course students learn to be responsible for their watering. At primary school level, various animals may be kept such as fish, birds, tadpoles and mice. They add novelty and colour and are further opportunities for students to develop responsibilities for the animals’ safety and welfare. The task for each teacher is to work out how to make the best use of available furniture and facilities. It is often amazing how the rearrangement of particular desks or cupboards leads to unforeseen increases in space/access. Mezzanine floors suspended above the tables and chairs, withdrawal areas complete with lounge chairs and occasional tables, are just some of the more adventurous schemes which have been implemented by some teachers.

Winston Churchill once remarked: ‘We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us’. This statement underlines the importance of the physical buildings in which we work and play, and especially the environments in which school children spend at least 12 years of their lives. However, Churchill also appears to be attributing a considerable degree of determinism to the physical buildings, and it is far from clear whether this stance can be supported. Research evidence indicates that relationships between the physical environment and students are far from clear. There are some patterns emerging related to crowding, privacy and territoriality, but few conclusive studies relating to specific physical environment factors. In fact, it is very difficult to disentangle the physical from the psychological factors. The research studies that have provided conclusive results are those that have demonstrated particular interrelationships between the two, such as the density of students in a classroom with student attitudes of dissatisfaction. The examples which follow indicate the interrelationships between physical environment factors and affective states of students rather than direct influences on achievement measures.

The communications media are very aware of the use of colour and it is little wonder that colour television, colour inserts in daily newspapers, glossy colour magazines and full-colour computer games and graphics are so popular (Cohen et al., 1998). So it is in classrooms. The list of items that can add colour to a classroom are endless and not limited to those listed above. Newspaper clippings, pamphlets and photographs are an integral part of many classrooms and they can add to the visual impact. So, too, can three-dimensional models (e.g. of landscapes, buildings and animals) and dioramas. Personal computer nooks and cubicles found in many classrooms add to the diversity of colours. However, a variegated assortment of colours, vying for students’ attention in a classroom, needs to be considered in terms of educational purposes (Emmer et al., 2000). Colours may be used by the teacher to gain students’ attention and motivation, but they are also included to provide satisfaction and ‘belongingness’ to the student members of each classroom (Konza et al., 2001). As Field (1980, p. 197) notes, ‘classrooms belong to the children, and teachers need to help them identify with it more readily’. If students are involved in the planning of materials to be displayed and in the regular changing of them, then it is likely that they will identify far more readily with their teacher and the classroom endeavours he or she is trying to pursue.

Despite the many assertions from education writers about the value of colour in classroom environments, there is little research evidence to support or refute its use. At the primary school level, Santrock (1976) studied first- and secondgrade children in a specially designed room, which was decorated alternately with happy, sad and neutral coloured pictures. The results indicated that the type of pictures in the room had a strong influence on the children and that they worked longer at a task when they were in the setting with the happy pictures. Related to colour is the amount of natural light available to students in a classroom. Rosenfeld’s (1999) research demonstrated that primary school students in Seattle, Washington who studied in light-filled schools scored higher in maths and reading tests than those students working in classrooms with least light.

Sounds are all around us but when certain sounds are unwanted it is generally termed ‘noise’. Bell et al. (1976) make this point when emphasizing that noise involves a physical component (by the ear and higher brain structures) but also a psychological component when it is evaluated as unwanted. As far as the classroom in concerned, it is important that the physical environment provides acoustics which enable participants to hold discussions in a normal conversational voice. The level of desirable noise will vary in different settings, such as a manual arts workshop with noisy lathes and electric drills to an extremely quiet library. Each instructional setting has its own noise level requirements to the extent that each person can hear clearly what is needed to be heard and not to be distracted by other noises (Eriksen and Wintermute, 1983).

Research studies on the effects of noise in classrooms have been considerable over the last six decades, but the results are inconclusive and often contradictory. Some of these studies have examined short-term exposure of students to noise within the school while others have monitored long-term exposure to severe noise from external sources. As an example of the former, Slater (1968) examined seventh-grade primary school children’s performance on a standardized reading test under three conditions. The first classroom of students was isolated from surrounding background noise, the second had normal background neighbouring noise of 55–79 decibels (dB), and in the third room additional noise sources were used (lawn mower tape recordings) to maintain a background noise level of 75–90 dB. The results indicated that the students’ performance on the reading test was not affected either positively or negatively by the different levels of noise. In another study of primary school students, Weinstein and Weinstein (1979) compared the reading performance of fourth grade students under quiet (47 dB) and normal background noise (60 dB) and also found that there were no significant differences in performance.

Noise affects all teachers and students but the problem is compounded for students with hearing problems (Anderson, 2001). Ray (1992) noted in his study that 20 to 43 per cent of primary school students had minimal degrees of permanent or fluctuating hearing impairment that could adversely affect listening and learning. The problem is especially acute with special education students, many of whom have significant histories of hearing loss (Reichman and Healey, 1993).

Common sense would indicate that there is a fairly limited temperature range in which school students might be expected to work at their best. High temperatures will tend to make some students irritable and uncomfortable. In extreme cases students can become lethargic and even nauseous. Then again, cold temperatures seem to bring out aggression and negative behaviour in some students.

Judgements about temperature control in schools are typically made at head office, in that decisions about the architectural design of schools and the use of specific building materials are made at this level. The use of particular designs, the siting of buildings and the use of insulating material will clearly affect maximum and minimum temperatures. Having comfortable seating in classrooms is of major importance. If students are confined to uncomfortable seats for extended periods of time they become distracted from the learning task (Gay, 1986). Uncomfortable seating may also lead to negative attitudes about the teacher (Tessmer and Richey, 1997). Mann (1997) reports on a study where students were given modular, modern furniture and noted major changes in attitude.

Lieble (1980, p. 22) states the problem succinctly: ‘the mind can only absorb what the seat can endure’. Of course, interactions between the teacher and students can be increased when class numbers are small. It results in less desk space and therefore more free space is available for informal activities or for specialist equipment. However, research evidence is contradictory on whether class size affects student achievement. For example, Murphy and Rosenberg (1998) and Finn et al. (2001) contend that there is compelling evidence that reducing class size, especially for younger children, will have a positive effect on student achievement. By contrast, Rees and Johnson (2000) and Galton et al. (2003) conclude that there is no evidence that smaller class sizes alone lead to higher student achievement. O’Donnell (2000), commenting on the funding resources in Australian education systems, notes the reluctance of governments to make significant reductions in class size.

Biddle and Berliner (2002, p. 20), in a major synthesis of research studies, form several conclusions:

Small classes in the early grades generate substantial gains for the students and those extra gains are greater the longer the students are exposed to those classes.

Extra gains from small classes in the early grades are larger when the class has fewer than 20 students.

Students who have traditionally been disadvantaged in education carry gains forward into the upper grades.

The extra gains appear to apply equally to boys and girls.

Evidence for the possible advantages of small classes in the upper grades and high school is inconclusive.

A number of studies have been done on students’ perceptions to obtain information on a better personenvironment fit in classrooms (Fraser and Walberg, 1991). At the primary and secondary school levels, students can be surveyed to obtain data on their present levels of personal satisfaction and adjustment, and their respective teachers can then use this information to make changes where appropriate (Griffith, 1997). A number of student inventories have been developed which provide this information. The Classroom Environment Scale (Moos and Trickett, 1974) has been widely used in the USA. This instrument measures nine different dimensions of the classroom environment including students’ interpersonal relationships, personal growth, and teacher control.

My Class Inventory is an instrument developed by the Australian researchers, Fisher and Fraser (1981), and is used to gain information about primary school students’ perceptions of classroom goals and value orientation. The items require students to make ratings on actual classroom environments as well as preferred environments. This information can be of great interest to class teachers who are concerned about providing instructional environments which are more in accord with those preferred by students. More recently, a questionnaire instrument was developed by Fraser et al. (1996), What is Happening in this Class, to measure students’ perceptions of their classroom environment. Items are included which provide data on seven dimensions of student cohesiveness, extent of teacher support, extent of student involvement, investigative activities, task orientation, cooperation and equity.

The school is not the only learning environment for young and older children. There are other non-formal agencies such as the church and youth groups that provide organized, systematic and educational activities. Informal education is a lifelong process by which every individual accumulates knowledge, skills, attitudes and thoughts from a variety of learning environments – from family, friends, travel, reading, listening and viewing (Tuijnman and Bostrom, 2002). Service learning has become an important priority in recent years, whereby students visit other environments (for example senior citizen homes, hostels for disabled persons) and provide caring services to others in need. Doing these community services gives students an opportunity to reflect on their own development (Dinkelman, 2001).

Participation in these community activities enables students to realize the value of life skills – they develop self-confidence and understand more about personal dependability (McLaughan, 2001). Full service youth and community centres provide additional learning environments apart from classrooms. They have family resource centres, health care suite, preschool, before and after school child care, and auditoriums. These sites are open day and night and do capture the spirit of a community school (Dryfoos, 2000).

Descriptions of classroom environments run the full gamut from invective criticism:

Judging from what is said and from what is available as a measuring stick, schools are architecturally and environmentally sterile . . . Their structure is insipid, cavernous and regimented. They are only now and then really creature-comfortable. Their designs maximize economy, surveillance, safety and ‘maybe’ efficiency. (George and McKinley, 1974, p. 141) to unbridled praise:

[Open planned classroom environments] are a liberatory measure capable of emancipating children from the authority of teachers. (Cooper, 1982, p. 168) In this chapter an attempt was made to place judgements about classroom environments on a more substantial footing and not to subscribe to either extreme view. Classroom instruction is affected by different uses of space and physical conditions. It is not possible to have knowledge of all the interrelationships but it would be less than professional to ignore the evidence that is available. Creative arranging of the classroom is one thing, but it must be tempered by careful consideration of the effects of the classroom environment in all its complexities.

1. ‘In my space there must be a wide range of ways to succeed, multiple interests to pursue, a variety of possible contributions to make. This means the room is decentralized and characterised by lively work stations or interest areas, rather than by straight rows’ (Ayers, 1993, p. 60). How achievable is this? Describe how you have developed classrooms in terms of multiple interests.

2. To what extent is it possible to cater for students’ individual learning styles in terms of environmental elements such as noise, temperature and colour? Give examples from your classroom experiences or from classes you have visited.

3. ‘A certain level of adequacy must be attained in seating, acoustics, temperature and lighting for high level learning to occur’ (Tessmer and Richey, 1997). Explain, giving examples from your classroom experiences.

4. ‘Machines change relations within the traditional classroom. Film, video, computer software and web sites act as teachers and partially displace the human teacher’ (De Vaney, 1998, p. 3). Discuss.

5. ‘School is diffusing spatially, merging into the physical backdrop of society. Schools are losing their architectural individuality, becoming increasingly difficult to recognize as places of learning’ (Hopmann and Kunzli, 1997, p. 262). What are  other places of learning? Are schools losing their individuality? If so, what will the impact be in the short and medium term?

6. ‘Children’s attitude and behaviour is determined, to a considerable extent, by the design of school grounds’ (Titman, 1997, p. 2). What messages do school grounds convey to school children? What are positive and negative elements of school grounds for children? How might this affect their behaviour in and out of the  classroom?

7. ‘Teachers have little training in how to arrange a room. Perhaps every new teacher should receive an empty classroom and then plan what they want to do in it and how they want to operate’. If you were given an empty room explain how you would arrange it.

8. ‘The classroom environment is such a potent determinant of student outcomes that it should not be ignored by those wishing to improve the effectiveness of schools’ (Fraser, 1986, p. 1). In what ways does the classroom environment determine student outcomes? What can a class teacher do to maximize the positive elements of a classroom environment?

9. According to Evans (1990), a school is both the temple and the exhibition hall of the modern world. Brightly coloured curtains and carpets are part of the intentions to display desired features to the public. But important aspects of teaching and administration remain hidden. In fact, care is often taken to indicate the ‘official’ way into the school. Do you agree with this statement? To what extent do the physical forms of schools give out messages to the public?