The Evolution of Education and its effect on

School Architecture
The practice of teaching and learning has been around since prehistoric times. However
systematic formal education only started much later around 10th century onwards. At this time,
homeschooling was a popular method and only the rich could afford formal education. Hence,
school architecture was very obscure and not yet put into practice very well.
This soon changed when the Industrial revolution took the world by storm in the late 17 th century.
This particular revolution demanded more and more labor and to meet this demand, the concept
of mass education was in rapid development. There were hundreds, if not thousands of schools
built during this time all of whose principles were based on mass production of labor. The
educational methods in these schools were very straightforward: A teacher hands down all the
information and concepts that were needed to be applied. The students then move on to another
teacher who hands down another set of theoretical knowledge and a specific set of skills to be
applied. This was a method of producing carbon copies of workforces designed to do specific
tasks that the economy demanded. This is very well reflected by the architecture of the schools
build around that time. Large buildings divided into multiple classrooms, isolated from one
another, desks arranged in rows facing the teacher. Likewise, in the 1950s to the 1970s, the civil
rights movement was going on. This movement was very violent, wreaking havoc in the open
streets and public spaces. This also ensued an architectural stigma which resulted in most of the
buildings to be designed to block the outside world. Many of these buildings were schools. Dark,
heavy buildings with little to no natural light in their internal spaces were seen. Unfortunately,
not only most of these buildings exist and are being used today but the practices are also still
ablaze.
The modern embodiment of this conventional education system is based on the same principles
as the previous but only exacerbated. The new political ideologies have chained down creative
education and explorative growth of new systems. Around the 2000s, the Programs for
International Students Assessment (PISA) was established. This is basically a ranking system
which is based on the grades that a group of students gets when they are tested. This has resulted
in countries enforcing new curriculum, more punishments for the lower grade students,
accountability systems only to get a higher rank on the PISA scale.
The major disadvantages of this system fall directly on its users: young children. They are:

• Disengagement
Students now have little to no interest in what they are doing and wait for the schooling days
to be over. The environment is demotivating and dissatisfying.
 • Anxiety and Pressure
Suicide rates among young children have risen as much as 60% over the last 40 years
worldwide.

• Segregation
In these systems, students of a certain age group are separated from others. (why this is bad
is mentioned in the next segment.)

This flawed system of curriculum -> teaching -> assessment is clearly not the right way evident
by the high dropout rates and lack of educational prosperity of students that are a part of it. This
is because the old system was not designed to adapt to the changes of the 21 st century. The old
system was built for mass production where as the society today is more individualized.
This is well supported by Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. Within this theory,
intelligence is defined as the ability to solve real world problems and that there are 7 distinct
types of these:
This suggests that every child learns and perceives things differently. This is why it is not good to
group children by age groups. One child in the same class might not have the ability to grasp an
algebraic problem as quick as another. In the field of education this implies that there needs to
be a complete reform in the system and in the field of architecture, this implies that the
traditional design of spaces will not cut it anymore. Instead, personalized spaces need to be
developed which cater to the needs of each type of intelligence. There is no need for schools that
are based on the principle of mass production. In contrast to that, this asks for an educational
system which spark creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaborative works. A system
which develops leadership. These are the qualities that will be useful for growing children in the
21st century.

“The aim of education is to enable students to understand the

world around them and the talents within them so they can be fulfilled
individuals.”
-Ken Robinson, Creative schools
And sure enough, people are gradually starting to realize this. After years of bad statistics
surrounding the current system, parents are considering alternative methods. Students are
slowly questioning enrolling into colleges and schools are discovering that the old system is
failing. As a result, contemporary models of teaching are being developed. A popular concept is
the Waldorf education system, which focuses only on creative learning in the earlier years and
slow intellectual learning in the latter. This system, despite showing lower grades in the early
years, resulted in boosted grades in the higher levels. Similar examples are the outdoor models,
the Friedrich Fröbel's approach, etc. Most of these methods boil down to few things: creative
development, collaborative working and group interactions, critical thinking and decision-making
skill development which has been proven to be a better approach in educating children.
Architecture has a large hand in realizing this approach. According to years of research done by
architects at CannonDesign, VS Furniture and Bruce Mau Design, the school environment is The
Third Teacher for the children and there are numerous ways by which the design of the school
environment can support and fulfill the needs of the modern-day education.

Classrooms then and now

Designing a school where students can thrive, The Third Teacher
• Good hearing:
A quiet background in the right places helps students concentrate on the activities at hand.
The control of reverberation can be done by locating schools away from highways, minimizing
interference between classrooms, adapting noise reduction techniques like ceiling tiles, fabric
wall panels, sound absorbers like furniture, carpets and designing buffer spaces.

• Natural daylight
It is an important observation why the dark hallways and classrooms of the traditional schools
made the students unmotivated to study and learn. Natural daylight plays a vital role in
improving the working environment. It is said to increase concentration and learning in the
students. An E-W orientation of the long axis lets in maximum amounts of sunlight. It is also
suggested to place utilitarian spaces like stairs, toilet blocks in the areas that do not receive
adequate daylight.

• Changing up the location of regular activities

Simply designing spaces in unorthodox locations can break the monotony that might be
building up through repetitive classes. Outdoor classes have proven to be very effective in
this particular case.

• Supporting teaching
Designing a healthy school environment doesn’t just mean designing spaces for children. It
also means making spaces where teachers can thrive. Spaces should be provided for teachers
where they can reflect and concentrate on how they can make the classes more interactive
and fun. This could be private spaces for teachers to relax as well as lounge areas where
teachers can sit and discuss with each other. Also, the traditional placement of desks at the
front of the classrooms should be avoided and classroom layouts should be focused on the
learners instead of the teachers.

• Multiply Intelligences
As an application of Gardner’s theory, spaces of diverse sizes, materials and colors should be
created. It should be noted that 1 size does not fit all and there should be at least one space
that caters to every learning child.
• Display learning
Posting up student work, both current and past will help track the progress of the students.
It also imparts a sense of pride and accomplishment in the students and creates a livelier and
more positive environment in the school.

• Learning in Museums
Consider the environment of museums. It is a place composed of multiple intriguing works of
art. The viewers are allowed to roam freely. They go around observing each piece, trying to
understand the intent of the artist, reflecting on their own thoughts on the piece and moving
on to the next one.
When students have a certain degree of free choice on the range and direction of their
learning abilities, their learning tends to be more robust. Designing an environment full of
evocative objects will evoke curiosity in children’s minds.

• Diversity of learning spaces.

The diversity of learning spaces allows children to learn based on individual strengths. For
example, silent thinkers will thrive in reflective studios, group interaction will flourish in
collaboration studios. Other spaces can be community themed gardens presentation studios,
cafes, lecturing/learning rooms, etc.

• Bringing the outside in

Schools should implement outdoor and indoor learning seamlessly. The current schools
provoke a negative stigma in children that the school is segregated from the real world and
that entering school means dropping out from the real world. Implementing outdoor classes
blurs the differences between the school and the outside world and will promote
engagement and learning in students even when they are outside the school.

• Making classrooms that can be reconfigured

Classrooms can that can be reconfigured easily even in different phases of a single class can
significantly boost performance take for example the following three configurations:
Configuration 1: when the teacher describes the objectives for that period

Configuration 2: The desks are arranged group wise for each team

Configuration 3: The desks are arranged in a U-shape, the teams present their work.

• Invitation to physical play

Research shows that even physical play shows intellectual development mostly in traits like
confidence, decision making, problem-solving. Not to mention the physical development
associated with it. Climbing is an emphasized physical activity because it develops motor
skills. These play spaces should not be limited in their placement. Play spaces should be
located wherever feasible be it at the top of a building or on the ground. Also, these play
spaces should be naturalized to take advantage of the positive impact of nature exploration
that comes with them. Indoor physical play spaces can be enhanced by using different colors
to define territories and textures.

• The school as a community

In opposition to the segregation of groups done by conventional education, schools should
aim to convey a sense of community between every user. This can be done by allowing visual
connection between different spaces using glass partitions or either keeping the entire space
open and separating spaces with other visual cues such as color.