Sound In Schools

Sound in schools is damaging millions of children’s health and education. Architects have the power to change this.

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Architectural design decisions influence how productive and healthy our schools are. Many architects will know, for example, that good natural light can improve learning and health (Loisos, 1999). Sound has an equally powerful effect on educational outcomes and health, and yet this crucial environmental factor is largely ignored by architects.

Noise in schools has been a recognised problem for over 100 years (Canning & James, 2012). Study upon study has revealed unbearably noisy classrooms and poor acoustic conditions. Indeed, experts state that poor classroom acoustics are the number one overlooked problem in schools (Harmel, 2000). Noise is schools is an epidemic, and it’s hurting our children and teachers in three serious ways.

Speech intelligibility

Sound matters fundamentally, because pupils must be able to hear their teacher in order to learn. When noise levels are too high, often because classrooms are too reverberant, pupils find it hard to understand their teachers.

If education is like watering a garden, much of the water is evaporating before it even reaches the plants. Pupils on the back row of a traditional classroom hear just 50% of the teacher’s words (Siebein, cited in Harmel, 2000; Leavitt & Flexer, 1991). This affects young children in particular, who have great difficulty understanding speech even with low levels of noise (Elliott et al., 1979; Neuman & Hochberg, 1983).

Cognition

Noise disrupts cognition, so even if the students can hear the teacher, their work is adversely affected. Noise compromises many tasks, including memory, motivation, reading, mental arithmetic, and problem solving (Cohen, Evans, Krantz, & Stokols, 1980; Evans, Hygge, & Bullinger, 1995; Jones, 2010).