A great deal of research has been carried out into how the environment affects learning, and results agree that the quality of learning improves in orderly surroundings.
Cleanliness, tidiness and bright colours all aid concentration. Teenagers, adults and especially young children need a quiet, reassuring environment to learn effectively. A clean environment, where everything is in place, promotes the inner calm needed for questioning and exploration – the experiences through which we all learn.
The Montessori method even sees tidying up as an important activity that should be done with the children at the end of each lesson, and that should be completed with good will and attention to detail in order to give it the value it deserves. In the world of business, order is a core concept in efficiency, as demonstrated by the theory of Lean Organisation, which requires ‘everything in its place and a place for everything’.
In places of study and learning, thorough cleaning helps stop the spread of germs, viruses and diseases.
The cleanliness of places of learning is also important for another reason: schools, libraries, kindergartens, universities, study rooms and conference halls are frequented by a large number of people over the course of one day , and can easily become hubs of disease transmission if viruses and germs are allowed to proliferate. It is therefore not just a question of ensuring a clean and orderly environment in order to promote learning, but also a matter of protecting people against epidemics and disease.
Every place dedicated to culture and knowledge must be safe and healthy first and foremost. Cleaning in such environments must be carried out with the greatest care. This applies to public and private schools, museums and all other cultural spaces.
