• 2025-EDSpaces_A2Z-logo_325x120px
  • The Show
      • SHOW
        • About
        • Agenda
        • Search Vendors + Products
        • Floor Plan
        • Features + Events
        • Partners + Contributors
        • Sponsors
        • Mobile App
        • FAQs
      • ATTEND
        • Why Attend?
        • Pricing + Registration
        • Scholarship Program
        • Designed Learning Spaces
        • Campus Safety & Security
      • EXHIBIT
        • Why Exhibit / Inquire
        • Exhibitor Resources Center
        • Exhibitor Sales Meetings
        • Product Innovation Awards
      • CONFERENCE
        • EDsessions
        • Learning Experiences
        • Speakers
        • EDfacility Tours
        • Plenary Keynote Session
        • EDchannels Symposium
      • PLAN YOUR TRIP
        • Book Your Hotel
        • Location + Parking
  • MEDIA
    • Articles
    • Press Releases
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • .
  • THE SHOW
    • SHOW
      • About
      • Agenda
      • Search Vendors + Products
      • Floor Plan
      • Features + Events
      • Partners + Contributors
      • Sponsors
      • Mobile App
      • FAQs
    • ATTEND
      • Why Attend?
      • Pricing + Registration
      • Scholarship Program
      • NEW AT THE SHOW
      • Campus Safety & Security
    • EXHIBIT
      • Why Exhibit / Inquire
      • Exhibitor Resources Center
      • Exhibitor Sales Meetings
      • Product Innovation Awards
    • CONFERENCE
      • Learning Experiences
      • Designed Learning Spaces
      • EDfacility Tours
      • Plenary Keynote Session
      • EDchannels Symposium
    • PLAN YOUR TRIP
      • Book Your Hotel
      • Location + Parking
  • MEDIA
    • Articles
    • Press Releases
  • SUBSCRIBE

November 5-7, 2025 |
Columbus, OH

INQUIRE EXHIBIT
Q

STORIES
August 17, 2022

How Learning Space Design Can Support Student Well-Being

Words By: Sue Ann Highland, PhD

Posts:
Trends, Tips, and Resources
August 17, 2022

How Learning Space Design Can Support Student Well-Being

Words By: Sue Ann Highland, PhD

There is no denying that the pandemic has taken a huge toll on students’ mental, social, and emotional well- being. This has affected their ability to focus and learn in school — and it can have long-term implications for their health and safety as well. Many students were already struggling with mental health issues like anxiety and depression before the pandemic. COVID has only added to this challenge.

More than 200,000 children in the United States have lost a parent or other caregiver to COVID since the pandemic began. One study estimates that anxiety and depression rates among children worldwide have doubled during the pandemic, with at least one in five children now suffering from these disorders.

In response to these realities, many K-12 leaders have established programs and supports to improve student well-being, such as weaving social- emotional learning (SEL) principles into instruction, adding school counselors and psychologists, teaching educators how to recognize the warning signs of mental health disorders, and connecting students who are at risk with the additional help they need.

Learning Space Design Also Matters

While these are all important strategies, the design of the learning space itself plays a key role in either helping or hindering student well-being. Educators can promote better well-being by creating flexible learning spaces that give students choices in where to sit, foster connection among students, and integrate comfort and inclusiveness into their design.

This idea is backed by research. For instance, a team of Australian researchers examined eight primary and secondary schools in that country and concluded that flexible learning spaces increased student well-being by enhancing comfort, movement, connectedness, and inclusivity. “It was widely perceived that the teaching and learning taking place in (these) flexible spaces had a positive impact on the social and emotional well- being of teachers and students,” the researchers wrote (Kariippanon et al., 2018).

The losses that students have experienced in the last few years — loss of normalcy, of social contact, and even of friends and family members — have resulted in trauma every bit as devastating as the emotional effects of violence, abuse, neglect, or natural disaster.

Rendering furnished by School Specialty; Career Technical Education Room

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has identified six core principles for implementing trauma-informed practices within schools, child care centers, and other public institutions: (1) safety; (2) trust and transparency; (3) peer support; (4) collaboration and mutuality; (5) empowerment, voice, and choice; and (6) cultural, historical, and gender sensitivity.

Here’s how K-12 leaders can integrate these principles into the design of their learning environments to support student well-being and mitigate the effects of trauma from COVID and other sources.

Safety

Students who are dealing with trauma need to feel safe both physically and psychologically within the learning environment. This means the space itself must be safe and secure, and the interpersonal interactions that take place there must also feel safe for students.

K-12 leaders can foster a sense of security by designing safe school environments that convey confidence yet also inspire learning, paying attention to elements such as controlling who has access to the building and ensuring visibility throughout all learning spaces. Maintaining the health of students and staff is also essential. To protect against COVID and other airborne pathogens, K-12 school systems can adopt a layered approach that involved circulating clean air and filtering out particulates at multiple levels within each facility.

Finally, designing learning environments that are warm, welcoming, and inviting places for students to learn — furnished with soft seating options, wobble stools, standing desks, and other choices that allow students to “find their place” where they’re most comfortable within the classroom — can help promote a sense of psychological safety and security, allowing students to relax and focus on instruction.

Trustworthiness and Transparency

Educators need to establish trust among students, and ones of the ways this happens is when classroom operations and decisions are conducted with full transparency. For this reason, it is important for educators to establish clear routines with students, so there are no surprises. The design of the learning environment can support this goal. For instance, forming clearly defined learning “zones” within a classroom can help students understand where to go and what to do to accomplish various tasks, such as independent reading or small group work.

Peer Support

Building connections among students is critical for helping them overcome trauma and feel like part of a learning community. Connectedness “is recognized as a significant contributor to students’ social-emotional well-being,” the Australian researchers noted, and a properly designed learning environment can nurture this sense of connection by facilitating student collaboration. For example, flexible learning environments with movable furniture that can be configured to support various group sizes and activities make it easy for students to work together to complete group tasks and projects.

“Students found that they developed high-quality relationships with their peers because of increased opportunities for group work and collaboration” within flexible learning environments, the researchers wrote, and they quoted one student as saying: “I think I’ve made more friends with the group work. I know we’ve been in the same school for about three years but, with the group work, you become a bit closer.”

Collaboration and Mutuality

Student well-being is supported by the development of healthy relationships not just between students and their peers, but also between students and their teachers. Again, modern learning spaces that are designed with maximum flexibility and movement in mind can help nurture strong student-teacher connections.

“School leadership teams and teachers believed that physically open spaces, coupled with the (active learning) pedagogies (these spaces supported), allowed teacher-student interaction to become more frequent,” Kariippanon and her team of researchers wrote. “Fewer items of furniture in classrooms removed both physical and social barriers between teachers and students, which greatly facilitated interaction and was highly valued by participants. Rather than the teacher being tied to their desk, moving around the space encouraged interaction with students.”

Empowerment, Voice, and Choice

Healing from trauma is enhanced when students “are supported in shared decision-making, choice, and goal setting … (and) in cultivating self- advocacy skills,” SAMHSA observes. A simple way to empower students with a voice in their learning is to give them choices in where to sit by offering multiple seating options, including soft seating, stools that rock back and forth, or tall stools around café-style tables.

Rendering furnished by School Specialty; Teacher Wellness Space

Choice also applies to the types of tools and materials students use for learning, and schools should offer a variety of ways that students can express their creativity. Designing flexible, collaborative learning spaces by giving students multiple options in where to sit and what tools and materials to work with promotes responsible decision-making and builds confidence in students. When students have the freedom to make learning decisions for themselves, they feel more in charge of their own development.

Cultural, Historical, and Gender Sensitivity

Being responsive to individual needs and differences is another important factor in helping students overcome trauma and feel safe. Flexible, modern learning spaces can do this by making the environment feel more inclusive. Something as simple as having multiple seating styles to choose from, for instance, can accommodate different learning preferences and helps students feel more welcome.

The Australian research team noted that flexible learning spaces gave students more autonomy and accommodated those who were different or who had special needs more easily. One teacher said, “I’ve got a child in a wheelchair. I feel that it’s such a more inclusive environment for him because everyone is sitting at different (height) levels and there’s no judgment. And he can access everything in the room, because he’s not getting through rows of chairs and tables.”

Overcoming the Effects of Trauma

As K-12 leaders look for ways to enhance student well-being and overcome the effects of trauma in students’ lives, learning space design should play a pivotal role in these efforts. Creating learning environments that promote choice, comfort, connection, movement, and inclusivity can help foster well-being and lead to deeper engagement in learning.

This article was written exclusively for Essentials and EDmarket and the full article can be found here.

Sue Ann Highland, PhD

Sue Ann Highland, PhD, is the National Education Strategist for School Specialty. She has more than 25 years of experience as an educator, administrator, and consultant with school systems across the United States, with broad expertise in designing and creating highly effective learning environments.

SHARE

Share Via Email
Share On Linkedin
Share On Facebook
Share On Pinterest
Share On X
← Previous Article Next Article →
Posts Trends, Tips, and Resources

How School Leaders Are Using AI to Revolutionize Operations and Procurement: An EDspaces Guide for School Leaders

This article is the first in a series of articles investigating how school administrators are making use of AI in school operations and procurement practices. EDspaces is tracking innovative uses of AI and providing guidance on which tools school lea

Posts Trends, Tips, and Resources

Natural Grass or Artificial Turf: What’s Right for Your School?

Choosing between artificial turf and natural grass for school athletic fields may be one of the most challenging decisions your school will ever have to make. Here is a useful guide to help walk you through your decision-making process.

Posts Trends, Tips, and Resources

How School Leaders Are Using AI to Revolutionize Operations and Procurement: An EDspaces Guide for School Leaders

This article is the first in a series of articles investigating how school administrators are making use of AI in school operations and procurement practices. EDspaces is tracking innovative uses of AI and providing guidance on which tools school lea

Posts Trends, Tips, and Resources

Staying Up to Date: The Best Blogs and Podcasts for K-12 School Procurement Professionals

The following is a carefully selected list of the best K-12 blogs for school leaders with a particular focus on school procurement and practical strategies for school purchasing, leadership, edtech purchasing, and school administration.

Posts Trends, Tips, and Resources

Designing the STEM Classroom of the Future

As the demand for skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) continues to surge, the way we design classrooms for these subjects must evolve.

Posts Trends, Tips, and Resources

Makerspace Design in K-12 Schools: 5 Steps

A makerspace is a dedicated learning area designed to promote hands-on learning and provide tools for discovering problems, generating solutions, and learning to apply skills and concepts to real world problems.

Posts Sustainability + Wellness

Why are Solar Panels in K-12 Schools so Popular?

Everyone knows the most expensive item in schools is teacher salaries, but what comes in second?

Energy costs.

Posts Trends, Tips, and Resources

School Cafeteria Design: How to Create Flow, Flexibility, and Positive Vibes

K-12 school cafeteria design should focus on creating high efficiency serving lines that integrate behavioral nudges to promote healthy eating, maximize options by building in flexible floor plans and adaptable furniture, and [...]

STAY INFORMED

SIGN UP
CONTACT US

FOLLOW US ON

  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow

Emerald Logo

© 2025 Emerald X, LLC. All Rights Reserved

ABOUTCAREERSAUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERSYour Privacy ChoicesTERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY

Also of Interest
  • K-12 School Design That Prioritizes Wellness:...
  • How Can You Transform Your School into a Green School?
  • Creating the Calm Classroom: 3 Design...