The Role of Interior Design in Educational Settings and Its Impact on Children’s Behavior
A THESIS
Submitted by
Hagar Mohamed Taher – U15102126
For the Degree of
Bachelor of Arts
In Interior Architecture and Design
Interior Architecture and Design Program
College of Fine Arts and Design
University of Sharjah
December 2018
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the BA Thesis entitled:
Submitted by Ms.: Hagar Mohamed Taher to the College of Fine Arts and Design, University of Sharjah for the award of the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is a bona fide record of the research work carried out by her under supervision and guidance of the unit instructor. The content of the BA thesis, in full or parts have not been submitted to any other institute or university for the award of any other degree or diploma.
Research Supervisor: Dr. Abdulsamad Alkhalidi
Place: University of Sharjah – College of Fine Arts and design
Date: 27-12-2018
Abstract
This paper focuses on the role of interior design in educational settings and its impact on children’s behavior, from the psychology of color to furniture and greenery, looking at how the science behind interior design can have a significant impact on children to help boost creativity, productivity, and the educational progress. Present-day establishments should give more thought and effort to the interior design of any learning environment, not only schools, and attempt to make a more inviting and motivating environments to give positive influence to children. The goal of this paper is to achieve effective design principles to develop children’s creativity in any environment or space, approaching children through colors and shapes to help inspire and develop their creativity and intelligence, proving that an environment does have an effect on a child’s behavior and development. This thesis will investigate the topic through books, journals, newspapers, and also digitally to expose the relationship between an environment and children’s behavior, and to prove that the designers’ responsibility is not only to create people’s surroundings, but also to make sure that these surroundings support the activities and needs of the individuals who use the space.
Keywords
Interior Design – Educational environment – Children’s behavior – Creativity – Development
Table of Contents
List of figures 4
1. Introduction 5
1.1 Research Problem 5
1.2 Purpose of the Study 6
1.3 Relevant Scholarship 6
1.4 Research Question 7
2. Literature review 8
2.1 Definition 8
2.2 Development of educational environments 9
2.3 The discipline of Environmental Psychology 10
2.4 Significance of interior design in educational environments 11
2.4.1 Emphasis on the design aspects 12
2.4.2 The environmental conditions 13
2.4.3 Ergonomic design for Children 14
2.5 Impact of the environment on children’s behavior 15
2.5.1 Effective elements 16
2.5.2 Aesthetics, Technology, & Implementation 17
3. Methodology 19
4. Findings and Results 20
5. Discussion 23
6. Conclusion 25
References 26
List of Figures
Figure Page
Figure 1 12
Figure 2 13
Figure 3 13
Figure 4 13
Figure 5 13
Figure 6 15
Figure 7 15
Figure 8 15
Figure 9 15
Figure 10 18
Figure 11 21
Figure 12 21
1. Introduction
Interior design is the art of enhancing the interiors of a space to achieve a healthier and more pleasant environment for the end user. Proposing the end users as children, and the environment as an educational environment, the interior design should mainly approach the children to help boost productivity, wellbeing, creativity, and the learning progress (Owen, 2017). A learning environment should be designed to improve teaching effectiveness and provide a sense of belonging, safety and comfort, as well as help the students to establish their own identity by encouraging exploration and learning (Sugiyama & Moore, 2007). Modern establishments should give more consideration to the interior design of all learning environments and strive to create a more welcoming, productive, and inspiring environments to deliver positive influences to the children.
1.1 Research Problem
In 2018, children make up 26% of the global population (Dobbins, 2018), where most of the educational environments lack the design element that effectively has a major influence on the children’s development and behavior. The creation of environments that sustain and support human beings to live to the highest of their capabilities is important (Clemons, 2017), and achieving effective design principles to develop children’s creativity in an environment or space is essential. Approaching children through shapes, colors, and different environments will help in developing and prefacing their creativity and innovational senses. The effect of the quality of environment and architectural space in the development of creativity finds practical aspect at the age of 3-7, during these years, the children’s creativity is more affected by the environment (Riahi, 2001). Children’s behavior towards a learning environment and respectively towards other environment, is different in means of excitement, happiness, and willingness to go there, proves that the children’s behavior does vary towards different environments, and it’s the designers’ responsibility to encourage the children to learn and explore new fields through his interior designs.
1.2 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this research is to emphasize the role of interior design in enhancing a child’s development and creativity through the educational environments. The children’s life experience in the modern world, is largely played out in interior spaces, whether at home, school, or other indoor environments, they tend to have most of their average day in interior spaces. Children spend a significant amount of time in classrooms, although the student performance in school has been shown to have a relationship to the quality of the building (Chan & Richardson, 2005), many of the learning environments around the world are in old buildings with outdated environmental systems, such as, heating, cooling, lighting, sound, or other acoustical controls (Evans & Maxwell, 1997), these environmental systems will surely affect the student’s school performance and behavior.
1.3 Relevant Scholarship
Previous studies found that students are likely to perform better in newer or recently renovated buildings rather than older ones (Lavy & Bilbo, 2008). A study by the University of Salford in Manchester found that the physical aspects of a classroom, such as color, light and air quality, could potentially improve the learning progress by up to 16% (Owen, 2017). There is a relationship between the learning environment and the students, in terms of satisfaction, achievement, health, comfort, and enjoyment, which will mainly be affecting students’ behavior and their social interaction (Amirul & Ahmad, 2017). Therefore, ensuring that these physical characteristics are taken into consideration is crucial to influencing the students’ learning (Owen, 2017).
1.4 Research Questions
This paper defines the role of interior design in educational settings, its impact on children, and how it affects their behavior. How can color, shape, and light help develop the child’s creativity and how it may affect his behavior? What is the reason behind a change in children’s behavior towards different environments? Does an environment have an effect on all types of children? Even the disabled and special needs? Will children be looking forward to going to an educational environment everyday with well-designed interior space? After examining the questions, this research will be explaining how interior design impacts children positively and negatively through an environment, with the possible solutions to encourage children to learn and be creative in any environment or space. As the designer Frank Chimero once said “People ignore design that ignores people”, that is why it is important to associate the space with the type of people using it, and with the activities used in the space, because for the spaces that are important to us, we experience not only a sense of place, but a sense of who we are, and of what we can be (Clemons, 2017).
2. Literature review
2.1 Definition
Interior design is a key aspect to the treatment of the existing envelope, and the strategy for the introduction of new elements into the existing space (Higgins, 2015). It is the creation of environments that support the function, aesthetics, and cultures of those who inhabit, live, and thrive in those spaces (Clemons, 2017). Interior design synthesizes a vast array of elements, from architecture to decoration, yet is never clearly defined as either, because each has its own distinct, histories, tools, and practices (Weinthal, 2011). The interior designer transforms existing buildings to improve their performance or to allow them to be reinvented for a new use (Higgins, 2015). Modern buildings involve so many features in design, materials, and construction, which helps in providing an internal environment that is different from the external environment, and makes it the fundamental aim (McMullan, 2007). The internal environment is classified as the “built environment” and the external environment is the “natural environment”. The term “environment” is conceptualized in many different ways in the academic literature. An environment expresses a unique social communication that represents interpersonal creative expressions, styles, and the social network and class (Altman & Chemers, 1984). Other scholars conceive an environment in terms of “the rich interdependent psychological meaning that it holds for its occupants” (Moore, 2000). A learning environment refers to the diverse physical locations, contexts, and cultures where students learn (Bates, 2015). The creation of such a conducive environment is indispensable to success, in such an environment, not only learning is valued but also the evaluation, review and commitment to improvement (Hutchinson, 2003). An educational environment has major impact on the wellbeing of an individual, his progress and his career choice. The quality of the learning environment has been identified as a factor for effective learning and students’ academic success (Bassaw, 2003).
2.2 Development of educational environments
Despite the challenges of using our natural environment with care, we do have a need to construct a built environment with comfortable places where we can live and work (McMullan, 2007). As society gradually attaches more and more importance to education, it tries to formulate the overall objective, content, and strategies of education. According to the Experimental Learning Theory, education is defined as “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” (Yalcin, 2015). In the most primitive cultures, there was little of what one would ordinarily call “school”, “class”, or “teacher”. Instead, the entire environment and all activities were frequently viewed as school and classes, and many or all adults acted as teachers (Lauwerys et al., 2018). After gaining knowledge through time, the quantity of knowledge to be passed on from one generation to the next became hard to pass on and it gets more difficult as time passes, hence, there had to be a more selective and efficient means of cultural transmission, the outcome was creating formal education environments, having schools & classrooms with specialists called teachers. This concentration of learning in a formal atmosphere allows children to learn far more of their culture than they are able to do by merely observing and imitating (Lauwerys et al., 2018). France and Germany, were inspired by a mixture of national aspiration and ideology to begin the establishment of educational environments early in the 19th century. Others, such as Great Britain and the United States hesitated longer before allowing the government to intervene in educational affairs (Lauwerys et al., 2018). One of the most significant phenomena of the 20th century was the dramatic expansion and extension of public education systems around the world, the number of schools grew, as did the number of children attending them (Lauwerys et al., 2018). Today in the 21st century, there is a tendency to focus on either physical institutional learning environments (such as classrooms & lecture theatres), or on the technologies used to create online learning environments (Bates, 2015).
2.3 The discipline of Environmental Psychology
A new discipline emerged within the field of psychology at the end of the 1950s and during the 1960s, it was termed “Environmental Psychology” in the United States (Wohlwill, 1970). It is a branch of psychology that studies the relationship between people and the physical features of the built and natural environment, in order to enhance and improve human– environment relations (Yalcin, 2015). It is simply the study of the impact of the physical environment on people, and the impact of people on the physical environment. The aim was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the human behavior and the physical environment (Bechtel and Churchman, 2002). It provides an analytic point of view up on the existing built environment with a rich and diverse set of quantitative indicators for characterizing spaces in many ways that are potentially relevant to a variety of psychological responses (Kolb, 1984). The definition of the following terms; environment, natural environment, social settings, built environments, and learning environments, help to explore and define design parameters affecting humans interaction with their social and physical environments (Yalcin, 2015).
2.4 Significance of interior design in educational environments
Architects and designers who plan educational settings may lack a deep understanding of the ways that children develop and how the physical environment of classroom space contributes to the process (Kaup, Kim, and Dudek, 2013). Interior designing educational environments is all about re-engaging with the fundamental role of the built environment in order to support the educational process and overall learning experience (Kaup et al., 2013). The role of interior design in educational settings is largely played through three concepts, the concept of creativity, the concept of playing, and the concept of interactive forms and shapes. In addition, to strengthen these concepts, some treatment should also be considered in the designing process, such as color selection, wall treatment, and furniture layout (Rachmawati, 2014). The process of children’s development could be helped by implementing the concepts and treatments on classrooms’ interior design (Rachmawati, 2014). The interior design of an educational environment could equally have a negative influence on children if ignored or treated badly, poor quality environments can create learning barriers such as impaired concentration, where students could be distracted by negative attributes in these enclosed interior spaces (Mendell & Heath, 2005). These impacts are especially significant for younger children in elementary school settings, who are more susceptible to negative environmental stimulation (Kaup et al., 2013). Advances in design strategies for places such as educational settings can be influenced by returning to the fundamentals of what it is like to learn and how will the classroom design affect the students (Kaup et al., 2013).
2.4.1 Emphasis on the design aspects
There are three main concepts that must be applied in designing an educational environment for children; creativity, interactive forms, shapes, or structures, and play, with attention to color selections, application of wall treatment, and furniture types and layout (Rachmawati, 2014). The physical setting has an important influence on the educational process and can be an important component of children's experience and development when it is wisely and meaningfully designed (Tadjic, Martinec, & Farago, 2015). The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy in Abu Dhabi -Figure 1- accommodates an ideal example, through the modernization of furniture, the usage of appropriate materials / colors / shapes, and the wide range of facilities. The space should be functional, comfortable, and safe for both children and adults (Tadjic et al., 2015) as shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, & 5.
The tables and chairs used must be suitable to the students to increase learning retention and concentration throughout the learning process, the colors in classroom must be appropriate so it can create a sense of belonging, the lighting must be adapted with learning activities and the space available, with the flexibility in the use of natural and artificial light which may fulfill various requirements of tasks (Amirul & Ahmad, 2017). Appropriate physical facilities will stimulate intellectual activity, improve social relationships, and promote student learning and development as well as limiting the negative behavior among students (Amirul & Ahmad, 2017).
2.4.2 The environmental conditions
All buildings use energy for lighting, heating or cooling, heat energy and other thermal properties are major factors in maintaining the human body comfort (McMullan, 2007). The principal factors affecting thermal comfort can be either personal variables such as activity, clothing, age, and gender, or it can be caused by physical variables such as air temperature, surface temperature, air movement, or humidity (McMullan, 2007). Energy and heat balance in an educational environment are important factors to achieving a healthier and a more welcoming environment for the children, along with some other physical factors. Ventilation is another important factor, because in an occupied space, it is necessary to provide oxygen and remove contaminated air (McMullan, 2007). It is also necessary to provide a room with natural light, this type of light is desirable for a pleasant environment or may be needed to perform certain tasks, such as exacting work with color (McMullan, 2007). Some factors related to lighting, such as intensity, type and position affects learning due to the fact that a classroom with excessive or lack of lighting could cause sleep or distraction, visual fatigue, or blurred vision (Silvaa, 2010). Acoustical barriers and sound reductions are relevant to the design of quitter buildings, and is very important in all educational environments (McMullan, 2007). The environmental conditions may also affect an individual’s health contributing to psychological or physical strain, and causing pain or body posture-related problems. Indeed, both school furniture and aspects such as thermal conditions, acoustics and lighting must guarantee the users’ comfort and well-being rather than harming the performance of students and teachers (Silvaa, 2010).
2.4.3 Ergonomic design for Children
The supportive ergonomic environment is a significant feature that affects student behavior and academic performance (Kaup et al., 2013). An Ergonomic design for children mainly focuses on safety, flexibility, durability, with functional children measurements (heights). Nowadays, within the modern classroom designs, much attention is given to providing flexible work surfaces and seating (Kaup et al., 2013) as shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7. Furniture selections should address the needs of children of different ages by providing maximum adjustability wherever possible (Kaup et al., 2013). For infants or toddlers, safety is an important criteria, however, safety alone is not enough for a well-designed room. It should also support their emotional well-being, stimulate their senses, and challenge their motor skills through the use of color (Rachmawati, 2014), using curves in designing will support the idea of safety in an environment for infants as shown in Figures 8 & 9. The safety of materials used is another important factor, using non-toxic finishes and materials with low volatile organic compound, because students articulated sensitivity towards the touchable environment (Kaup et al., 2013). It is important to design a room specifically for children so that they feel happy, safe, comfortable and free to do their activities indoor as they do outdoor (Rachmawati, 2014).
2.5 Impact of the environment on children’s behavior
Young children benefit intellectually from experiencing different environments (Rachmawati, 2014). Since much of their education is based in interior settings, the influence of these environments cannot be underestimated (Kaup et al., 2013). Winston Churchill once said “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us”, therefore our interactions with the environment shapes our behavior (Tadjic et al., 2015). The environment dictates the kinds of behaviors that are appropriate and inappropriate, it invites or discourages exploration, and it can establish a mood that may range from exciting and enjoyable, to boring or scary. Negative effects may take place if the physical setting is not designed with care, if the classroom is inadequately designed, it well not provide support for children’s learning process, and will lead to distracted and unsatisfied children (Tadjic et al., 2015). The exposure of children to a poor quality environment favors the occurrence of trauma with long-term effect (Povian, 2014), whereas, exposing them to high quality environments will favor in excitement and will encourage exploration.
Many young children with special needs spend hours in child care settings, and stress the importance of these environment on their lives (Tadjic et al., 2015). The designed elements of a space can provide the support to the children, and help them function within the limits of their capabilities, and still provoke the processes leading to the progress (Tanic et al., 2013). Accordingly, it is important to examine how the physical environment influence children with special needs. Dukes states that: “…when thinking about the issue involved in designing an environment for children with special needs, it is important to define the parameters of the issue first” (Tadjic et al., 2015). Another factor is the importance of vegetation and gardening because it is medically proved to have an effect on children with special needs. Creating a connection between the design and the greenery or landscape, is important in the educational and development process of a child (Povian, 2014).
2.5.1 Effective elements
A key to effective designing, is understanding the relationship and recognizing that the environment is both a tool that can be modified for different purposes and a factor that must be taken into consideration when setting realistic expectations for changes (Bailey & Wolery, 1992). Elements effecting the children’s behavior towards an educational environment include, the color, shape, light quantity, air quality, sounds, size of the space, furniture type and layout, materials used, greenery and landscapes, and the overall interactive social community. Young children have a heightened sensitivity to sounds or confusing acoustics, which reduces a child’s understanding and attention (Kaup et al., 2013).The quality of the indoor air is an environmental assessment issue and programmatic criteria that addressed sustainable thinking in a variety of way (Kaup et al., 2013). The lighting can also contribute to the exciting experience of the space with the contribution of natural light (Tanic et al., 2013). In addition to the environmental conditions, the classroom colors and the furniture comfort and layout, are factors of how an environment can affect concentration and motivation (Hutchinson, 2003). Other elements that may affect children’s behavior in an educational environment include, the room temperature, the size of the classroom, the materials used, the amount of greenery and landscape, and the overall interactive social community.
2.5.2 Aesthetics, Technology, & Implementation
The Aesthetics of an environment is largely played through its visual environment, the visual sense of a child is stimulated in his or her learning environment (Read & Upington, 2009).The architectonic expression comprises "playful-ness" and authenticity of the form, also the visual harmony, inclusion of various types of materials, austere diversity and warmth of the applied colorations, associated with the concepts a child can be emotionally related to (Tanic et al., 2013). In a digital era, technology is leading to massive changes in the economy, in the way we communicate and relate to each other, and increasingly in the way we learn. Yet our educational institutions were built largely for another age, based around an industrial rather than a digital era (Bates, 2015). The impact of information technology on learning environments is voluminous. The presence and application of technology changes the learning environment, both directly and indirectly (Graetz, n.d.), since chalkboard was introduced into classroom in the early 19th century, technologies such as film strips, projectors, computers, interactive white board, smart phones, and tablets were gradually used in classrooms (Yang et al., 2018) as shown in Figure 10. The increased presence of networked devices in the classroom with the subsequent transition in classroom activity from information delivery to collaboration led to increasing importance of virtual learning environments in the modern era (Graetz, n.d.). All factors of the visual environment along with the environmental conditions, technologies, and the ergonomic children designs will lead to the implementation of the idealistic educational environment.
3. Methodology:
This thesis adapts the descriptive method in analyzing the content, in addition to relying on theoretical basis of investigation to clarify the role of interior design in educational settings and its impact on children’s behavior. The process of analysis begins by collecting data and information using surveys, books, journals, articles, and online databases. This fundamental study emphasizes the importance of a well-designed educational environment in children’s development and behavior. The paper influences design and provides an opportunity to consider benefits and limitations of various design approaches in educational settings. In order to clarify the thesis and get as much knowledge and opinions needed to boost the qualitative perspective in this study, a survey was distributed and data was analyzed and collected. The survey had 10 precise main questions which were the most helpful questions needed for direct answers and responses. 90 responses were collected through online distribution of the survey and due to the ease of technology and social media. The questionnaire was not directed towards a certain age group, but it was mainly phrased to adjust to different age groups for various answers, opinions, and personal views of the content. Observation was another criteria to gain knowledge and to support this thesis by means of personal point of view. Observing family members, regarding going to different educational environments, and being able to note their different reactions, attitudes, and behaviors. Comparing the behaviors of the observed children towards going to different environments will benefit in proofing that the role of interior design in educational settings does have an effect on children.
4. Findings and Results:
Exploring and investigating different fields of the topic was the foundation to fulfilling the thesis, which helped in accommodating various amounts of information and gaining a wide range of knowledge. The intention of the survey held was to provide a starting point for discussion and to acknowledge people’s opinions on the role of interior design in educational environments with its ability to change children’s behavior and moods. The survey distributed helped in understanding the people’s point of view towards a school environment, where they answered according to their personal experiences.
While analyzing the survey responses and data gathered, there was an obvious relationship that clearly is relevant between people’s answers although each was required to respond according to personal perspective and experience. People from different age groups could relate and respond similarly to the questions of the survey. According to the survey data, the major age group of people who responded were (16 – 25) years old, with the percentage 84%. The respondents were asked “How often did you enjoy going to school”, from their own experience, 54 respondents answered with “Sometimes”, 33 answered with “Rarely”, 3 respondents answered with “Never”, and 0 answers to “Always”, which leads to real-life questions concerning why so many people didn’t enjoy the school or the educational experience. The following question had to be asking for the reasons of this notable dislike of educational environments, and the answers varied due to different experiences, but most answers related to unpleasant and unwelcoming environments, or discouraging colors in the space, other responds were due to the educational system or the social community itself.
Figure 11, represents how people responded to children nowadays going to school, museum, or an entertainment area, and the average responses believe that children are sad and annoyed when going to school, have a neutral reaction when visiting a museum, and are very happy and excited when going to an entertainment area. In Figure 12, people were expressing their personal opinions on the shown statements, and they clearly agree that interior design has a great role in motivating the children, enhancing academic performance, and is important for the development and behavior of the children.
Respondents believe that colors in educational environments is one of the most important aspects to comforting students, and that is shown through the survey answers, where 28 responded that warm colors are preferable, while 14 responded to (cool colors), 2 responded to a (neutral color scheme), and 46 responded to (all of the above) where it’s a mix between the mentioned color schemes. They were asked to choose between straight row furniture arrangement and group furniture arrangement to specify which one they would prefer to have in an educational environment, 15 responded to (straight row desk arrangement), 33 responded to (group), and 42 responded to (a mix between both), and that is totally understandable due to the diversity in gaining knowledge and ability to concentrate during a class, and that differs from one person to the other.
Another question was asked “Can technology and high tech environments affect children’s development and behavior?” with 95% of the people responded by (yes), and 5% responded by (Probably, not sure), and 0% responded to (No), that is because in a digital era, technology is the new phase of learning, teaching, and living. Finally, approaching the end of the survey by asking “Do you think children will be more likely to enjoy an educational experience in well-designed environments?” and 100% of the responses are to (Yes, of course), and that’s is why designers must provide an aesthetically appealing setting for children in an educational environment, in addition to meeting all the functional requirements in the space, because environments perceived as attractive, comfortable, and inviting, will encourage children to spend time in them and be productive.
Another criteria taken to provide the thesis with more proves and information, was observing children from a personal point of view. For more than a week, observing and noting the behaviors and attitudes of some family members when going to different environments for different reasons. Going to their schools on the week days, going to educational trips, and going to meet friends in any entertainment place, noticing that the records were almost all similar for all the children. Family members would start the day feeling annoyed, grumpy, and sad when going to their schools every morning, but would feel very energetic and excited on the weekend if woke up at the same time to go anywhere that they enjoy going to. And similarly all children, because children would happily enjoy waking up to going to a place that they want to go to, even if it was an educationally based environment.
5. Discussion:
The data collected emphasizes the importance of the topic, as well as it enhances the thesis with people’s points of view on the topic. Understanding the influence of an environment on children’s development and growth, helps in forming the foundation of their future characteristics, values, behavior, and academic performance. Children in 2018, according to statistics, make up 26% of the global population (Dobbins, 2018), interior designers can help support the educational experience for many children by creating a well-planned educational environment, in terms of the spatial zoning of the space, the design aspects of the physical environment (color, shape, and light), the materials used and furniture arrangement, and good environmental conditions.
The circulation, spatial zoning, and furniture arrangement are very important when designing an educational environment, because children’s behavior may change in different size spaces. Although children are mostly appealed to colors, they also feel very comfortable in large-scale spaces or semi-opened areas, including places with high ceilings or those with large windows, where it highly affects their behavior and they feel more energetic. The basic furniture arrangement (straight row desks) may satisfy some, but will not satisfy all children’s needs, that is why it is preferable to always create different environments using flexible furniture such as, group arrangements, shaping the desks in a classroom as a letter “U” or the letter “L”, to always create a new form of environment and help reduce boredom or discouraging behaviors in children.
There is an unlimited amount of colors that children get attracted to or feel happy around, but the main ones can be said to be (Red /Yellow /Blue /Green) in addition to the basic white color, because these colors represent excitement and joy, also having natural light and greenery in a space gives a feel of energy and life, which helps in productivity and can get children to perform better in school. Shapes in a space can get children’s attention easily, whether 2D shapes or 3D shapes and structures, where it can be an important factor to satisfy children in an environment. In our technological era, there is always excessive effort to associate technology in everything, creating a technological or high-tech educational environments, may have a huge impact on children due to relying on advanced technology in the learning process.
Materials to be used in an educational environment need to be durable, flexible, easily applied and cleaned, and most importantly safe and sustainable, where the entire environment should be suitable to all kinds of children, especially the special needs. Although most behavior problems are part of typical child development, children in educational environments may feel sad, bored, annoyed, sleepy, or unproductive due to the surrounding environment, and the role of interior design in any learning environment can positively have an impact on improving children’s behavior.
7. Conclusion
This paper highlighted that the interior design of educational environments does have an impact on children’s behavior and development, and it is possible to create learning environments designed to have meaningful influence on children’s behavior, through the encouragement of social interaction, the promotion of playful learning, and the involvement of nature, along with the design aspects and the environmental conditions. In order for children to adapt with the space, it’s important to provide all the conditions they need for a proper development, where it will influence students’ concentration, learning performance and overall wellbeing. As designers, the first priority to designing an educational spaces is to ensure the understanding of how the environment may affect the children and how important it is on their development.
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