“Wish the seven days of the week could be Friday Friday Friday.” That is what a student wrote about Seoul Munsung Elementary School. This school is special. Seoul Munsung Elementary School is not just a place of learning. It is a place of transformation.
Seoul Munsung Elementary School was selected for the “Dream Classroom” project. This innovative project aimed to redesign learning spaces. The goal was to better suit the needs of modern students. Architect Shin Ho-seop was shocked by the old classrooms. He noted that they had hardly changed over time.
The curriculum has changed a lot. There is more group work now. Students enjoy more cooperative play. The new space design supports these activities. Shin wanted a more spacious classroom. He wanted to break boundaries.
Classrooms at Seoul Munsung Elementary School got a makeover. The conventional layout was changed. Blackboards and teacher podiums moved to the side. This made space for creative activities. A small stage was added in the back. Students did not always have to face the front.
One teacher Kim In-won noted the change in students’ attitudes. A parent also mentioned their child was happier. The child was more active at school. The child no longer complained of being tired. The child looked forward to school every day.
Lee Mi-kyung is the school’s principal. She said the new design changed the children’s way of thinking. It allowed them to have more freedom. She hoped other classrooms could also get a makeover. The project assigned different architects to different schools. So, each design was unique.
The “Dream Classroom” project has a common goal. It caters to children. Companies agonize over better spaces for employees. The project director Kim Jung-im said education institutions had been neglectful. Thousands of students now have access to these new spaces in Seoul. The designs and floor plans could become open source. This would allow other schools to use them.
Korea’s school designs have been standard since 1962. The standard design included the schoolyard’s location. It also included the corridor’s width. The classroom’s size was also set. The government wanted to quickly build many schools at a low cost. The standard was removed in 1992. However, schools continued to follow it. Experts thought it was the best way to manage students. It also minimized construction costs.
Changes in classroom design began in 2016. Kim Seung-hoy became an adviser to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. The office wanted to improve the learning environment. They wanted to break away from the conventional system. The number of unused classrooms was increasing. School buildings were aging. The education office realized many students were unsatisfied.
Professor Kim said Korean students spend more time at school than at home. Therefore, the designs should evolve. They should become living spaces. The standardized system of building and managing schools must end. The design should suit students. The “Dream Classroom” project stimulated the country’s education circles. It allowed architects, parents, teachers, and students to realize what a well-thought-out space can do.
Seoul Munsung Elementary School shows us that learning spaces matter. They shape attitudes and inspire creativity.