THE EMPTY CLASSROOM: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL READING OF THE SCHOOL SPACE

Abstract

Understanding school space has traditionally emphasized its physical and functional aspects, while its experiential and symbolic dimensions have often been overlooked. In this context, this study explores the meanings attributed to the empty classroom from a phenomenological perspective, aiming to understand how school space remains meaningful even in the absence of those who inhabit it. The study examines the classroom at rest as a lived space, highlighting its relationship with embodiment, memory, atmosphere, and the constitution of educational experience. This qualitative study adopts a bibliographic and essay-based approach grounded in the phenomenological method, drawing on the works of Merleau-Ponty, Bachelard, Tuan, Pallasmaa, and Rezende. The findings indicate that silence, traces of human presence, spatial organization, and the atmosphere of the environment reveal that the classroom preserves the marks of pedagogical experiences, functioning as a place of memory, affectivity, and formative potential. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the school environment actively contributes to teaching and learning processes even during periods of inactivity, fostering reflections on the sensitive dimension of education. It is concluded that phenomenology broadens the understanding of educational space by recognizing it as an essential component of human development, providing support for pedagogical and architectural practices that value lived experience within the school environment.