The Importance of Physical Environment of the School in the Process of Teaching and Learning

Značajan aspekt odgojno-obrazovne ustanove čini njezino prostorno okruženje. Kreativno, kvalitetno i bogato osmišljeno prostorno okruženje škole jedan je od preduvjeta učinkovitog poučavanja i učenja usmjerenog na spoznavanje, istraživanje i cjeloviti razvoj učenika. Za postizanje prostornog okruženja, koji potiče učenike na učenje i unaprjeđuje kvalitetu odgoja i obrazovanja, osim učitelja, odgovorna je i cjelokupna odgojno-obrazovna ustanova. Metodom promatranja i intervjuiranja dokumentirani su svi segmenti prostornog okruženja škole koje učenici i učitelji smatraju značajnima u procesu poučavanja i učenja: unutarnji prostor škole, odnosno učionica i školska knjižnica te vanjski prostor škole u koji spada školsko dvorište, školsko igralište i školska dvorana. Cilj istraživanja bio je osvijestiti važnost prostornog okruženja u kojem učenici uče, prikazati okruženje škole na način na koji ga učenici doživljavaju, iznijeti stajališta učitelja o značenju prostornog okruženja u funkciji poučavanja i istražiti u kojem okruženju učenici najučinkovitije uče. Izveden je zaključak kako je prostorno okruženje nezaobilazan i iznimno važan segment poučavanja i učenja.A key element of an educational institution is its environment. A creative and well designed environment of the school is one of the preconditions for effective teaching and learning focused on understanding, researching and the complete development of the pupil. The responsibility of developing good spatial environment lies not only on the teacher, but also on the educational institution. By using the method of observation and interviewing we documented all the segments of spatial environment that are significant in the process of teaching and learning, such as the interior space of the school, the classroom and the library, but also the school's outdoor space: schoolyard, school playground and the school gym. The objective of this research was to raise awareness of the importance of spatial environment in which the pupils learn, show the school's environment as it is seen by the pupils, expose the point of view teachers have on the importance of spatial environment in teaching, and to research in which environment the pupils learn most effectively. It was concluded that the environment is an extremely important and unavoidable part of teaching and learning