A Place to Learn

A Place to Learn: Lessons from Research on Learning Environments. Technical Paper No.9. UNESCO

Lessons from Research on Learning Environments

-          Based on studies:

·         Assessment of Free Primary Education (FPE) in Kenya

·         Study of conditions for early childhood education in northwest Spain

·         Psychological climate and learning outcomes in Singapore

First: all three studies affirm that the quality of both the learning experience and levels of learning achievement are strongly influenced by the school and classroom environment.

Second: the conceptual frameworks on which these studies are based further assume that the learning environment consists of a complex web of factors (physical, psychosocial and others) that shape the overall conditions for learning.

Third: All three studies are oriented toward gaining information on learning environments and learning conditions from internal perspectives (i.e. from those closest to the action) – teachers, principals, parents and in two of the examples, from the learners themselves.

-          Czech philosopher Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1650) believed that optimal learning will occur if:

1.       Class instruction is curtailed as much as possible, namely to four hours, and if the same length of time be left for private study

2.       The pupil is forced to memorize as little as possible, that is to say, only the most important things; as for the rest, they need only grasp the general meaning

3.       Everything is arranged to suit the capacity of the pupil, which increases naturally with study and age.

-          Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)-polotical philosophy-. His major impact on 21^st century educational thinking lies in his insistence on a ‘child-centred’ learning environment in which the teacher or tutor mainly as a consultant and guide.

-          John Dewey (1859-1952) simply stated the purpose of schooling should be to prepare children for thelife they are to lead in the world. Education systems should, therefore, endeavor to establish autonomous, intelligent environments that are expressly designed to influence the cognitive and moral development of children – in Dewey’s words, ‘a purified medium of action’ free of the negative elements of the broader society and therefore capable of becoming a laboratory for social transformation.

-          B.F. Skinner suggested that any age-appropriate skill can be taught using these five principles:

1.       Give the learner immediate feedback.

2.       Break down the task into small steps.

3.       Repeat the directions as many times as possible.

4.       Work from the simplest to the most complex tasks.

5.       Give positive reinforcement.

In this scenario, it is the teacher’s responsibility to create these pedagogical conditions through specific actions (i.e. immediate feedback, small ‘chunks’ of content, repetition, sequencing and positive reinforcement).

-          Experimental research conducted by cognitive psychologist Herman Witkin (1916-1979) stressed the importance of acknowledging individual and group differences in cognitive styles. Witkin’s research concluded that every person is equipped with a unique set of cognitive tools from birth that are already well developed by the time a child begins school. From this perspective, the quality of a learning environment is determined in large part by how well it supports and responds to children’s unique learning styles. More recently, Howard Gardner’s widely acclaimed theory of multiple intelligence suggests that rather that one-dimensional, human intelligence is multi-faceted (1993; 2006). Simply put, people have different cognitive strengths and contrasting cognitive styles. In order to better prepare students for the future, school environments and curricula must be designed to respond to the full range of human intelligences. Complementing Gardner’s hypothesis, Daniel Goleman contends that ‘emotional intelligence’ is actually the strongest indicator of human success in the world. Based on the extensive research on the brain and how it functions, Goleman asserts that emotional intelligence is largely shaped by the early life experiences but is also characteristic that can be nurtured and strengthened through appropriate schooling.

-          ‘Plasticity’ is the capacity of the human brain to change in response to environmental demands.

-          Evidence is also mounting that positive emotions can play a powerful role in the learning process. In other words, the positive feelings that come with grasping a new idea, or what teachers recognize as the ‘aha moment’ can trigger a life-long association with learning as a pleasurable activity.

Dakar Framework for Action

-          All stakeholders – teachers and students, parents and community members, health workers and local government officials – should work together to develop environments conducive to learning. To offer education of good quality, educational institutions and programmes should be adequately and equitably resourced, with the core requirements of safe, environmentally friendly and easily accessible facilities; well-motivated and professionally competent teachers; and books, other learning materials and technologies that are context specific, cost effective and available to all learners.

-          Learning environments should also be healthy, safe and protective. This should include: (1) adequate water and sanitation facilities, (2) access to or linkages with health and nutrition services, (3) policies and codes of conduct that enhance physical, psycho-social and emotional health of teachers and learners, and (4) education content and practices leading to knowledge, attitudes, values, and life skills needed for self-esteem, good health and personal safety.

-          Studies conducted by Schleicher, Siniscalco and Postlethwaite (1995), Heneveld et at (2006), LLECE (2002), SACMEQ I and II, PASEC, Pole de Dakar, and OREALC, (2007; 2008), among others, have used mainly quantitative methods to assess the impact on literacy and numeracy of factors such as teacher qualifications, pupil/teacher ratio, availabality of books and instructional time in relation to levels of learner achievement. Some of the survey also take into consideration the physical conditions of schools (buildings, classroom equipments, water and toilet facilities), organizational features (school management and cohesiveness) as well as out-of-school factors, such as parents’ level of education, socio-economic status, languages spoken at home and amount of reading material in children’s homes.

Practical Perspective

-          In School Effectiveness Research (SER), the emphasis is on internal conditions of the schools (i.e. conditions that enable students to reach both their personal goals and the goals of the community). By the late 1990s, no fewer than 719 factors were found to be associated with school effectiveness. Fortunately, this list was reduced in a meta-analysis to salient factors (Sammons et al, 1996):

1.       Professional leadership

2.       Shared vision and goals

3.       A learning environment

4.       Concentration on learning and teaching

5.       High expectations

6.       Positive reinforcement

7.       Monitoring progress

8.       Pupil rights and responsibilities

9.       Purposeful teaching

10.   A learning organization

11.   Home-school partnership

-          As teachers surveyed in the Spanish study on the physical conditions in early childhood education reported, lack of a quiet place for young children to rest affects their mood and ability to concentrate. In poor countries with minimal resources, the lack of access to such basic amenities as clean water and separate toilet facilities for girls is often cited as the main reason that students drop out of school.