Campus space renovation helps reduce stress. Dean emphasizes the importance of teacher support network

Campus space creation can also be an important part of relieving teachers’ stress! The Ministry of Education held today the annual results sharing meeting of "Learning Aesthetics - Campus Aesthetic Design Practice Plan". In response to the recent regrets that happened to teachers, Education Minister Zheng Yingyao pointed out that teachers bear many challenges and pressures. They not only think about students, but also how to communicate with friends and colleagues. It is very important for schools to provide a space suitable for mutual communication and sharing, so as to form a support network.

The "Study Aesthetics - Campus Aesthetic Design Practice Project" sponsored by the Ministry of Education and implemented by the Taiwan Design Institute has, since its launch in 2019, assisted 143 schools in Taiwan to improve their learning environments through cross-disciplinary cooperation between education and design. Based on real teaching and usage needs, it has created demonstration sites that respond to contemporary education and future learning. This year, for the first time, teachers’ office spaces and kindergartens have been included in the renovation scope, allowing the design to further extend from students’ learning areas to teachers’ daily work and children’s growth environment.

For example, Kaohsiung City's Sanmin Senior Homework and Commercial Vocational School has long been devoted to physical education, but the original teacher's office space is small, and office, communication, changing, tea and storage are intertwined with each other. Not only is the boundary between public and private unclear, but there is also a lack of space for safe conversations and joint lesson preparation. Yongzhe's production and design team transformed the idle cooperative in the school into a physical education teacher's office. Starting from the teacher's daily work, they reorganized the needs of office, shared preparation, student guidance, sports protection and interactive communication. After the renovation, it is not only a new teacher’s office, but also a logistics base to support the operation of physical education, so that teachers’ work can be better supported.

After the meeting, Zheng Yingyao was asked about the regrets of teachers. He pointed out that teachers’ mental health is the best guarantee to support the quality of teaching. In the past, in schools, only how to take good care of children was emphasized. However, the challenges and pressures faced by teachers, including the school principal and administrative team, should also use appropriate campus spaces to provide opportunities for teachers to communicate, so that each other can share emotional stories and get some relief from work pressure.

Zheng Yingyao emphasized that "life is precious." This sentence is not only for students, but also for teachers. When faced with some pressure in life, work, or from family, you must find someone, a good friend, or a good colleague, to talk to. Through such conversations, we can relieve stress from work, family, or school teaching. This is a very important emotional connection.