We know that traditional education is evolving as schools recognize the value of experiential learning and its impact on students’ engagement, attentiveness, and happiness.
Students flourish when they are given opportunities to engage with the world around them through hands-on experiences. In order to create spaces where students will flourish, we want first to define what flourishing means in education. Flourishing means that a student’s “inner needs are in balance with the demands of the external world”. This balance is essential for fostering a holistic educational experience, where academic pursuits align with emotional and social development.
5 Factors of Flourishing
- Close Social Relationships
- Accomplishments
- Mental & Physical Health
- Happiness & Life Satisfaction
- Meaning and Purpose
Let’s explore what types of spaces encourage these factors and how they manifest in the learning environments.
5 Qualities of Spaces that Promote Flourishing
- Fascination : A space that sparks curiosity and wonder will invite students to explore new limits. Fascination and curiosity encourage creativity in spaces filled with unexpected details, intriguing elements, and the potential for discovery.
- Hominess: A homey environment contributes to a sense of calm and belonging, allowing students to feel comfortable learning, growing, and making mistakes. A feeling of hominess can be brought out in warm, familiar, and comfortable design elements that reduce anxiety and stress.
- Play: A playful space fosters experimentation and creativity while building relationships among students. Such environments promote cognitive flexibility by encouraging the process of trying, failing, and trying again. They inspire students to explore freely, develop emotional maturity, and fully utilize their imaginations.
- Nourish Senses: Physical and mental well-being are dependent on nourishing environments, and utilizing all five senses will maximize the positive effects. Some examples of this are inviting natural light, fresh scents, and calming sounds. By engaging the senses, schools can promote engagement and focus on overall well-being.
- Social Connection: A space that facilitates social interaction and collaboration is essential for children to feel a sense of community and belonging. Social connection improves children’s empathy and understanding.
At James Madison STEAM Academy P-8 School in Greeley, Colorado, we had the opportunity to enhance the educational environment and create transformational learning spaces, including various aspects of flourishing. Our focus was on integrated of the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) with a Design Lab in each Learning Community to promote areas where students could not only learn but thrive — spaces that encourage collaboration, creativity, and comfort. We introduced vibrant, cheerful colors to respond to the culture of the community and evoke energy and positivity, paired with inspirational words and graphics throughout the school to motivate and uplift. Large windows and ample natural light were prioritized, enhancing a sense of openness. These intentional choices aimed to foster a sense of belonging, stimulate creativity, and improve the well-being of these students.
For DC Bilingual Public Charter School, located in Washington D.C., we designed an addition for a compact urban campus with an existing historical school building and vibrant bilingual community. Focusing on flourishing in spaces that support culture and community, the new addition’s materials and façade articulations celebrate the spirit of the DC Bilingual PCS campus in three central concepts: Earth, life and light. The new twelve classroom wing’s mass, at its core, is a traditional masonry building, representing the Earth or the foundation of the architecture in which the campus grows from.
A panelized phenolic wood-look frame surrounds the masonry mass. This textured frame represents the vibrant life that stems from the tapestry of people who make up the DC Bilingual PCS community. To highlight and amplify the strong spirit of the school, light fills all learning spaces. Perforated vertical sun shades create beautiful biophilic dappled light, cast into classrooms and onto the building façade. The new look and feel creates a seamless blend between the environment and the classroom, allowing students to feel relaxed, uplifted, and inspired. The integration of cultural and educational pieces throughout the facilities reflects the school’s commitment to supporting culture and community and celebrating the diversity of its students. The DC Bilingual PCS Addition is an illustrative celebration of vibrant histories, cultures, and futures.
As evident in these examples, there are many ways for the five qualities of flourishing to manifest in various design choices that are thoughtful and often subtle yet highly impactful. Trends in PK-12 school designs are moving toward flexible common areas and away from traditional static classroom setups. These newer spaces are designed to be adaptable and able to support many different educational activities, allowing for both teamwork and individual success. Successfully designed spaces will also promote well-being, allowing students to feel comfortable, and encouraging different elements of play. Additionally, we are seeing an increase in embracing nature-inspired design elements connection to nature directly affects our mood and energy levels. We are seeing many new ways to bring the outdoors inside the classrooms, including large windows, environmental graphics, organic colors and patterns, and indoor-outdoor designs.
Schools like the James Madison STEAM Academy and D.C. Bilingual Public Charter School are prime examples of how to infuse qualities that promote flourishing. Both were thoughtfully and intentionally designed, demonstrating how environments can be transformed into places of growth, collaboration, and inspiration. Creating spaces that are student-focused and encourage students’ flourishing is about finding the thoughtful balance between their inner needs and addressing the demands of their external environment. At the same time, schools have the opportunity to infuse and reflect their values, spirit and priorities through different design choices, leading to strong continuity throughout all design elements. When we are thoughtful about integrating elements such as curiosity, hominess, play, sensory nourishment, and social connection, we create environments where students can learn and grow holistically, enjoy a sense of accomplishment and create lasting connections.