The intention of this article is to propose the aesthetic dimension of school design as a valid interest for school leaders and an important subject of inquiry for those who generate the research which informs them. John Dewey's ideas about aesthetics are presented as a philosophical foundation while his methods of active reflection provide the strategy for implementation. The article identifies opportunities for reflective administrative practice contained within the events of renovating or building a school. It also suggests foci for future research into community and the physical spaces they create for learning.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BairdJ. C.1982. “Aesthetic Factors in Adult and Child Evaluation of Visual Space,” in Mind Child Architecture, BairdJ. C., and LutkusA. D., eds., Hanover and London: University Press of New England, pp. 89–109.
2.
BairdJ. C., and LutkusA. D.1982. “From Spatial Perception to Architectural Construction,” in Mind Child Architecture, BairdJ. C., and LutkusA. D., eds., Hanover and London: University Press of New England, pp. 3–22.
3.
BarnardH.1970. School Architecture or Contributions to the Improvement of Schoolhouses in the United States.New York: Teachers College Press.
4.
BerlyneD. E.1960. Conflict, Arousal and Personality.New York: McGraw Hill.
5.
BernerM. M.1993. “Building Conditions, Parental Involvement, and Student Achievement in the District of Columbia Public School System,”Urban Education, 28(1): 6–29.
6.
BernerM. M.1995. “Buildings Matter: The Connection between School Building Conditions and Student Achievement in Washington, D.C.,” in Designing Places for Learning, MeekA., ed., Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and Scottsdale, Arizona: The Council of Educational Facility Planners, International, pp. 85–87.
7.
BinglerS.1995. “Place as a Form of Knowledge,” in Designing Places for Learning, MeekA., ed., Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and Scottsdale, Arizona: The Council of Educational Facility Planners, International, pp. 23–30.
8.
CasserlyM. D., BassS. A., and GarrettJ. R.1980. School Vandalism.Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
9.
CutlerW. W.1989. “Cathedral of Culture: The Schoolhouse in American Educational Thought and Practice since 1820,”History of Education Quarterly, 29(1): 1–40.
10.
DeweyJ.1922. Human Nature and Conduct.New York: Modern Library.
11.
DeweyJ.1935. “J. D. to William James, 6 May, 1891,” in The Thought and Character of William James, Volume 2, PerryR. B., ed., Boston: Little Brown, p. 516.
12.
DeweyJ.1989a. “Dewey Outlines Utopian Schools,” in Volume IX: The Later Works 1925–1952, BoystonJ., ed., Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, pp. 136–140 (first published 1933).
13.
DeweyJ.1989b. “Art as Experience,” in Volume X: The Later Works 1925–1952, BoystonJ., ed., Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, pp. 1–374 (first published 1934).
14.
DuffyP. M.1992. “Classrooms and Their Users: A Conceptual Mapping of Research on the Physical Environment of Schools,” unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.
15.
GumpP. V.1987. “School and Classroom Environments.” in Handbook of Environmental Psychology, StokolsD., and AltmanI., eds., New York: Wiley, pp. 691–731.
16.
Health, Education and Human Services Division.1995. School Facilities: Condition of America's Schools.Washington, D. C.: U. S. General Accounting Office.
17.
KetchenH.1958. Color Planning for Business and Industry.New York: Harper and Brothers.
KritchevskyS., and PrescottE.1969. Planning Environments for Young Children: Physical Space.Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
20.
MaslowA. H., and MintzN. L.1956. “Effects of Aesthetic Surroundings,”Journal of Psychology, 41: 247–254.
21.
MayronE. L., MayronL. W., NationsR., and OttJ.1974. “Light, Radiation and Academic Behavior,”Academic Therapy, 10: 34–47.
22.
McCahanR. D., WillowerD. J., and KnadeO. W.1993. “School Superintendents on the Politics of School Construction,”ASSA Professor, 16(1): 1–5.
23.
McGuffeyC. W.1982. “Facilities,” in Improving Educational Standards and Productivity: The Research Basis for Policy, WalbeyH. J., ed., Berkeley, CA: McCutchen Publishing Co., pp. 237–288.
24.
MehrabianA., and DiamondS. G.1971. “Effects of Furniture Arrangement, Props, and Personality on Social Interaction,”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 20: 18–30.
25.
MooreG. T., and LackneyJ. A.1993. “School Design: Crisis, Educational Performance and Design Applications,”Children's Environments, 10(2): 99–112.
26.
OrtizF. I.1994. Schoolhousing; Planning and Designing Educational Facilities.Albany: State University of New York Press.
27.
ProshankyH. M., and O'HanlonT.1977. “Environmental Psychology: Origins and Development,” in Perspectives on the Environment and Behavior, StokolsD., ed., New York: Plenum Press, pp. 101–129.
28.
RutterM., MoreghanB., MortimoreP., and OustonJ.1979. Fifteen Thousand Hours: Secondary Schools and Their Effect on Children.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
29.
SommerR., and OlsenJ.1980. “The Soft Classroom,”Environment and Behavior, 1: 3–16.
30.
WeinsteinC. S.1979. “The Physical Environment of the School: A Review of the Research,”Review of Educational Research, 49: 577–610.
31.
WeinsteinC. S.1981. “Classroom Design as an External Condition for Learning,”Educational Technology, 21(8): 12–19.
32.
WeinsteinC. S.1993. “Designing the Physical Environment,” in Elementary Classroom Management: Lessons from Research and Practice, WeinsteinC. S., and MignanoA. J., eds., New York: McGraw Hill, pp. 27–48.
33.
WestbrookR. B.1991. John Dewey on American Democracy.Cornell: Cornell University Press.
34.
WillowerD. J.1994. “Dewey's Theory of Inquiry and Reflective Administration,”Journal of Educational Administration, 32(1): 5–22.
35.
WolfarthH.1986. Color and Light Effects on Students’ Achievement, Behavior and Physiology.Edmonton, Alberta: Alberta Education.
