The salt-scented blue ocean water is calming, the ashy burnt flame is passionate, and the moist yet soft green leaf is peaceful. Throughout human history, specific moods have been associated with certain items. As those items are also associated with locations, an affiliation between feelings and places is born. The aspects of those areas are what affect the behavior of the people there. But, some of these environments have longer lasting effects than others; some of these locations are where childhoods are spent as the hours, filled with celerity, fly by. In a majority of school environments, the classroom decor depends on the teacher in that classroom. Whilst, some educators speculate, “the bigger, the better”, and go to drastic measures with giant props and posters, there are others who assume that it is not worth it as it will not affect the students. However, an enriched environment does indeed positively affect student behavior. 

Upon beginning the investigation the question asked was; how does the learning environment affect student behavior? Initially, the thoughts on this question were that there would be better-focused behavior if there was an environment enriched with through decor. Albeit, upon further observation, there were a few changes. While a few classrooms in the educational edifice of Brooklawn Middle School had some form of decor and a quiet yet focused environment, some classrooms with too much,  or too little, decoration were not as on task as the others. The gym for example had a large and empty space with the main color of gray and accents of black, gold, and white. The back was filled with bleachers, flags, and a large map hanging on the wall beside it. The gloomy net dangling from the ceiling was surrounded by basketball hoops. At first, the environment was similar to that of a forest with kids dancing, singing, and hopping around like rabbits. Then a faculty member, whose name will not be disclosed, came out, and began bellowing, “I’m fed up! ‘It’s locked! It’s locked!’ I know it’s locked!...The door is now broken, again,” (Observations). This suggests that there is impatient behavior in the gym room. Another room, C14, had a plethora of decorations on the wall. The class was silent, including the teacher, but students werewere not on task. They had been playing music, games, and were doodling both on paper and online (Observations). This illustrates that the students, and the teacher themself, were not focused as they were not on task. Nevertheless, in B09, there were different flags in the back, and colorful pastel posters pasted on the walls. The vibe was very enthusiastic with kids singing along to a song in Spanish as directed by their teacher. The teacher even replied, “Otra vez Connor? What does ‘otra vez’ mean? You want to do it again?” (Observations). This displays engaged behavior from the students due to the pleasing aesthetic of the room. Also, according to a survey conducted, most of the students found it difficult to work in noisy environments (Survey). This exhibits that auditory elements affect student focus in an unpleasant way. All of this data has led to a new hypothesis, which is that an enriched environment positively affects behavior in general.

Unfortunately, not all educators know the true impact of an enriched environment, and there are some who simply assume that it is not a big deal. Though, research proves otherwise, with a variety of reliable resources displaying the effects. First and foremost, the article “Environmental Enrichment” states, “... an ‘enriched environment’ is described as having motor, sensory, cognitive, and social stimulation” (Figuracion and Lewis). This demonstrates that the environment must affect behavior as enriched environments need to entertain a person's brain in a plethora of ways. It also explains what an enriched environment is, which is crucial to understanding how it affects behavior. Additionally, the source “Home Decor and the Hippocampus” from Harvard University further explains, “In addition to improvements in memory, mice reared in enriched environments show greater motivation for completing tasks, as well as increased resilience to anxiety and depression” (Hairston). This shows that enrichment can benefit students mentally, affecting their mood. Experiments run on mice with their results are usually parallel for experiment results for humans. By demonstrating how mice can improve from enriched environments, it proves that humans can benefit as well. Furthermore, the same source states that, “... in 1976, research by Elizabeth Gardner and colleagues found that environmental deprivation can produce deficits in memory retention” (Hairston). This supports the converse by showing that if the hypothesis is not true, then neither is the conclusion. If there is not an enriched environment, then student behavior will not be positively affected. Not only is a plain classroom not salubrious, but it actively harms the student, and decreases their memory. Therefore, despite the belief of some teachers, an enriched environment does indeed positively affect student behavior.

All of this begs the question; how does one create an enriched environment? Well, in order to duplicate an environment such as this, one must first replicate its aspects. It depends on the type of class that a teacher possesses, with some requiring focus, some requiring energy, and some requiring both. Color, for example, visually stimulates the retinas of the eye making it a key factor in the environment. Before anything else, it was discussed in “Color Psychology 101” that in order to raise efficiency at work, certain shades were commonly involved such as browns, and grays and blues (Braam). This reveals how certain colors impact the focus of workers, and how they could be used to improve learning in schools. For teachers who wish to gain the attention of their classes, but do not want to cajole them, using browns, grays, and blues could subconsciously aid the focus of the students. On the other hand, sound, which gauges the auditory senses of one’s ears, is another important factor, but not always a good one. To add to this, in “The Classroom Environment”, it can be noted that mental hurdles, like aggravated, unfocused, and unenergized moods, as well as physical burdens, such as having trouble sleeping paired with a sped up heartbeat, are effects of an overwhelming amount of auditory stimulation (Kellenberger). This highlights how humans, especially young students, can have issues concentrating due to the noises in the classroom. All of the negative side effects listed above can attenuate a student’s ability to do work, both at home and school. Every educator that wishes to avoid a non-enriched setting like this may want to keep silence in their classroom. Overall, by controlling the colors and noises, all educators can begin to grow and strengthen an enriched environment in their own classrooms.

In conclusion, the conduct of students can be benefited through a decor-enriched environment. The many educators who do not understand the grave importance of this topic put the education of their students at stake. If teachers do not make the change now, there could be drastic effects discovered in the near future. Rather than be at blame for this, professors should be taking a second look at their classrooms, and should conduct some research of their own to see what suits their classes best. In the same way that humans see jade tranquil leaves, passionate burning flames, and salty azure oceans, they should experience classrooms with positive behaviors as enriched environments.

Works Cited

Braam, Hailey Van. "Color Psychology 101." Color Psychology, 2023, www.colorpsychology.org/. Accessed 15 Dec. 2023.

Figuracion, Karl Cristie F, and Frances Marcus Lewis. "Environmental Enrichment: A Concept Analysis." Nursing Forum, vol. 56, no. 3, 4 Mar. 2021, pp. 703-09, doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12565.

Hairston, Ariel. "Home Decor and the Hippocampus." Harvard University, June 2022, sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2022/home-decor-and-the-hippocampus/. Accessed 15 Dec. 2023.

Kellenberger, Eric. "The Classroom Environment." Open Mind School, 9 Mar. 2022, www.openmindschool.org/post/the-classroom-environment-the-effects-of-lighting-noise-and-air-quality. Accessed 15 Dec. 2023.