Examining the Impact of Flexible Partitions in Educational Spaces on the Sense of Belonging of High School Female Students: A Partial Least Squares Approach

It is well recognized that just as humans influence their environment, the environment also shapes human behavior. Educational spaces, in particular, occupy a significant part of individuals’ lives during the formative stages of personality development. Therefore, careful design and construction of these spaces play a vital role in addressing students’ physical and psychological needs. Among these needs, the sense of belonging to a place is especially important and is strongly linked to spatial design. Rigid and conventional school environments cannot fully address students’ diverse requirements; instead, flexible design strategies are essential. Flexibility in spatial design fosters a sense of belonging by enabling both personal and group-based spatial arrangements. This study investigates the effect of flexible and transformable partitions in educational spaces on students’ sense of belonging and proposes practical design strategies. A mixed descriptive–analytical approach was adopted, beginning with a literature review and theoretical analysis, followed by case study evaluations. Subsequently, a structured questionnaire was administered to the target population, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with a partial least squares (PLS) approach, employing SPSS and SmartPLS۳ software. The results confirm that flexible partitions significantly enhance students’ sense of belonging through various design interventions, including the integration of large windows, grouping of spaces with deliberate adjacency, flexible forms, movable furniture and panels, purposeful circulation, potential for future expansion, collective and individual rest/study areas, enhanced transparency, the use of terraces or courtyards, and the creation of multi-functional spaces.

کلیدواژه ها:

Flexible Partitions ، Educational Space ، Sense of belonging ، Students