New ideas in school architecture reflect changes in educational philosophy, writes Veerle Dieltiens
The standardised classroom measures 7m by 8m, three windows on one side, four on the other, with the blackboard at the front. Typical school plans show a row of boxes, with a long, narrow corridor along which learners troop from class to class.
School buildings can be deadly dull.
“Schools buildings are functional buildings,” says Barbara Dike, an architectural student who has researched the subject. “The spaces don’t invite children to make an impression on their environments. If learners can master their own environments, they can learn to transform the broader environment.”
The architecture of the past slotted in with an authoritarian teaching style. Learners sat in desks facing frontward in homage to the all-mighty teacher who stood with chalk in hand and had control over the classroom.
“The standardised school design facilitated supervision and discipline,” says Helene Nienaber, chief architect in the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE). The principal’s office is positioned to keep an eye on the front gate and the classrooms.
After the amalgamation of racially defined departments in 1994, the Gauteng Department of Education inherited the former Department of Education and Training’s school-building rule book. “We built schools for three years using those plans,” says Nienaber.
Because of cost, the building of classrooms was prioritised, and sports facilities, school halls, libraries and laboratories were deleted from the designs.
Primary schools cost about R6-million to build, secondary schools about R7-million. Dike says “The GDE’s plans are inflexible – there’s no space for variation and spontaneous activity.” “Schools need to become centres of learning,” says Gilberto Martins, senior manager in the facilities management and administration unit of the GDE.
The classrooms of yesterday seem a little constrained for the breadth of activities in outcomes-based education (OBE). “With OBE, the demands on the classroom have changed,” explains Anne Fitchett, lecturer in the architectural department at Wits. “The teacher is a facilitator, with different activities happening simultaneously. Classrooms are no longer controlled environments – there’s greater interaction between teacher and learner.”
The physical environment can inhibit or encourage learning. Squinting into textbooks in a dark pit that is too hot or too cold is hardly conducive to study. But the environment can be made to be more than just comfortable – it can also be stimulating.
The trick is to use architectural elements to spark interest. “Children’s perception of space is empirical. Flat surfaces don’t help to define spaces for children. But steps can become games – to sit on or to slide down,” says Dike. “Every classroom should have an outdoor space accessible to it.” Dike offers some simple ideas for defining smaller spaces in primary schools. For example, three boxes set down in the middle of the classroom immediately break the space up and create interest. Light, texture and colour are all important. And learners should be able to make their mark on their environments. Sandpits and exhibition cases are perfect for this.
While public schools all follow the formalised designs, independent schools have had creative freedom to experiment with architecture. Fitchett points to Saheti College as a breakthrough. Here the design builds up in a natural flow and each classroom has a little outdoor area. Standardised classrooms may be simple, and even dreary, but if they have good light and ventilation, with a little creativity, teachers have been able to magically refresh and reshape them into stimulating settings.
The better resourced schools have been able to cope with the dull boxes, but in under-resourced schools, learners often have to endure blank walls and crowded classrooms. The standard design is, of course, also cost effective and saves time.
Nienaber explains that buildings are structured to require as little maintenance as possible. For example, facebrick is used rather than plastered walls, and paved courtyards don’t need mowing. Nienaber thinks that “the buildings could look more beautiful”. Small, cosmetic changes could make a big difference. Using different colour red bricks helps, and the department has started replacing zinc roofs with tiles in some secondary schools.
Nienaber admits that, until recently, there has been little communication between the building department and other units within the GDE. But plans are afoot to better integrate the needs of teachers and learners in the design of school buildings. New criteria are currently being hammered out. The department is planning a competition for architects to plan new, standardised school designs more conducive to OBE. The department has no clear ideas yet on how to upgrade existing schools. Adapting the environment for learners with special educational needs is another big architectural challenge.
The department is upgrading facilities, building ramps and installing toilet facilities for disabled learners, when the need arises in a school. New schools will have conduits in place to install equipment such as flashing warning lights and plugs for hearing aids.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, December 2001.