Students Signal Individual Learning Preference with Colour Coded Furniture

Stonefields Primary School

In recent years primary schools have been paying meticulous attention to the use of colours within the learning environments due to its effects on children behaviours. Nowadays, schools choice of colour is increasingly dependent on its functionality than the more aesthetic aspects.

In her research of the impact of colour on learning, Engelbrecht suggests that colour elicits a total response from human beings because the energy produced by the light that carries colour affects our body functions and influences our mind and emotions (2003, p.2). Colour alters the level of alpha brain wave activity, which is used to measure human alertness (Birren,1976). It has also been found that when colour is transmitted through the human eye, the brain releases the hormone ‘hypothalamus’ which affects human mood, mental clarity and energy levels.

The teaching staff at Stonefields Primary School (Auckland) have started to realise the power of colour by creating a system where colour may signal a certain learning condition.

Read the full investigation here