Architecture's Impact on Learning

School Administrator, June, 1994 by Gaylaird Christopher

Integrate Facility and Curriculum for Greatest Effect, Architect Suggests

What are the components of a quality, successful educational program?

This topic has been discussed for decades, often with academia defining the sole requisite as a meaningful curriculum taught by dedicated, talented educators. That's not enough, suggests the environment- and human behavior-conscious architect.

The educational setting also is a critical element for success and can be much more than a sterile institutional backdrop. Quality school environments enhance, even improve programs, attitudes, and achievement. Recent studies support the premise that the built environment is a key element in the overall success of a school.

Obviously, facilities cannot make up for a poor program, but they can inspire students and teachers to higher achievement. When children look forward to attending school, their performance will improve. One school, Whitaker Elementary in El Paso, Texas, actually showed a 20 percent improvement in test scores in the first year they were in their new facility compared to the previous year in an older dilapidated facility.

It is human nature to feel better about yourself when your surroundings are pleasant and inspirational. Teachers also have attested that the environment changed the way they taught and even the way they dressed.

"When I taught in a dirty dingy school, I felt dirty and dingy. I dressed accordingly and taught with the same attitude," a teacher at Whitaker Elementary School, reported. "Now that I came to a new school, I didn't feel comfortable in my old clothes and I was inspired to give the students the best that I could."

Obviously, this is an isolated case, but it does point out that the environment can inspire change.

Since the time of Aristotle and our own Thomas Jefferson and his lawn at the University of Virginia, this argument has been countered by reasoning, suggesting that the environment doesn't matter. A good teacher can teach anywhere, it is said, whether it be a warehouse or underneath a tree.

Maybe this assumption is true, but it also leads one to ask whether you shop only according to cost with no concern for selection or the shopping setting? Could a corporate executive perform just as well in a warehouse as in posh corporate headquarters? Can an excellent speaker communicate as well in a train yard as in a well-equipped performing arts facility?

I suspect the answer to these questions would be that human beings can adapt to whatever stumbling blocks the environment places in their way. However, a quality environment enhances performances of dedicated individuals.

Living History

How can school buildings actually become part of the curriculum?

Coyote Canyon Elementary School in the Central Elementary School District in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., which opened in September 1992, was designed specifically to expose children to the rich and varied history of their community. Four themed courtyards are incorporated into the design to bring Rancho Cucamonga's early history to life. The design of each courtyard was the result of community input from parents, staff, local historians, and architects and represents four major periods in the history of the city.

A Native American courtyard, which is the focal point for the kindergarten and first grade classrooms, is an Indian village, complete with a wickiup and a dry river bed. Each year students learn about Indian culture, rebuild the wickiup, and have the opportunity to live as a Native American.

The Spanish/Mexican courtyard, which is surrounded by second and third grade classrooms, features a five-foot Aztec pyramid that doubles as a seating area, with adobe planters to accent the outdoor learning environment.

A third courtyard adjacent to the third and fourth grades represents California's Mission Period with mission-style focal points including an authentic wagon wheel and a mission bell that students ring gleefully.

The fourth courtyard reminds students that California's first vineyards were located within the city. The courtyard is accented with a grape arbor, and grape vines are beginning to provide a shaded seating area for students.

Each courtyard reflects the period of the social studies unit for its adjacent grade-level classes, allowing students to experience historic settings firsthand. A main hallway, the community spine, links the school's two entry towers. The spine doubles as a community history gallery with pictures of early residents and of various buildings and sites important to the area's development. It also houses interactive displays provided by local businesses illustrating career opportunities. It is gratifying to visit and observe children gaining a firsthand understanding of their heritage and the future.

One can only speculate how environments of the future will allow students to simulate firsthand other lifestyles of past, present, or future. Many schools now are creating historical environments through the enlargement of slides as full-scale representations of times past. Construction of virtual reality rooms is achievable today, to allow students to step out into bygone eras, similar to the "Time Traveller" or "Mr. Peabody." Headsets and goggles would allow each student to explore the culture of his or her choice.