Learning environments for stressed communities
Dr Kathleen Liberty
Focus on
elements of design that calm the school and improve learning by reducing
environment with stress.
Link to the research article Behavior Problems and Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms in Children Beginning School: A Comparison of Pre- and Post-Earthquake Groups
First
studies descriptive, saying what was happening. More
children presenting with stress after earthquakes.
No
successful strategies apart from providing mental health one to one.
So many
children affected. 70% symptoms of ptsd.
Behaviourism
model.
Behaviour
is controlled by here and now. Very simplistic. Come much further since then.
Now learned that experiences in infancy are expressed much later. Risk factors
can influence behaviour and learning. Not just here and now.
Adverse
experiences in childhood. Good Wikipedia article.
Abuse ,
violence etc. More you accumulate the more likely you are to get cancer, mental
health. It's how many you have, not just one experience. These experiences
change our biology. Changes our DNA and can be passed onto our children.
Adverse
experiences in children change brain development. If they experience 10000
earthquakes then they are flooded with these hormones. Not like adults who can
say it's just another, I'm safe.
All in
study were under 42 months at time of earth quakes
Affect
their ability to understand and learn.
Can see
differences in ages due to brain development at the time.
Not just
earthquakes.
Ptsd 3rd
highest rate in NZ. Most likely domestic violence.
Characteristics
of stressed children. Can see behaviours in adults as well. Children have
difficulty and have negative thoughts about others and themselves. Too hard,
leave me alone, don't want to. Emotions are disconnected sometimes. Used to be
an anxiety disorder now ptsd.
Different
characteristics for young children.
Evidence
of stressed children in NZ showed an increase in mental health referrals, increase in psychiatric medication, increase in bullying and absenteeism and an increase in teacher burnout and dissatisfaction.
5yr old
being stood down
Absenteeism.
Withdrawing is a sign of ptsd.
Not just
confined to Christchurch.
Having a
parent go to prison, being in an accident, having a parent die.
Schools
have a duty of care. Well aware of what is happening.
Schools
are not mental health clinics. Provide for learning.
Students
are afraid of new things and think they will fail. For some people it is more
stress.
Adhd,
dyslexia etc all related to childhood.
Other
children can cause stress. Need to provide an environment for children to learn
Symptoms
should go down.
Why did
they increase? Either accumulated more stress or they have delayed onset, go
into shock then see symptoms.
28% had
high and stable above ptsd cut off.
Tired of
documenting children getting worse.
Low and
stable no symptoms
We had
years, not just one event like the hurricanes
Strategies
Effects
60% reduced stress when changed the school environment.
One
school refused to do the strategies and got more increase in symptoms.
Best
adoption for 65% increase in no symptoms. No adoption 41%increase in ptsd.
Strategy 1: Recess
first, play eat learn
Benefit
through this.
Children
eat more which improves health and concentration.
Morning
tea then play. Didn't eat so they could get out quickly. Huge food wastage,
didn't drink.
Play
first, then come in wash hands, come in and sit and eat and drink and eat all
of the food. Much more alert and able to take on information.
One
school saw effect within one week. Shared mealtimes.
Reduces
body weight as well.
If
distracted, don't need a run around, they need food and water.
Learning
9-11.30
Worst
time after breaks and end of school day
Provide
additional food
Importance
of shared meal times
Most schools design
for playground not for eating.
Preparation
of food. Hand
washing. Disposal
of food
Strategy
2: Address
dehydration
Affects
growth, reduced cognition affects memory
Drink
when you feel tired, confused, upset
Helps
mental performance and ability
Lots of
studies
If they
are dehydrated, they will be irritable, tired. less able
to concentrate, little
energy
Many symptoms overlapped with symptoms of dehydration
Many have
limited access to water at school
Afraid of
drinking fountains
Quality
of water poor
Teachers
to model drinking for the students
Thought they might
have more children gong to the toilet, only 1 school had an increased use.
Shows how dehydrated they were. Most drank the bottle straight away.
Principal had a rule that the student had to have a glass of water before they saw her.
What is
the access to water in your kura?
Where can
they wash the lid?
Use of
water fountains?
Strategy
3: Lighting
Lighting
reduces hospital stay length
Stress
affects attention in dim light.
Need 1000 lux
to learn
More than
half the observations most were around 300lux
How do we
fix this? Open curtains, turn on lights, desk close to window if needed.
School
designs need higher levels of lighting
Strategy 4: Room
colour
Stressed
children are over stimulated
Turn
devices to night light setting, get rid of blue.
Schools
had lots of things because they needed stimulation. Now need to go back in colour
and decor. Can distract from tasks.
Pops of
red and orange, be more aggressive
Cram
with things and colours. Distracts attention
Don't
paint walls. Take down
hanging decorations.
Affirmations
are fine at children's eye level and below, not lifting head and losing track
Decorations
on windows block the light
Strategy 5: Noise reduction
Room
noise was a real problem, in both normal classrooms and ILEs
Huge
problem of noise, learn to be quiet.
Wanted
staff to use App to monitor
Even 5db
reduction can make a difference in beginning reading
ILE in Sydney. Decibel range at 45
Learning can occur in a calm environment. If teachers have to shout or students are stressed then it is not as good.
Their research cannot say ILEs are bad.
Place for
classes to have pets
Any
wilderness spots onsite. Nature
Sensory
system responds to environment
Environments
sustainable in looking over change in future, children who come to schools in
2025
Data
relevant to new environments.
Can't say
the change in environment has changed anything for the children.
School
that had no change of improvement is a single cell high decile school.
Similar
pattern over schools. Some things we believe can't relate to ILE or trad
learning environment
Emerging findings from ILETC research project: Innovative learning environment and teacher change Chris Bradbeer @chrisbradbeer
This room
at the moment is at 55dB
Low
sounds, can take away those needed and make learning difficult.
Reggio
very much about natural materials and natural finishes.
What does
learning look like now and what might it look like in the future? What space
best offers the conditions to hold that learning?
Life long
learning and dispositions.
Relationship
between pedagogy and space.
Shift
saying , in a school context, space has been largely ignored. Single cells
sound like prison, trad classroom. How do students feel being locked in a
classroom having to stay in one place?
What is
relationship between learning outcomes and space. Is it working? Working for
what?
Relationships
between computers and learning outcomes, natural new teaching pedagogy.
Quality
design environments, quality learning pedagogy giving quality learning
outcomes.
Lots of
money being spent on new buildings.
Need for
evidence. My child is not a guinea pig article
They
don't often ask "Was a classroom with 1 teacher and 30 students good for a child?".
Can
changing how teachers think about space change how they use the space.
Can
altering teacher mind frames unlock the potential of learning environments?
Smart
green schools, future proofing schools, e21le, ILETC focus now on teachers
Lots of
people working on the project and partnerships including MOE this one has 15
partners
Assumed
there were some common understanding in how they were designed and used.
Assumed
teachers were not using well
Key
concepts:
Learning
space, teacher mind frames, students do learning, teaching approaches
ILE =innovative space designs +innovative teaching and learning practices
Doesn't
become innovative until the stuff going on in there changes
 |
| From "Type and Use of ILEs in Australasian schools" |
Teachers
and learners need to be innovative in it.
What
physical facilities do schools actually have?
Dovey and Fsher. Study on learning environments
This picture the starting
point.
Then
teaching approaches as well.
What is preventative is type a, type b
Are they
teacher centric, or more group or more student based.
Did a survey of Principals
Typical school 70%type a and b spaces and predominantly doing teacher Led approaches
Mind frames positive but not deep learning outcomes
Teacher
mind frames - Hattie
I am
evaluating my impact as a teacher
Need to
do all the time
Student
deep learning
What is
it, shallow is facts and figures.
Dispositions
are deep. Aims for character, building capacity. Innately harder to measure.
7cs, character,
citizenship etc
If we want deep
learning then what is the exam doing? What's the stuff that is worth learning?
Teacher's mindsets define practice
What
causes them not to change?
Confirmed
assumptions
Real need
for simplifying language
Huge lack
of evidence. They are new but the thinking behind them is not new.
Schools
seemed to have common pathway when they started to transition. Key ideas.
Different strategies that supported teachers but lots of gaps in tools to help.
Very individualised.
Need to
trial and test.
Fact
sheets and technical stuff on the website. Lots of publications.
Subscribe
to newsletter. Looking for schools
Learning
to use the space is really important.
Equity
and square meter age.
Global
square metered, entitlement yr 8 in Germany, yr 5 in Australia. How much space
does a child need?
Research
coming out soon.
