Inclusive School Desk
Noisinho da Silva NGO Team
1. Abstract
The Inclusive School Desk Project is aimed at developing a school desk that serves all students, disabled or not, in the school environment and furniture according to the concept of Universal Design, supporting the inclusion in schools and providing a suitable placement, stability and intellectual safety when carrying out tasks in the classroom. Developing the school desk project demanded more than one research method, allowing for the questioning and refinement of collected data. The teams, composed of educators, social scientists, designers, architects, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, had the role of evaluating and discussing the school furniture, the architectural and attitudinal accessibility of schools, as well as collecting anthropometric data from children. It was found that the school furniture is inappropriate for all children. The Universal Design paradigm was considered for the product development. Thus, a socially contextualized object was created which would not enhance human diversity, prejudice and difficulty in accepting the differences, being also a responsible, consistent and feasible solution through Universal Design.
2. Introduction
Inclusive School Desk Project– I.S.D. Project - is the result of a field research developed in 2004 by the Noisinho da Silva NGO and in 2005 in partnership with ICDesign for developing a school desk, perceived as a set of table and chair, which would serve all students, disabled or not, in the school environment.
One of the references for the development of the research was Antonio Bustamante (2004) for the innovative ways of addressing the anthropometric, ergonomic and posture considerations of school furniture. Other references were Itiro Iida (1989) and Ana Maria de Moraes (1989) for the theoretical studies on furniture and ergonomics as an improvement in the quality of life. From the perspective of the furniture industry in Brazil, the study of the furniture industry design done by Coutinho (2001) was taken as a reference. In order to improve knowledge of locomotion, transfer and posture rectification, there was support from the Motion Analysis Center from Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, USA.
The I.S.D aims to be furniture, supporting inclusion in schools of basic education, providing the students with an appropriate placement, stability and security when carrying out intellectual tasks in the classroom. Meeting the needs of human diversity was the focus of this project and physical disability was the starting point, when considering the same school furniture.
According to the 2006 Brazilian School Census, currently 33 million children are enrolled in Regular Basic School in public and private schools throughout the country. Only 132 thousand disabled children are enrolled in school. The Inclusive School Desk should help increase these numbers. Our data is based on IBGE – Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.
According to the 2006 School Census data, about 52.141 children with some sort of disability are enrolled in regular schools in Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais, Brazil . Despite the existing initiatives such as the Support to Education for Diversity Program, sponsored by the federal Brazilian government, the social inclusion process has just started. On the other hand, these figures at least show the apparent existing demand for the I.S.D.
3. Methodology
Developing the I.S.D. demanded more than one research method, allowing for the questioning and refinement of collected data. The Inclusive School Desk project has generated a research with unprecedented results in the country.
During one year of research, 28 schools from Belo Horizonte - 27 Public Schools and one private school, were visited by seven multidisciplinary teams, trained by Noisinho da Silva NGO. The teams, composed of educators, social scientists, designers, architects, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, had the role of evaluating and discussing school furniture, architectural accessibility and schools attitudinal accessibility, as well as collecting anthropometric data of all children.
As already mentioned, more than one research method was employed. The method of participant observation was used to engage the school community and parents as research subjects. Each person was invited to become a researcher or even part of a critical group, in an attitude of democratization and awareness of disability, as well as of its inclusion and citizenship in schools.
In order to develop the product, the experimental method of successive approximations and tests with mock-ups was used until the final result. The experiment consisted of an anthropometric study of a determined sample, conducted in three phases to obtain the ideal dimensions of the School Desk, namely:
First stage: consisted of observations in which information was collected in order to identify the schools current situation, assessing the architectural accessibility of buildings (if they followed the laws); collecting initial data on the basic characteristics of all students (average weight and height) in order to select the sampling group; assessment of the key aspects of existing furniture in schools; observation of attitudinal aspects of the school community facing inclusion;
Second stage: specific measurements of defined sample for the anthropometric survey. This survey was divided into two phases, one referring to static anthropometry and the other on the dynamic and functional anthropometry. The result generated a database composed of 3.100 students, being 160 disabled, aged from 6 to 14 years old – whose heights measured 0.96 m to 1.75 m, corresponding to 5% and 95% of the studied sample;
Figura 1: Anthropometric data collection
Figure 2: Comparison of position between the tallest and shortest student using the same furniture.
Third stage: we opted to use ethnographic research to better understand users in the school environment. The most widely used methods for interpreting the design research were: storyboards, metaphors and archetypes of consumers. The analysis of anthropometric database was carried out, as well as the demands of the school community, parents and intersection of data. Thus, the multidisciplinary group could observe the anthropometrical differences, study and analyze the back and seat shapes to dimension the desk and to simulate children’s position, define the necessary accessories, as well as assess the autonomy in the use, intellectual safety of student and teacher’s confidence in furniture. Films, photographs and observation of children using the existing furniture in schools were made. Subsequently, tests were carried out with mock-ups in loco and outside the school environment.
The initial hypothesis of this study was that the school furniture was not suitable for disabled children, and therefore it does not guarantee the right posture to perform the school tasks, when compared to other students so called “normal".
The findings in the research and gathering of data showed a collection of errors concerning (in)adequacy of poor posture harmful to health and learning.
The discovery: The school furniture is inappropriate for all children. The furniture does not meet the current needs of students, whether disabled or not.
4. Product development
For the development of the product, the paradigm for Universal Design was considered and used as a reference in the technical standards for school furniture and of accessibility; structural aspects of mechanical strength, stability; functionality of the mechanisms and triggers, aesthetics and sustainability.
The premises for the development of the product were:
- to increase school performance;
- to increase self-esteem;
- to enable 6 to 15-year-old children to sit on the same desk;
- to provide conditions so that children can manipulate their school objects;
- to provide furniture so that children on wheel chairs, including multiple disabled kids, ADI, dyslexic, among others, are well positioned;
- to generate body awareness;
- to enable intellectual safety;
- to provide more security and autonomy in classroom;
- to provide organization for visual learners;
- to make school furniture attractive was the last great challenge. We looked for an aesthetic level to which children would feel proud and secure, facilitating the use of the desk.
The research, in all its phases, evokes real experience with more strength than reports and data. It can transmit much more clearly the needs and emotional connections desired between people and products, as well as help companies connect these innovations with appropriate technology, economic and humanistic objectives. All these factors contribute to making this proposal attractive to the productive sector which, in turn, would show its vocation to manufacture the Inclusive School Desk.
Table 1: Summary of stages of development of the I.S.D.
STAGESANALYSIS OF THE DESK
/ OBSERVATIONS
∙ tests on height, width, depth, inclination and shape of the chair seat were carried out using sand, polystyrene, polyurethane and wood plates;
∙ necessity of a support between the legs for the disabled;
∙ perception of the need for total support of the feet on the floor for all children.
RESULTS
∙ appropriate shapes for the chair seat and backrest and forward seat inclination providing correct posture for all children;
∙ solution: support between the legs for children with locomotion disabilities; saddle.
FIRST MOCK-UP
/ OBSERVATIONS
∙ necessity of defining the size of the table top;
∙ necessity of a table with adjustable height according to anthropometric database;
∙ table top tilting tests;
∙ necessity of keeping the sheets on the tilting table top;
∙ organization of school materials;
∙ minimum measures between table legs for the use of children on wheel chairs;
∙ study of the adjustment mechanism;
∙ incompatible saddle, belt and foot restraints, displaying the comfort of the so called normal;
∙ adequate positioning, both at rest and while executing tasks;
∙ interaction with friends;
∙ desks grouping.
RESULTS
∙ conciliation between dimensions of the table top according to ABNT standards (Brazilian Association of Technical Standards) and information from the anthropometric database;
∙ defining the positioning of setting on the table and chair;
∙ proportional height adjustment between table and chair;
∙ definition of the top table tilt;
∙ creation of the clip to hold sheets and laptop computers;
∙ nonskid texture on the table surface;
∙ creation of lateral compartment for materials;
∙ definition of the table internal measurement;
∙ definition of the place for setting triggers;
∙ definition of saddle; retractable seat belt on the chair; individual and adjustable foot restraints as chair accessories that may be removed;
∙ change in chair’s geometry for proper positioning during work and rest;
∙ change in the external angles of the table in order to group tables.
SECOND MOCK-UP
/ OBSERVATIONS
∙ product manufacturing process analysis;
∙ existence of gap between seat and backrest that did not encourage postural rectification; oversized seat border makes non-disabled children feel uncomfortable;
∙ oversized saddle;
∙ inappropriate angle of foot restraints;
∙ inappropriate pencil holder;
∙ size of material compartment opening is too small, making maintenance harder;
∙ safety aspects concerning the product setting;
∙ analysis of settings to evaluate its use by intuitive operation;
∙ analysis of product settings.
RESULTS
∙ definition of the main manufacturing process: injection;
∙ improvement of chair’s geometry providing better postural rectification and comfort;
∙ modification on saddle’s size;
∙ angle alteration of foot restraints’ posterior region;
∙ redesign of pencil holder;
∙ increasing of material compartment opening;
∙ adjustment on both the seat belt angle to 45°and on the fixation making it safer;
∙ adjustments on the table top tilt trigger setting, making it more intuitive;
∙ definition of min./max.settings: chair height; seat depth; backrest ; saddle; foot restraints; table height.
FINAL
PRODUCT
/ OBSERVATION
∙ technical, productive and financial feasibility study of the product;
∙ financial constraints of the injection process due to the low amount of the first batch;
∙ respect for universal design precepts, comfort and safety;
∙ prototyping test;
∙ usability, accessibility, ergonomics and resistance testing with children that are part of the NGO tests group, disabled or not, at different ages and height;
∙ moulds feasibility study.
RESULTS
∙ definition of manufacturing process: rotomoulding;
∙ development of technical solutions aiming at product manufacturing by rotomoulding;
∙ the observed aspects during the research and the adopted results tested with the functional model were considered for the decision of both the development and the adequacy of the project in the rotomoulding process;
∙ definition of measurements, geometry of seat and backrest, usability, resistance, settings, comfort, safety, proportion and universal design guidelines were strictly followed;
∙ improvement of I.S.D. geometry aiming at the construction of moulds.
CONSIDERATIONS
∙ manufacturing of the first batch of products;
∙ delivery of I.S.D. at 28 public schools involved in the research, including Vale do Jequitinhonha region – in Minas Gerais State – known as “poverty belt”.
5. Conclusion
Humanitarian projects that employ the design for inclusion of all children are innovative and necessary in our society. Communities, throughout history, have built barriers, emphasizing prejudices and handicaps, in short, differences for these children. It is now time to consider inclusion by means of products that apply Universal Design and provide accessibility, independence and autonomy within school environments as well as in domestic and public spaces. Therefore, we effectively collaborate to the learning process and to the social, cultural and psychological care of all children. We create objects that, when socially contextualized, do not highlight human diversity, prejudice or difficulty to accept differences. These objects won’t be better or more beautiful, but suitable to environment, the needs, function and to the community they will serve. It will happen through partnerships among government, institutions, entrepreneurs, community and social organizations. This is the place that Noisinho Da Silva NGO fits and works. The Inclusive School Desk is a qualitative, human and natural advance, being a responsible, consistent and feasible solution through Universal Design.
References
Baxter, M. (2000). Projeto de Produto – Guia prático para o design de novos produtos / Mike Baxter; Tradução Itiro Iida – São Paulo: Edgard Blücher, Segunda edição 2000.
Bergmiller, K.; Afflalo, B. & Souza, P. (1999). Ensino Fundamental: mobiliário escolar - Série Cadernos Técnicos. Brasília/DF: FUNDESCOLA - MEC, 1999.
Bustamante, A. (2004). Mobiliário Escolar Sano. Fundación Mapfre, Madrid, 2004.
Câmara, J.J. Drummond. (1985). School Furniture for the Handicapped. Tese de mestrado defendida, School of Art and Design Pratt Institute. New York: Mimeo, 1985.