Using Color in the Classroom

When I think of using colors in a space to achieve a certain environment, my mind certainly doesn’t jump to a school building. I usually think of event planning or interior design! But the truth is, in whatever setting, colors have the ability to affect mood, emotion, attitude, focus, and even the perception of temperature. The topic is interesting enough on its own, but let’s apply it to an educational setting.

For anyone, not just students, colors can stimulate and energize or calm and relax. Colors can encourage focus or demand attention and even define a room’s purpose. It’s not surprising, then, that educators and designers alike consider the use of color when it comes to designing or redesigning education buildings.

Let’s take a look at color psychology. Red, for most people, increases heartbeat and energy levels. Orange can warm a room as a “warm” color, just like red, but is more welcoming, like yellow. Blue is calming and tranquil. Green, while also relaxing, is a bit more versatile. See how instantly changing up a color can affect a space and the people in it?

So when it comes to the classroom (and halls and stairways), are neutral or dull shades the way to go? It really depends on the environment you’re going for. Amee Meghani from School Planning & Management says that for young children, bright-colored environments are best. Sheri Thompson, from the same publication, states that of bright colors, warm choices like red, orange, yellow and violet are preferred by the little ones and compliment the “active, energizing nature of children”. Teens typically favor less intense colors like blues and greens, and are more influenced by trends of the day.

So we know how colors affect how we’re feeling, but how can we tap into its power to help us focus and learn? For classrooms that need stimulation and motivation, Thompson suggests painting the teaching wall a deeper or brighter shade than the rest of the space to attract attention to the front of the room. Dark colors can be strategically used to avoid distraction in a classroom filled with equipment like TVs, video monitors, and projectors.

For a naturally cold climate, an environment that needs to invite students to engage in reflective and collaborative learning can be created by using earthy tones, according to Randy Fielding of Fielding Nair International. In a gathering area where students need to relax and “flex their interpersonal intelligence” in a warmer climate, color palettes using cool colors will do the trick.

Find this topic interesting? There is a lot of good material on the subject. Here are a few links for further reading:
- Learning, Lighting and Color: Lighting Design for Schools and Universities in the 21st Century By Randall Fielding, AIA
- The Color of Debate: Chapter 1
- Giving School a Radical Makeover
- Color Sense by Heidi S.S. Johnson and Jennifer A. Maki
- Classroom Colors by Mike Kennedy
- Relationship between color and emotion: a study of college students by Naz Kaya and Helen H. Epps

Image sources: Blue, Green, Orange, Red

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