TFE

Most task furniture in schools today is inadequate to meet the postural needs of students. With 88 million in full-time education in Europe alone and in the context of the proliferation of IT in the classroom and advances in teaching methods, posture, health and well-being of students is imperative. Growing awareness has led to growing demand for improved furniture design. Recent studies show that children typically spend 15,000 hours sitting during their education in furniture not fit for purpose. Approximately 13 per cent of children aged 10-16 suffer recurrent back pain. Today, almost all teachers and students have access to IT in the classroom and there has been a shift from specialist computer rooms to students working with laptops at their desks. This development provides enhanced opportunities for learning, yet the implications for posture, health and wellbeing are in decline. There is now a large body of evidence to suggest that the open thigh torso sitting posture provides many advantages for schoolchildren engaged in task-based activities on a desk surface yet, there is a lot more to the comfort and wellbeing of pupils in school than furniture that fits or meets the European standard EN1729. Experts now agree that active-dynamic sitting leads to a healthy work setting in school.
The Task Furniture in Education project will examine all these issues in detail with a view to bridging the gap between ergonomics and the potential for new creative design outputs. This 4 year project will combine the expertise of 3 industry partners and 3 academic partners, representing 3 countries in Europe in a work programme has been structured to exploit the synergies of the partners. The project will design, develop and test practical, economic, sustainable solutions through to production ready prototype stage. The overall aim is to add to and disseminate new knowledge in the subject and to improve the long term health and well-being of students.