From Traditional Classrooms to Innovative Learning Environments: Teachers’ Perceptions of Space, Furniture, and Environmental Conditions

De las aulas tradicionales a los entornos innovadores de aprendizaje: percepciones del profesorado sobre el espacio, el mobiliario y las condiciones ambientales

Abstract

This study examines teachers’ perceptions of educational spaces, furniture, environmental conditions, and professional competences related to the pedagogical use of space, comparing those working in traditional classrooms with those working in Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs). Framed within the growing international interest that tries to design learning spaces in which learning responds to a student-centred and competency-based learning, the research addresses the persistent lack of empirical guidance on how physical learning environments can effectively support pedagogical innovation. A descriptive and comparative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design was adopted, using an ad hoc online questionnaire validated by experts in educational innovation and learning space design. The final sample comprised 228 teachers from different educational stages in the Valencian Region (Spain). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests, specifically the Mann–Whitney U test for ordinal variables and the chi-square test of independence for nominal variables. The results indicate that teachers working in innovative environments report significantly more positive evaluations of spaces, furniture, and environmental conditions, with moderate effect sizes, as well as greater perceived flexibility, adaptability, accessibility and support for collaborative learning. They also report more frequent and diversified use of school spaces and flexible furniture, while traditional contexts remain largely centred on the regular classroom and conventional furnishings. Although no significant differences emerged regarding which spaces, furniture or environmental aspects should be prioritised when initiating change, revealing shared priorities across contexts, teachers in innovative environments consistently reported higher levels of perceived professional competence in planning, managing and pedagogically exploiting educational spaces. Nevertheless a high proportion (as high as 25%) of teachers in innovative environments assert that they lack familiarity with strategies for the distribution and management of group work, or even the planning of such activities in these environments. The findings highlight the strong interdependence between spatial design, material conditions, environmental quality, and teacher competence, suggesting that sustainable educational innovation requires a systemic approach that aligns everyday classroom improvements, investment in flexible furniture and environmental conditions and sustained, practice-oriented professional development.