This article focuses on the schools developed by Mary and David Medd within the Ministry of Education in Great Britain, 1949-1976. Their main contribution to the field of Educational Architecture was the definition of a design strategy known as "Built-in variety," where the self-contained classrooms ("empty-box-school")…

Factors that support learner engagement and achievement are vast. School learning environments can promote care for learners. The present year-long study examined the "Designed Caring Classroom Intervention" in 17 s grade classrooms in a large school district. To examine the effect of the intervention on second grade learners'…

This article asks whether the slow process of divesting Indian native schoolteachers of their traditional authority was only about new concepts and representations of education and knowledge. Following the methodological idea of constellations of affordances, emphasising a relational ontology, the article discusses whether changes in the shape and…

Little has changed about the physical properties of public schooling in the United States since the industrial revolution--desks, rows, and teachers at the front of the room (McCoy, 2007). Foote (2019) has argued there is no better way to create a more modern learning space than to do a complete redesign. Given the dramatic redefinition of…

The present educational paradigm, fundamentally unchanged since the 19th century, does not meet 21st-century educational needs. This paradigm shift must be accompanied by a strong educational architecture that fosters the skills needed for 21st-century success including creativity and cultural awareness. The present study investigates the primary…

The importance of classroom architecture has long been recognized and supported as a significant factor in Early Years teaching and learning, garnering an explicit focus in policy and practice in Scotland. The same cannot be said of practices beyond the early years, where the explicit role of classroom architecture has been less clearly defined.…

The problem that teachers often face in primary school is the students' low absorption in understanding a lesson. Currently, learning is still teacher-centered, which causes students to be less active in participating in the teaching and learning process. The problem in this research is how to enhance students' learning motivation through changing…

There is scarce nationwide evidence of the impact of instruction on student achievement in the area of writing (Coker et al., 2018; Persky et al., 2003; National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2002). Standardized writing assessment has shifted to text-dependent analysis, which requires students to read and analyze a passage and then compose…

Through a conceptual framework focused on student engagement, this article explores students' perceptions about the impact the design of learning environments has on student engagement. The current mixed-methods study was conducted at two Texas replacement elementary schools where the entire learning community, all teachers, administrators, staff,…

Special education comprises specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities (IDEA, 2017, Sec. 300.39). IDEA further states that specially designed instruction can be implemented in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings. Placement decisions are…

This exploratory case study examined the kinds of activity that a 'deskless school" (i.e., flexible physical school spaces) engenders among pupils and teachers. We also considered the meaning and significance that pupils and teachers attach to various features of the school, as well as the associated action possibilities. The data were…

There is a paucity of research that has effectively listened to children's voices on matters important to them and has asked them how they would like to be listened to. This study used a playful approach to listen to children's voices about play spaces in their primary school. The research questions were: How can a playful approach be used to…

The extent to which teachers make changes in classroom seating reflects, in part, the degree to which they value promoting positive peer relationships in the classroom. We assessed the frequency with which teachers made both minor (i.e., involving only 2-3 students) and major (involving half or more students in the class) changes in classroom…

Classrooms should be spaces where every child feels safe to bring their whole self to school. This book shows how to set up preK-grade 6 classrooms that support student agency, independence, and choice. The results of classrooms designed with these goals in mind include: (1) Greater student engagement with curriculum; (2) Students who know…

The modeling of a modern preschool curriculum is contextually conditioned and represents a complex process. Each kindergarten has its "own identity," its "DNA," just as children, preschool teachers and other participants in the educational process have their "own individual equations." Contextual learning is at the…