When Douglas Cardinal, Canada’s eminent architect, spoke to a conference of architects in 91原创 in the early 1990s, he began by saying “buildings speak to people,” meaning that the building itself, its design and the functional relationships of its components deliver a powerful message to those who occupy it every day of its life.
I remember thinking as I sat there: “Uh oh, here we go again with a bunch of new-age gobbledy gook.”
But the more I listened, the more I wondered about a school building needing to say more to its occupants than “open your text at page 45.”
After all, children spend more waking hours at school than anywhere else, even more than at their own homes.
Students attend school about 185 days each year, and 70 per cent of this time is spent inside classrooms.
For kids, their world is school-centric. It’s where their work (learning) is. It’s also where their peers are and where their relationships happen. It’s at school where kids begin to shape their individual identities, values and beliefs about what’s important and, with any luck, begin to figure out for themselves how to deal with the demands and values of adult life.
Cardinal went on to explain that the first step in creating a building is to begin with a vision that clearly states that building’s purposes, intentions and goals.
So how else, besides teaching the academic curriculum, can the architecture of a school building benefit its occupants, both teachers and students?
A good question at a time when the B.C. Ministry of Education has more that 30 capital projects ranging from design through renovation to new building projects on the go.
Thankfully, the thinking about school design has evolved to the point where schools should model eco-friendly practices, not only for their student and staff clientele but also for the communities in which they are located.
Schools should be a source of education in the broadest sense, about the importance of maximum energy savings, the efficient use of water both internally and externally, healthier indoor air quality, the increased use of recycled materials, and reduced maintenance and operation costs.
As a single example of the change in thinking about school architecture, it was not so long ago that a dominant belief about school design was that windows in classrooms simply provided a distraction from learning. Now, 40 years later, it is not surprising that some provincial governments here in Canada and some state governments in the U.S. have bought into the notion that the use of natural light in school buildings and classrooms has been found to have dramatic effects not only on measurable academic outcomes but on health of the faculty and students alike.
A report from Alberta Education, titled A Study into the Effects of Light on Children of Elementary School Age, says that natural light does have a positive effect on health and on rates of achievement. Students exposed to high-pressure sodium vapour lighting, the study found, demonstrated the poorest rate of academic achievement.
A Sacramento California study, titled Light Helps Pupils Learn, is one of the largest ever done on natural light in schools and it suggests children learn faster and do better on standardized tests in classrooms with more daylight. Learning rates were 26 per cent higher in reading and 20 per cent higher in math in rooms with more daylight.
Another study conducted by the Sorbonne University covered 13 European countries with a total of 2,387 children participating. It concluded that academic performance can increase by up to 15 per cent when students work in classrooms with larger windows — due both to increased daylight and a better view to the outside world.
The Clever Classrooms study conducted by the University of Salford, U.K., concluded that good daylight helps to create a sense of physical and mental comfort, its benefits more far-reaching than merely an aid to sight.
In 2008, the B.C. Ministry of Education developed a Sustainability Education Framework that encourages the K-12 education system to show leadership in adopting and promoting environmentally sustainable practices and learning opportunities for students that support healthy and natural environments for current and future generations.
The guide is designed to help the school community at the elementary or secondary level address sustainability issues. It outlines best practices to help students, teachers, administrators, support staff and parents lead the school community through eco-friendly activities in the areas of energy waste, water and school-grounds use.
So here’s a thought: Maybe it’s time that B.C.’s Green Party advocates got together with the Ministry of Education’s facilities branch, set aside petty unproductive politics and mapped out some details about the advantages of a greener, sustainable and affordable future for B.C.’ s schools.
Geoff Johnson is a former Superintendent of Schools. [email protected]
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