Classroom - classroom

Classrooms are the basic facilities of a school where teaching and learning take place, and are the physical foundation that constitutes the environment for class activities. In compulsory education schools in particular, classrooms are broadly divided into regular classrooms and special classrooms. Regular classrooms are not only places for lessons but also places for group living, and facilities are designed with this in mind, especially in the lower grades of elementary school. Special classrooms are set up for specific subjects such as science, music, and art, and are equipped with laboratories and preparation rooms.

Since the Meiji era, classrooms have been standardized as rectangular, measuring 4 ken (approximately 7.3 meters) by 5 ken (approximately 9 meters), and have been constructed as closed spaces. However, especially since the 1980s, with assistance from the Ministry of Education (now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), open-space classrooms have been created, with the walls between classrooms or between classrooms and corridors removed. This spatial design reflects the diversification of educational methods and seeks to promote this from a facility perspective, and is used as a flexible space that can be used for various meetings and learning styles and developments in extracurricular activities. In order to keep up with the rapid advancement of information technology, computer learning spaces (classrooms) are also gradually being established.

On the other hand, the decline in the number of children and students due to the low birthrate has resulted in surplus classrooms (defined by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as ordinary classrooms that are expected to remain vacant permanently in the future). It is said that a cumulative total of 126,866 new surplus classrooms were created in public elementary and junior high schools nationwide between 1993 and 2005 (according to a Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology survey). These surplus classrooms continue to be used as school facilities (multipurpose classrooms, etc.), and are also being converted into non-school public facilities (social education facilities, social welfare facilities, etc.), and their utilization is being promoted.

[Kenji Kasama]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

教授・学習を行う学校の基礎的施設で、学級活動の環境を構成する物的基礎である。とくに義務教育学校では、教室は普通教室と特別教室とに大別される。普通教室は授業だけではなく集団生活の場でもあり、とくに小学校低学年ではそのための設備上の配慮がなされる。特別教室は理科・音楽・図工（美術）などの特定教科のために設けられ、実験室や準備室などが付設される。

　教室の形状は明治時代以来、4間（約7.3メートル）×5間（約9メートル）の長方形が標準とされ、また閉じられた空間として構成されてきた。しかし、とくに1980年代以降は文部省（現文部科学省）による補助もあり、従来の教室間あるいは教室と廊下との間の壁を取り払ったオープンスペースの教室が設けられるようになった。これは、教育方法の多様化を反映し、またそれを施設面から促進しようとする空間設計であり、特別活動における各種の集会や学習の形態・展開に応じた可変的な空間として活用されている。急速な情報化の進展に対応するために、コンピュータ学習のスペース（教室）の設置も徐々に進められてきている。

　一方、少子化による児童・生徒数の減少に伴って余裕教室（文部科学省の定義では、将来とも恒久的に余裕となると見込まれる普通教室）が生じている。全国の公立小・中学校では、1993年（平成5）から2005年までに累計で12万6866の新規余裕教室が発生したといわれている（文部科学省調査）。この余裕教室は、引き続き学校施設（多目的教室など）として使用され、また学校施設以外の公共施設（社会教育施設、社会福祉施設など）に転用され、その活用が進められている。

［笠間賢二］

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