Choosing School Furniture

Quality furniture is one of the essential variables of a school along with the quality education. It aids students in their learning process. It plays the pivotal role for the relaxation of faculty and rest of the school staff, who work tirelessly for a long period of time a day. Furniture contributes significantly in portraying the general image of a school. Therefore, choosing the quality furniture is as imperative and crucial for a school as selecting the experienced faculty. School furniture includes chairs, desks, tables, computer tables and many other items with their unique functionalities.

When choosing school indoor furniture two broad aspects are to be considered. The first is the relation of the suitability and quality of the furniture. The second aspect is budgetary considerations.

Students study at desks several hours per day. Learning demands attention, and if the student does not feel comfort on a chair she will try to reposition her body on her chair every other minute. She will lose attention, and ultimately, this impacts on learning outcomes. Therefore, chairs should be chosen in such a way that its contours and overall design should satisfy the natural curves in the back of a student and do not compel him to lose attention. On the other hand, imperfect contours and bad design of a chair can affect the posture and the spine of a student. Feasible design includes the curved contour of the chair and the slight round bottom instead of the flat surface.  Special attention should be paid to desk and chairs – not only does the design need to be suitable, the size of both the chairs and desks should be appropriate to the size of the students.

Teachers teach for many hours while standing. Therefore, teachers’ chairs in classrooms should have padded bottoms, and be ergonomically designed. Moreover, the staff room would have some relaxing chairs for the teachers, so as to let teachers rest after delivering the lecture. Great schools incorporate staff furniture guidelines as part of their School Workplace, Health and Safety procedures.

School staff and students usually interact with the computer using mouse and the keyboard. If computer chairs are not comfortable, people lean towards the computer table. Inappropriate computer furniture, may result in fatigue, discomfort and ultimately the spine problems.

The other aspect that has to be considered while choosing school furniture for a school is the school’s budget.  Usually the quality of the furniture is aligned with the price. However you are able to buy good ergonomic furniture at reasonable prices. As well as ergonomic considerations, flexibility and durability should also be taken in account.

In a nutshell, furniture plays an important role not only for the future of students but also for the future of the School. Therefore, choosing high quality furniture is top priority. A physically healthy environment can improves educational outcomes –  furniture ( both School Indoor and School Outdoor Furniture) is fundamental in defining the physical environment of the School.

Our next blog topic is Choosing School Lockers

About the Author

PhD in European Languages and Cultures (specialising in Literary Translation) Department of International Studies Macquarie University