Abstract
Since the introduction of the new Variation Type school, few studies have focused on students' adaptation to the changes in their learning environments at school. This paper is based on the Stage-Environment Fit theory, which asserts that a successful school life(in terms of motivation to learn) is ensured only when the school environment meets the social and emotional needs of students. Focusing on the third-grade student's adaptation to a new Variation Type school during their middle school period, the following conclusions were drawn. First, the transition to a new Variation Type school during middle school is much more difficult than adjusting to a new Variatio Type school upon admission to middle school. Second, this difficulty in adaptation is caused by socio-emotional dissatisfaction in adolescent students, for whom deconstruction of previous friendships can hinder motivation to learn. Third, third-grade students who experienced stress due to spatial changes tended to have a negative attitude towards the new Variation Type itself as they feel more tired from failing to use the space properly. Fourth, to transition successfully to a new Variation Type school, socio-emotional problems must be solved through the reduction of scale of the homebase, and the provision of various choices increasing the number of homebase.
