ABSTRACT
The classroom environment is an integral part of the learning process and no teacher or student can be unaffected by it. For students, classroom environments represent sources of security and identity for individuals (Judson, 2006). Teachers need to be able to adapt classroom environments for creative and innovative initiatives (Loi and Dillon, 2006). Yet many classroom buildings are ‘old and in poor condition, and may contain environmental conditions that inhibit learning and pose increased risks to the health of students and staff’ (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2006, p. 3). 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, ‘[t]his does not indicate architectural determination. Architecture can certainly modify the teaching environment, but teachers determine the curriculum and organization’ (p. 24). Teachers and students have the opportunity to ‘express their “personalities”
through the arrangement and décor 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 for the attitudes, behaviours and even the achievements of students. There is growing interest in very different classroom environments. Fully
electronic learning environments are being planned and prototypes already exist, ‘The Classroom of the Future’, located at the National Institute of Education, Singapore, showcases how technology will influence pedagogical methods and improve the learning environment (Back Pack Net Centre, 2005). Educators such as Edwards (2006) argue for ‘green schools’ which use passive solar heating and natural cross-ventilation.
