No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
How environmental physical characteristics relate to children's restorative experiences and psychological well-being in Chinese primary schools: A qualitative study
Abstract
School environments greatly influence children’s daily experiences and well-being. However, little is known about the relationship between the physical aspects of the environment and children’s restorative experiences and psychological well-being in school settings from a holistic perspective. Thus, this study investigated children’s views on the physical characteristics of their school environments that affect their restoration and psychological
well-being. A comparison of yield themes and children’s ideal school environments was also examined, as well as gender differences in their environmental perspectives. Data were collected through focus group interviews and cognitive mapping. Thirteen gender-specific focus group interviews were conducted with 79 children aged 9–12 years from five primary schools in Harbin, China. Children’s drawings of their ideal school environments were also gathered. A bottom-up, inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyze both the interview data and the drawings. Five key environmental themes for restoration and well-being were identified: nature contact and connection, indoor and outdoor environmental quality, environmental atmosphere and aesthetics, ergonomics and spatial arrangement, and environmental affordance. Consistency was found between the themes and those of the ideal school environment. Gender differences and similarities were observed
across the five themes. The findings suggest that school physical characteristics play an important role in children’s psychological restoration, with extensive benefits for their school life and well-being. We suggest that practitioners should address these environmental characteristics to foster healthy school environments, while considering gender issues. Researchers and practitioners should emphasize the potential advantages of the school environment and value children’s voices.
... Based on a survey conducted, 85% of students from schools with good management systems feel happier and more comfortable at school, compared to only 62% of students in schools with poor management. This shows that a well-managed learning environment can improve students' psychological well-being (Meng et al., 2025). ...
This research shows that child development in primary school is a very important aspect in determining long-term educational success. This study aims to analyze how education management in primary schools contributes to students' academic achievement and well-being This study combined quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to explore the impact of educational management on elementary students’ academic performance and well-being. Data was collected from State Elementary School 01 Dadaprejo Batu city and rural areas with 50 students and 20 teachers as respondents. The results showed that good education management, including flexible curriculum planning, parental involvement, and a conducive learning environment, had a positive correlation with improved student academic performance. In addition, emotional support from teachers and the implementation of innovative learning strategies contribute significantly to students' psychological well-being. The implications of this study emphasize the importance of strengthening school management policies that are orientated towards the holistic development of children. The contribution of this research is expected to serve as a reference for policymakers in designing more adaptive and inclusive educational strategies to support students' academic development and well-being in primary schools.
Urban landscapes are becoming the main ecosystem for human life. Given that urban living can be associated with poor psychological health, one specific challenge faced by cities is related to psychological well-being. The current essay discusses how restorative environments research can offer significant insights into the strategy of healthy cities by guiding the exploration of their restorative outcomes. We propose a theoretical model elucidating the physical and symbolic features of urban settings that can aid processes of active and passive restoration—based on theory and evidence from restorative environments research. Future research should consider urban psychological restoration in a broader sense and lend greater relevance to the exploration of the restorative potential of the full range of urban built settings.
• HIGHLIGHTS
• There is a need to explore the characteristics of urban built settings that support psychological health.
• We propose a three-level model of restoration that discusses supportive features and potential benefits.
• Active restoration—activated by top-down features—enhances positive affect and well-being in non-stressed individuals.
• Future research should broaden theoretical definitions and explore the full range of restorative built settings.
Background
There is consistency of evidence on the link between school culture and student health. A positive school culture has been associated with positive child and youth development, effective risk prevention and health promotion efforts, with extensive evidence for the impact on student mental health. Interventions which focus on socio-cultural elements of school life, and which involve students actively in the process, are increasingly understood to be important for student mental health promotion. This qualitative study was undertaken in three UK secondary schools prior to the implementation of a participative action research study bringing students and staff together to identify changes to school culture that might impact student mental health. The aim was to identify how school culture is conceptualised by students, parents and staff in three UK secondary schools. A secondary aim was to explore which components of school culture were perceived to be most important for student mental health.
Methods
Across three schools, 27 staff and seven parents participated in in-depth interviews, and 28 students participated in four focus groups. The Framework Method of thematic analysis was applied.
Results
Respondents identified elements of school culture that aligned into four dimensions; structure and context, organisational and academic, community, and safety and support. There was strong evidence of the interdependence of the four dimensions in shaping the culture of a school.
Conclusions
School staff who seek to shape and improve school culture as a means of promoting student mental health may have better results if this interdependence is acknowledged, and improvements are addressed across all four dimensions.
Conflict between children's activities has been recognized as one of the main barriers to school recess play; however, the role of school design in shaping the conflict is not sufficiently known, particularly from children's perspectives. This study's primary objective is to investigate the topic in the context of primary school grounds with 8–10 year-old children to understand the nature of play activities that are not compatible and the role of school layout in shaping the conflict between them. By using behavior mapping, walking tours and focus groups in three Australian primary school playgrounds, this paper showed that to avoid conflict, children preferred play settings organized around distinct zones. Children identified the character of each zone by the affordances it contained, the governing school rules, and the activities it supported. They asked for multiple separate zones for gross motor activities, and for each social group to play with their own year and gender. They also required physical barriers and sufficient buffer space around play settings to prevent disruption. The discussion suggests interventions in school layouts that help avoid conflict between children's activities and ultimately enhance their engagement in self-directed play.
The role of unstructured nature-based play in children’s wellbeing, health and learning is a significant focus in research into child development and is increasingly a concern for schools and early childhood settings. There is a groundswell of interest in redesigning children’s outdoor playspaces to better support diverse, nature-based play experiences. Additionally, broad interest in promoting children’s rights and perspectives in matters that concern them has stimulated efforts to involve children in this redesign. This paper reports a case study of a playspace redevelopment project in an Australian primary school, aiming to support greater play diversity in the school grounds. The redevelopment project was led by a teacher who actively involved students in designing and building the space. We consider the extent to which the children were able to define an institutionalised playspace, discussing the complexity of child agency as it relates to the curricularisation and regulation of learning and play. Our analysis suggests the children’s engagements with the playspace were complex and multiform, involving both their agentic definition and inhabitation of the space and their interpellation into adult worlds. Implications are identified for practitioners and researchers interested in child agency and voice in outdoor school playspace redesign.
Purpose
Establishing healthy lifestyle behaviours in primary school children is important, as these behaviours are likely to track into adulthood. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing physical activity (PA) in primary school children through their perspectives.
Approach
Eleven focus group discussions and one interview were conducted with 52 children (n = 29 girls) aged 9–12 years from two primary schools in Singapore. Data analyses were conducted using thematic analysis, deductively following the socio-ecological model (SEM) and inductively for themes at each SEM level.
Results
At individual level, children’s perceived enjoyment, health benefits and expectation of rewards motivated them to engage in PA, while time constraints and their apathy towards PA hindered PA engagement. Children’s PA occasions at home were reported to be influenced by parental permission, priorities and availability, and the availability of preferred peers. Physical environmental factors such as opportunities for PA in school, access to facilities for PA and weather influenced children’s time spent on PA and the types of activities they engaged in.
Conclusion
This study summarized some factors that children have reported to influence their PA behaviour. These findings could help inform future interventions aimed at promoting PA among primary school children in Singapore.
Children have less opportunity for contact with nature in our increasingly urbanised lifestyle yet natural environments play an important role in children’s health and development. Children spend considerable amount of their daily time at school hence school grounds are recognised as crucial settings that can increase children’s interaction with nature. However, little is known about the children’s preferences for the physical characteristics of various natural settings in schools. This qualitative study used walking tours, focus groups and behaviour mapping to identify the types of natural settings that primary school children preferred in three Australian school grounds. The study also documented children’s age and gender and the differences and similarities between the ways they used these settings. Thematic analysis revealed multiple physical characteristics of natural settings preferred by children in the school environments. These characteristics include physical features of different plant species, spatial location of the natural settings, their physical boundaries, and their condition. The results showed that children’s preferred natural settings featured elements that offered affordances to their play; were located along the playground edges; were often marked with boundaries that defined their play areas; and were well-maintained. This paper argues that vegetation in school grounds is important, but its presence is not enough to boost children’s interaction with natural environments. The type, context, and condition of natural settings should also be considered for children’s increased engagement with nature and be taken into account in the design and management of school grounds.
The study employed a qualitative multiple case study approach to investigate second-grade students’ perceptions of their classrooms’ physical learning environment. Data were collected through interviews, participant-generated photographs, and observations. Participants in the study were 16 students in four classrooms in three school districts. A physical learning environment tool, Assessing the Pillars of the Physical Environment for Academic Learning (APPEAL), developed by Evanshen and Faulk and published in 2019, was used to select classrooms to participate in the study. According to the scale, the top-scoring classrooms were more learner-centered (more constructivist) than the lowest-scoring (more traditional) classrooms. Generally, participants believed that classroom physical learning environments that were best for them were meaningful, offered easy access to resources and materials, and provided active learning and social engagement opportunities. Both physical and emotional comfort were important to participants. There were more similarities than differences between the participants’ perceptions in the classrooms that scored highest on the APPEAL and the classes that scored lowest. The findings suggested that young children’s perceptions of the environment can be influenced by their experiences or contexts and their differences. The results encourage teachers of young children to think about their students as actively affected by their environment and challenge them to design classroom physical learning environments that support the diverse needs of students within these spaces.
Background
Schools and school climate are thought to influence academic outcomes as well as child and adolescent development, health and well-being. We sought to examine the relationship between several aspects of the school climate with adolescent social-emotional health outcomes.
Methods
We analysed data from the Reducing Inequities through Social and Educational change Follow-up (RISE UP) Study, a longitudinal natural experimental study of Los Angeles high school students collected from 2013 to 2018. We analysed data on the portion of the sample that completed the baseline, 10th grade and 11th grade surveys ( n =1114). Students reported their perceptions of school climate at 10th grade and social-emotional outcomes including grit, self-efficacy, depression, hopelessness, and stress at baseline (9th grade) and at 11th grade. Multivariable regressions adjusted for student and parental demographics and baseline social-emotional states tested associations between school climate and each outcome.
Results
Students who reported being in authoritative school environments in 10th grade, one that is highly supportive and highly structured, had subsequently higher levels of self-efficacy ( p < 0.001) and grit ( p =0.01). They also had fewer depressive symptoms ( p =0.008), and less hopelessness ( p = 0.01), stress at school ( p =0.002) and stress about the future ( p =0.03) reported in 11th grade.
Conclusions
School climate, and particularly an authoritative school environment, is strongly associated with better social-emotional health among adolescents. Relationship with teachers and their disciplinary style may be a focus for future interventions to improve the social-emotional health of children.
Because not much is known about children’s subjective well-being (SWB) in educational spaces, our objective was to analyze children’s drawings of their ideal school environment, emphasizing the importance of obtaining the children’s perspective. To do so, we analyzed Luxembourgish primary school children’s drawings (n = 150; age 10) using visual grounded theory methodology. The results were centered on 10 main underlying themes that indicated children’s conceptualizations of their dream school in which particular attention was paid to the design of the school buildings, playgrounds, and classrooms. Children’s written inputs showed the boundaries of visual expression, as they mentioned different desires beyond those conveyed by the drawings. In addition to fancy aesthetics of the school environment, material conditions such as playground facilities were found to be a significant part of the children’s dream schools. Our analyses offer meaningful insights into children’s perceptions of an educational environment that fosters well-being, thereby functioning as a blueprint for adults’ efforts to improve schools in a more child-friendly manner.
Focus groups are becoming increasingly popular in research, especially in parent and child research. Focus group interviews allow participants to tell their own stories, express their opinions, and even draw pictures without having to adhere to a strict sequence of questions. This method is very suitable for collecting data from children, youths, and parents. However, focus group interviews must be carefully planned and conducted. The literature on focus group interviews with adult participants is extensive, but there are no current summaries of the most important issues to consider when conducting focus group interviews with children, youths, or parents. This article outlines the use of focus groups in child, youth, and parent research and the important factors to be considered when planning, conducting, and analyzing focus groups with children, youths, or parents.
Despite the important role of outdoor school environments in children’s recess, school ground design does not often manage to support children’s self-directed play. This paper argues for the value of so called ‘in-between spaces’ for children in outdoor school environments that has not been studied sufficiently from their perspectives. Employing a socio-ecological framework, this participatory qualitative study used three methods to identify the multiple environmental characteristics of in-between spaces that support children’s self-directed play. Sixty behaviour mapping sessions, 78 walking tours, and 18 focus groups were completed with children aged 8–10 during school recess. The context–sensitive data were collected in three public primary school grounds in Sydney, Australia. Using inductive thematic analysis, the physical, social and organisational characteristics of children’s chosen in-between spaces were identified. The results revealed that children’s preferred in-between spaces included small enclosures, edges and natural settings with affordances supporting their self-directed play. These spaces offered children an opportunity to redress gender imbalance and mitigate the impact of overcrowding, problems that often inhibited children’s self-directed play in the formal spaces of school grounds. Despite children’s interest in in-between spaces, they were not valued in school grounds and were often characterised as out-of-bounds where children were not allowed during the recess time. The discussion argues for the value of in-between spaces where children can find the support of all the environmental characteristics to operate their self-directed play. School design and school policy should recognise these spaces for their spatial value for children’s play in schools.
To identify current problems in the classroom and to conceptualize design solutions by primary school children to solve these problems, 335 children from seven primary schools participated in a workshop held in the Experience room of the SenseLab, comprising of two parts. In part 1, the children were asked to think about their own classroom at school and to choose an IEQ-problem in their own classroom that they are bothered with. In part 2 of the workshop, the children were asked to imagine they are an inventor or scientist in 2040 with all resources available and to make a design for the future. The content analysis of the problems and solutions appearing in the drawings and the written text resulted in 5 themes (light, noise, temperature, air and other than IEQ) and 16 sub-themes (11 for the problems and 5 for the solutions). Noise-related problems were most frequently reported (58%), followed by temperature (53%), air (22%), and light (16%). Girls reported more problems than boys, which is possibly related to a better recollection of negative feelings towards those problems in their classrooms. 47% of the children proposed solutions related to more than one IEQ-problem. Solutions ranged from existing solutions, for example headphones to protect against noise to far-fetched solutions such as send noisy children away by means of a rocket. The outcome showed that children can be valuable contributors in co-designing ‘new’ or ‘adapted’ classroom environments.
Girls are typically less active in the schoolyard during recess than boys. It is therefore necessary to understand influences on girls' recess activity in schoolyards. The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate girls' perceptions of physical environmental factors influencing recess physical activity in redesigned schoolyards and to compare the perceptions of girls from di↵erent age groups. In 2018, 50 girls from five Danish schools were interviewed using photo-elicitation. The girls were from Grade 4 (n = 28, age 10-11) and Grade 6 (n = 22, age 12-13). Data were analysed using pen profiles constructed from verbatim transcripts. Ten factors emerged: variety, accessibility, size, designated spaces, greenery, playground markings, active play facilities, sports facilities, play equipment, and speakers. Play facilities (trampolines, obstacle courses, dancing and gymnastic appliances) were favoured over traditional sport facilities. Designated spaces, greenery and speakers were important for feeling comfortable within the schoolyard. Although similar factors were raised by the two age groups, some factors were perceived as enablers by the youngest and as barriers by the oldest girls, highlighting the complexity of designing schoolyards that cater to all ages. A greater understanding of how di↵erent designs and facilities may be perceived by girls of di↵erent ages is important for the design of future schoolyards.
Children’s physical activity has long been the primary focus of outdoor playspace design. Other influences are adult views on risk and economic considerations. However, a growing body of research shows young children’s perspectives on their outdoor playspaces need to be accounted for. Positioned within a mixed-method comparative case study, this paper showcases the stories that young children have told during participatory research about two different early childhood outdoor playspaces. Recurrent wellbeing themes emerged highlighting children’s agency, place attachment and the need to hide. Analysis of the children’s stories indicated that a spacious open-ended environment, with significant natural features, selected built equipment and secluded spaces, fostered children’s experiences of wellbeing through play. Overcrowding, and a preponderance of artificial surfaces and materials appeared to work against children’s wellbeing. The findings indicate that good outdoor playspace design acknowledges the importance of place in children’s lives, and involves them in co-construction of their playspaces.
Children today are spending more sedentary time indoors than time playing and being active outdoors. The daily journey to and from school represents a valuable opportunity for children to be physically active through active school travel. The majority of research on children's active school travel omits children from the research process even though children interpret their environments in fundamentally different ways than adults. Our research uses innovative participatory mapping and qualitative GIS methods to examine how children's perceptions of their environments influence their school journey experiences. Through our thematic analysis of 25 map-based focus groups, we identified three main themes characterizing barriers and enablers to active school travel: safety-related, material, and affective features. By positioning children as experts of their environments in our participatory methodology, our findings provide an important counterpoint to the adultist privilege characterizing the majority of research on children's active school travel. Environmental features that mattered for children's school journeys took on multiple meanings in their eyes, demonstrating that children's perspectives must be engaged to inform interventions to promote active school travel. We thus argue that identifying barriers and enablers to active school travel for children requires engaging children's views. © 2018 The Authors. The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien Published by Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of Canadian Association of Geographers / l'Association canadienne des géographes.
The business case for wellbeing is now an influential agenda in the built environment. Increasing demand for user-centred environments means evidence-based design proven to deliver wellbeing outcomes for end users is essential. The challenge is to effectively capture and disseminate this evidence to a range of expert and non-expert audiences. Further, being able to make the link between increased wellbeing and an increase in the productivity, or performance, of building users requires new definitions and methods. An innovative wellbeing valuation approach is presented, consisting of a multi-item scale to measure and quantify the wellbeing outcomes experienced by building users, and impact reporting techniques using Social Return on Investment to produce transferable, monetised evaluation metrics. This combination has the capability to communicate the value of design in a powerful and accessible manner. Wellbeing valuation metrics represent an opportunity to develop new user-driven knowledge and shape the built environment in positive ways.
Practical application: Wellbeing has become an influential agenda in the built environment in recent years, suggesting that user-centred priorities will become increasingly significant to the design and construction sector. The wellbeing valuation approach presented represents an innovative blend of a psychological wellbeing model, quantitative measurement and financial reporting to produce transferable metrics to communicate the value of design in a powerful and transformative manner. Wellbeing valuation is a nascent practice, but it provides the professions with opportunities to collaborate with end users and develop new knowledge about buildings, enhancing the ability of practitioners to shape the built environment in positive ways.
The aim of the study was to know the factors that influence boys and girls’ perceptions for performing physical activity during playground recess from their own perspective. Ninety-eight schoolchildren aged 8–11 years from five schools from Cuenca (Spain) participated in 22 focus groups and carried out 98 drawings following the socioecological model as a theoretical framework. A content analysis of the transcripts from the focus groups and drawings was carried out by three researchers. Results showed that, in spite of boys and girls identified same barriers, there were gender differences in their perceptions. Gender socialization was the key as central category and helped to understand these differences. Boys preferred play football and this sport had a monopoly on the recess space. Weather was a barrier for boys. Girls and boys, who did not play football, were relegated to peripheral areas and lack of materials was a barrier for them. Teachers were a barrier for all children who did not play football. Thus, in order to promote recess physical activity, researchers, teachers and educational policy makers should take into account gender socialization and promote inclusive non-curricular physical activity in schools.
A vast literature exploring environmental influences on human health and well-being has provided renewed interest in connecting planning for the built environment with health initiatives. In response, planners and urban designers have been tasked with translating this knowledge into spatial planning and design schemes. This paper responds to an identified need for a conceptually-informed framework for green space planning and design for health and well-being that moves beyond attribute-descriptive studies. The notion of an 'affordances star' is proposed as a means to maximise the functionality and inclusivity of green space for health and well-being.
This study aims to understand how children perceive their environment, exploring the affordances children perceive to influence their physical activity (PA) behaviour when outside. Participants included boys and girls aged 10–12 years (n = 15) living in Scotland. Children's visual and verbal representations of their perceived environment were analysed to assess environmental determinants of PA. The findings suggested that physical affordances that offer a sense of risk were important to children's play spaces. Social affordances influenced where the children went in their environment and the features they utilised as part of play behaviour; strangers were considered threatening depending on whether the activity was recognised.
The purpose of this study was to determine how the design and organisation of primary school playground spaces may result in the inclusion or exclusion of some groups of children. Two primary school playgrounds in rural New South Wales, Australia, were selected for this investigation. Data were collected through observations and unstructured interactional interviews. Data analysis revealed the design and organisation of primary school play spaces may lead to segregation among school children. Gender, safety concerns and school rules were also established as factors restricting full use of the playground space. The identification of these factors is vital in guiding future school reform programmes and policies aimed at enhancing participation in play and a sense of belonging for all children. The results suggest that there is need to promote schools’ understandings of the significance of playground spaces in children’s social lives so children can fully benefit from the time they spend in school playgrounds.
School playgrounds are important physical activity (PA) environments for children, yet only a small number of children reaches the target of 40% of moderate-to-vigorous PA time during recess. The aim of this study was to explore children's perspectives (i.e., child-identified determinants) of activity-friendly school playgrounds. We conducted participatory research with children as co-researchers, framed as a project to give children the opportunity to discuss their views and ideas about their school playgrounds. At three schools, six children (9-12 years old) met over five to seven group meetings. Data analysis included children's conclusions obtained during the project and the researcher's analysis of written reports of all meetings. Children indicated a strong desire for fun and active play, with physical playground characteristics and safety, rules and supervision, peer-interactions, and variation in equipment/games as important determinants. Our results indicate that improving activity-friendliness of playgrounds requires an integrated and multi-faceted approach. It also indicates that children, as primary users, are able to identify barriers for active play that are easily overlooked, unknown or differently perceived by adults. Hence, we believe that structural involvement of children in designing, developing and improving playgrounds may increase children's' active play and consequently PA levels during recess.
Background : The School Children Mental Health in Europe (SCMHE) project aims to build up a set of indicators to collect and monitor children's mental health in an efficient and comparable methodology across the EU countries. It concerns primary schools children aged 6 to 11 years a range where few data are available whereas school interventions are promising. Methods : Three informants were used: parents, teachers and children. In selecting instruments language, instruments were selected according to the easiness to translate them: SDQ (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) for parents and teachers and DI (Dominic Interactive). A two-step procedure was used: schools randomization then six children by class in each grade. Results : 9084 children from seven countries (Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Turkey) completed the Dominic Interactive in their own language. 6563 teachers and 6031 parents completed their questionnaire, and a total of 5574 interviews have been completed by the 3 informants. The participation rate of the children with parents in the participating schools was about 66.4%. As expected teachers report more externalised problems and less internalised problems than parents. Children report more internalised problems than parents and teachers. Boys have consistently more externalised problems than girls and this is the reverse for internalised problems. Combining the diverse informants and impairment levels children with problems requiring some sort of mental health care were about 9.9%: 76% did not see any mental health professional: 78.7% In Eastern countries 63.1% in Western Europe.
Background
Many children, in particular girls, do not reach the recommended amount of daily physical activity. School recess provides an opportunity for both boys and girls to be physically active, but barriers to recess physical activity are not well understood. This study explores gender differences in children’s perceptions of barriers to recess physical activity. Based on the socio-ecological model four types of environmental barriers were distinguished: natural, social, physical and organizational environment.
Methods
Data were collected through 17 focus groups (at 17 different schools) with in total 111 children (53 boys) from fourth grade, with a mean age of 10.4 years. The focus groups included an open group discussion, go-along group interviews, and a gender segregated post-it note activity. A content analysis of the post-it notes was used to rank the children’s perceived barriers. This was verified by a thematic analysis of transcripts from the open discussions and go-along interviews.
Results
The most frequently identified barriers for both boys and girls were weather, conflicts, lack of space, lack of play facilities and a newly-found barrier, use of electronic devices. While boys and girls identified the same barriers, there were both inter- and intra-gender differences in the perception of these barriers. Weather was a barrier for all children, apart from the most active boys. Conflicts were perceived as a barrier particularly by those boys who played ballgames. Girls said they would like to have more secluded areas added to the school playground, even in large schoolyards where lack of space was not a barrier. This aligned with girls’ requests for more “hanging-out” facilities, whereas boys primarily wanted activity promoting facilities.
Conclusion
Based on the results from this study, we recommend promoting recess physical activity through a combination of actions, addressing barriers within the natural, social, physical and organizational environment.
Adolescents who do not seek help from others, concealing their problems, make it difficult for teachers to detect students' mental health problems early and provide preventive interventions. Individual interviews of secondary-school teachers (n = 15; 8 men and 7 women) were conducted for this study, where they were asked to report their experiences of providing support to students who did not seek help but were deemed to need it. The analysis was based on thematic analysis and the Trajectory Equifinality Model. The 26 cases (11 boys and 15 girls) included in the final analysis were categorized into four problem areas: family problems, school refusal, developmental disabilities , and interpersonal relationships at school, and the interaction processes in each problem domain were described. The results identified effective support behaviors that were common to all problem domains, such as environmental adjustment, as well as support behaviors that were effective for specific problem domains, such as support developing future vision and one-on-one tailored approach. However, it was also indicated that direct interventions without consent from the student risk breaking the connection between schools and students. Future research in other cultures with different teacher roles, and studies for the purpose of theory generation are indicated.
Participatory school ground design projects have acknowledged benefits for children’s sense of empowerment, ownership and learning, but the play behaviour outcomes of these school ground projects are less understood. The aim was to investigate the use of a renovated school ground in Colorado, USA that had engaged students in the redesign process. Behaviour mapping investigated the spatial distribution of children’s (n = 342) play behaviours, through observations of active, constructive, imaginative, reflective and conversational school ground play. Walk-along and semi-structured interviews with 52 students aged 5–13 years and 9 school staff explored views of the school ground design post-construction. The results indicate that there were aspects of the school ground design that warranted further improvement to facilitate social interaction, girls’ preferred play choices, and older children’s sense of challenge in the school ground. The research presents design recommendations and reflects upon the benefits of continued community engagement in school redesign.
Adopting the “Drawing the Ideal School” technique based on Personal Construct Psychology, the aim of the study was to explore the realities and constructs of school held by eight young people (aged 12). In answer to “what do young people think makes a non-ideal school”, 10 main themes emerged; inadequate physical environment, inadequate learning experience, people demonstrate undesirable qualities, bullying, lack of safety and security, ineffective communication, inequality, “pupils are very misbehaved”, lack of play and fun, and isolation. This non-ideal school made young people feel unhappy, stressed, and fearful. Ten “ideal school” themes were where young people feel gratified and motivated: positive learning experience; people demonstrate positive qualities; high-quality environment; access to nature; play; sense of safety and security; positive school ethos; being listened to; friendship; and choice about uniform, These findings were used to inform local authority policy and development of training in whole school nurture.
The pedagogical aspect of school design is so significant that it cannot be ignored, especially in terms of meeting today's changing needs and expectations. Pupils interest-one of the main and end-users of schools-should be decisive in the school design. However, pupils opinions as a stakeholder, on the design process have not been adequately taken into consideration yet. In this regard, this study was conducted in a rural (village) and urban (central) middle school with the participation of a total of 20 students. In this qualitative study, card sorting and semi-structured individual interview techniques were used incrementally. Schools with different designs were examined for card sorting technique and the concept cards were finalized based on the evaluation of the experts in the field of architecture. The data obtained were analyzed by content analysis method and design elements preferred by students in school design were determined. In-depth data were obtained during the interview and then themed in the context of students preferences regarding design elements.
School buildings’ being not very high-rise and having a large and green garden are the primary elements determining the preferences of the students in exterior designs. For classroom design, elements such as brightness (daylight) and spaciousness, density (the number of students), flexibility, and functionality were highlighted. The width of corridors, the sitting areas and stairs designed in different geometrical structures were the determining factors in the students preferences.
Objective:
Research indicates that natural features surrounding schools are associated with better academic achievement, enhanced focus, and reduced stress in students. However, few studies have examined the associations between school landscape elements and anxiety, depression, and behavioral concerns in students. The purpose of this study was to determine whether greenery and impervious surfaces surrounding schools are associated with student internalizing and externalizing problems.
Method:
Fifth-grade students (n = 21,378) reported internalizing and externalizing behaviors on the 2016 Minnesota Student Survey, an anonymous school-based survey administered statewide. Geographic information system landscape data were available for 268 schools in metropolitan areas. We calculated the percentages of tree canopy, grass and shrub cover, and impervious surfaces within 300- and 500-m radius areas around each school building. Multilevel regression models evaluated the associations between student-level internalizing and externalizing behaviors and school-level landscape percentages, controlling for sex, race, and free/reduced-price lunch.
Results:
Students attending metropolitan schools with a higher percentage of impervious surfaces were more likely to report externalizing behaviors and marginally more internalizing symptoms than students in schools with a lower percentage of impervious surfaces. Higher percentages of tree canopy and grass and shrub cover surrounding schools were not associated with internalizing or externalizing behaviors.
Conclusion:
Increased impervious surfaces around schools in metropolitan areas were related to increased student externalizing behaviors. Further studies are necessary to understand the significance of the built environment, types of greenery, impact of greenery on student adjustment in nonmetropolitan settings, and varying areas surrounding schools. These results could inform initiatives to improve school landscapes.
In England 193,657 children were identified as having their primary special education needs as Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) difficulties (DfE, 2018a). Schools are increasingly responsible for supporting these children, yet their voices are rarely represented. Through semi-structured interviews the views of eleven children aged 6-11-years with SEMH difficulties were sought. Using thematic analysis two themes were identified – (1) social relationships and interactions, and (2) emotional and behavioural reactions. The children demonstrated that they were articulate and reflective about the impact their difficulties have in the learning environment. For some, they reported building and maintaining close reciprocal friendships which they felt enriched their time at school. It was concluded that children with SEMH difficulties need to feel safe and supported by adults to flourish in school. This work demonstrates the importance of taking a child-centred approach, allowing children to feel heard, understood, and valued.
Insights into children’s perceptions of their changing recess geographies are absent. The current paper provides qualitative evidence from 5 renewed schoolyards by investigating children’s perceptions of their new schoolyards. Ten focus groups (2 at each school) including go-along interviews were conducted, in total 57 4 to 8 graders (28 girls). The functional aspects of the altered child–environment relationship were assessed using Gibson’s concept of affordance, and changes in the meanings ascribed to the schoolyards by the children were studied by engaging a concept of place. Our findings reveal that schoolyards offering multiple potential affordances for physical activity seem more likely to engage a broader group of children in recess physical activity. The analysis, however, could point to a difference between places designed for children’s play and places where children actually play. To optimise actualisation of the potential affordances for recess physical activity, involving children throughout intervention planning and decision-making is crucial.
In Bangladesh, school grounds are usually barren areas devoid of any designed features. This study explored children’s, teachers’ and parents’ views of what would constitute an effective school ground for learning, socialising and playing at primary schools in rural Bangladesh. Working within the theory of behaviour settings to design school grounds, several methods were applied: focus groups with children, teachers and parents, a drawing session with children and a child-led/teacher supported model-making workshop. The results suggest that children want to connect with nature, to explore their environment, to challenge themselves, to be physically active and to socialise with friends. They also wanted their school ground to be more attractive. The parents highly valued gardening whereas teachers preferred an area with loose materials where the children could learn by themselves. None of these ideas were mutually exclusive and the subsequent design was able to incorporate elements from all groups.
Existing research on visual comfort conducted with children has focused on the impacts of lighting on their academic performance and not specifically on preferences. The aim of this study is to present a multimethod approach to identify children’s preferences for luminous environments and window views in preschool classrooms. The study was conducted in six classrooms in Florianópolis (Brazil) in 2016, with approximately 84 children. More than 240 preference votes for luminous environment and 83 preference votes for window views were obtained, and 253 drawings of preferred elements of the views were produced. The reasons for the preferences of the children were investigated by reviewing the content of the surveys and drawings. The association of age, gender and physical environment with the preferences was investigated. The results indicated that young children can differentiate lighting needs according to the activity performed. Visual contact with the view seen through the classroom window was important to the children, with a higher preference for natural views. Of the relationships tested, “age” was the personal variable that was neither associated with the preference for the use of curtains, nor artificial lighting. Although a tendency between gender and the type of preferred window view was identified, such relationship was not statistically significant. Based on the methodological approach used for data collection methodological recommendations are presented for future research. This work underlines the need to involve young children in studies of visual comfort, as they can provide valuable information from their own experiences of built spaces.
Greening schoolyards is an initiative to reconnect children with nature and afford meaningful experiences that foster children’s well-being. To strengthen the empirical basis for greening schoolyards, we conducted a longitudinal prospective intervention study with a two-year follow-up, to investigate the impact of greening schoolyards on schoolchildren’s (age 7–11) appreciation of the schoolyard, and their physical, cognitive, and social-emotional well-being. Data were collected amongst nine elementary schools in moderate-to-high-urbanized areas in The Netherlands with approximately 700 children at each measurement. At baseline, all nine schoolyards were paved. Five schools greened their schoolyard between baseline and first-follow-up. Objective measurements included accelero-based measurements of physical activity during recess, attentional tests (Digit Letter Substitution Test, Natu & Argwal, 1995; Sky Search Task, Manly et al., 2001) and a social orientation test (Social Orientation Choice Card, Knight, 1981). Self-report questionnaires included children’s appreciation of the schoolyard (naturalness, likability, attractiveness and perceived restoration), and their social- and emotional well-being (Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, van Widenfelt, Goedhart, Treffers & Goodman, 2003; Social Support, RIVM, 2005; Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, Varni, Seid & Kurtin, 2001). Multilevel data analyses support our expectation that greening has a positive impact on children’s appreciation of the schoolyard, their attentional restoration after recess and social well-being. Furthermore, our results indicate that greening stimulates physical activity of girls. We found no impact on emotional well-being. These findings provide some support for the relevance of greening schoolyards and may guide further development of schoolyards that facilitate the well-being of schoolchildren.
The design and use of outdoor spaces for primary school teaching and learning has been given little consideration in the present context. The existing evidence base is mostly from western perspectives. In this study, an outdoor classroom was designed and built in a primary school in Bangladesh and used to teach children (n = 30) their science curriculum. Multiple methods were used to investigate the impact of the outdoor classroom on students’ learning and engagement, including achievement tests, a questionnaire and focus groups with children and teachers. Children’s science scores were significantly higher after they had been taught outdoors, compared to indoors. Physical qualities of their outdoor classroom (lighting, acoustics, seating), in addition to greater enjoyment and active participation in learning likely explained improved attainment. Qualitative insights from children and teachers supported the quantitative findings. These results provide empirical support for building outdoor classrooms as an effective environment for teaching and learning.
This paper draws on findings from a pilot project conducted at an inner city primary school in Melbourne, Australia. Inviting grade six girls and boys (aged eleven and twelve) to focus on spaces of their schoolground, we learned about the ways in which gender, age, ethnicity, language ability and sporting competence influenced active play and belonging. Informed by the understanding that schoolgrounds, gender and active play are socially constructed, and children are active agents in these constructions, the paper examines how girls and boys consider and negotiate spatial politics. The methods of participant-led photography, focus groups and thematic analysis, reveal how children understand gendered spatialities. A strong story emerged of girls’ experience of exclusion from active play spaces in particular, providing a perspective on the spatial and social performance of gender. The findings highlight the value of integrating a spatial analysis of schoolgrounds – and the gendered dynamics therein – for health, education and equity programmes.
Based on research conducted as part of the Sydney Playground Project, this paper provides an exploratory investigation of the perspectives of girls relating to the ideal school playground experience, and whether their perspectives are influenced by a loose-parts playground intervention. The focus is on the play behaviours of 22 girls aged 8–10 years, from the perspective that school playgrounds are generally designed in ways that are more suited to the play behaviours of boys. The research is based on a qualitative analysis of children’s drawings, interviews and focus groups, exploring meanings associated with desired play experiences. Findings indicate that girls’ views of the ideal school playground are influenced by the geographies of the spaces they play in, and that girls highly valued changes provided by a loose-parts intervention.
Previous research linking favourite places and restorative environments hypothesises that place memory and place attachment can be implicated in restorative perceptions of place. In the present study, conducted with an online paradigm, 234 Finnish residents rated an imagined favourite place on place memory properties, place attachment, and imagined restorative perceptions. Autobiographical and positive affective properties of place memory were consistently predictive of perceived restorative potential of place. Attachment in the form of place identity and place dependence also positively predicted of restorative perceptions, and mediated certain relationships between memory properties and restorative perceptions. These findings highlight the relevance of top-down processing of restorative environments according to past experiences and individual attachments. This understudied topic may shed light on semantic values underpinning restoration in a range of settings, including favourite places.
In the present research, we evaluated the restorative impacts of green walls with living plants in classrooms of two elementary schools using a controlled, prospective design with baseline measurements and follow-ups at 2 and 4 months. At each time of measurement, children’s (n = 170, age = 7-10) cognitive performance, well-being, and classroom evaluations were measured with attentional tests and self-report questionnaires. Results show that children in the four classrooms where a green wall was placed, as compared with children in control groups, scored better on a test for selective attention; processing speed was not affected by the green wall. The green wall also positively influenced children’s classroom evaluations. There were no measurable effects of the green wall on children’s self-reported well-being. The green walls were generally evaluated positively during the two follow-ups. These results provide some of the first empirical support for green walls as a means for restorative classroom design.
Elementary school-aged children, teachers, and parents all agreed that a clean, well-maintained building, student work displayed, the walls painted suitable colors, and an easily identifiable main office contributed to a welcoming environment in their school. Students, however, were more likely to disagree with the adults about the cleanliness of the school building, the particular color for the walls, and the amount of student work displayed For example, students were more likely to indicate that the toilers and classrooms were dirty and therefore the school was nor clean while the teachers and adults focused on the cleanliness of the public areas. The majority of all users considered their school to be safe, but the teachers and students were more likely than the parents to mention that locked outside doors contributed to a sense of safety. School designers, planners, and administrators should note that children as young as nine years old are aware of their physical surroundings and can identify positive and negative features of a school building. The importance of the physical environment in creating a social environment conducive to learning is discussed along with recommendations for future research in this area.
This study presents the relationship between "perceived restorative potential" (PRP) and "preference" for an environment with respect to their relationship with the restorative components outlined by attention restoration theory (ART) in two categories: urban built landscape (UBL) and urban natural landscape (UNL). In this experimental study, 120 participants from University Putra Malaysia (Serdang, Malaysia) rated four restorative components, the PRP and "preference" of 24 color slides depicting UBL and UNL scenes. The results showed that "preference" and PRP was moderately correlated in UNL and UBL. "Compatibility" was found to be the most influential variable among all the restorative components in explaining PRP and "preference" in both UNL and UBL. However, "fascination" appeared to be the second most significant predictor of "preference" in UNL, whereas "being away" was the second most significant predictor of PRP in UNL. Furthermore, "coherence" predicted "preference" but it did not predict PRP in UNL. "Being away" and "coherence" were distinct components of PRP and "preference" and of UNL and UBL.
Although researchers have not always recognized the value of engaging children in qualitative studies, it is now widely accepted that interviews and focus groups with children can provide a rich understanding of family life. As qualitative research with children continues to mount, the literature explicating good practice for conducting interviews and focus groups with children has not kept pace. Differences between children and adults need to be considered throughout the interview process. Researchers need guidance in flexibly adapting their methods to match children's developing cognitive, linguistic, social, and psychological competencies. This article draws on extant literature and lessons learned by a novice qualitative researcher to provide concrete recommendations for conducting interviews and focus groups with school‐age children.
