Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group, On May 23 announced that its business Godrej Interio, India’s leading furniture solutions brand in home and office spaces, launched a trend report Education in India at the cusp of a revolution as it transforms from an instructional mode to an experiential mode. Godrej Interio provides educational furniture to over 16,000 educational institutes and by the end of FY22-23, has a target of INR 260 Cr revenue from educational furniture and lead the trend.
Godrej Interio, one of the largest furniture providers to education institutions has released a white paper, “Design Blueprint for 21st Century Learning Spaces” where it takes about the need of creating learning spaces in tune with changing trends and technology use. With National Education Policy (NEP 2020) laying emphasis on promoting multidisciplinary and technology-led education, these spaces become more critical from student point of view.
The paper highlights the 5 broad aspects that comprise 21st Century Learning Spaces – Adaptable, Inviting, Smart, Comfortable and Safe.
Adaptable spaces support multiple learning modes in the same space and facilitates ‘Me & We’ Work. According to the report, 79 percent of the students indicate they would like to rearrange the furniture to suit individual needs and group discussions. In addition to this, 94 percent of teachers who can change their layout agree they can teach effectively, compared to 40.5 percent who can teach effectively but can’t change their layout. Therefore, the learning environment must be adaptable, allowing for easy transitions between lecture mode, group presentation, and discussions.
Inviting spaces encourage creativity by transforming a ‘boring, restrictive, or intimidating’ space to one that is ‘inviting, relaxing and invigorating. Therefore, underutilised spaces like wide corridors must be re-designed to create semi-open spaces for collaboration and tutoring.
The report also highlights that the 21st century learning spaces are Smart wherein technology can help personalise learning for students, stimulate their curiosity and boost experiences with 98.3% of teachers feeling that technology is beneficial in classrooms.
Comfortable learning spaces keep pace with the users’ ergonomic needs, growth, and energy levels to reduce discomfort and improve concentration and wellbeing. According to the study, students spend nearly 6–8 hours of their day sitting, so the furniture should accommodate their natural need to move. Therefore, an active lifestyle needs to be encouraged by allowing opportunities that enable alternating postures.
Safety in learning spaces is essential to reduce the chance of physical injury and ensure a better experience.
Workplace and Ergonomics Research Cell of Godrej Interio revealed trends that will shape the future of learning and are in alignment with the government’s policy. The learning spaces must support the positive human relationships needed for effective learning, both formally and informally. These spaces should be student-centred and tech-enabled which must enable individual and group learning, encourage innovation and foster a sense of healthy community and facilitate: :
- Connectedness, Collaboration & Co-creation
- Learner-Centred Spaces
- Anywhere, Anytime Learning
- Technology Enabler environment
Sameer Joshi, Vice President, Marketing (B2B), Godrej Interio said, “Furniture is an enabler in building these spaces. At Godrej Interio, institutional furniture for educational purposes is an important segment for us as it contributes to improving the educational experience and readying the next generation to build a better world.”
