Does environment matter? Yes, but bright shiny classrooms aren’t the whole story.
May 5th, 2014 | by SRC
We’ve all been impressed when we walk into a newly remodeled school that has bright paint and brand new materials – some of these spaces are envy-inducing to those who teach in under-resourced settings. At School Readiness Consulting, we believe that all environments that serve young children have the opportunity to be high-quality. After viewing this NPR video of an Oklahoma preschool, we identified five components of a high quality early childhood environment, including:
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Allowing children to guide the curriculum and direct their own learning. In this example, this is accomplished through the use of the project approach.
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Letting nature provide the classroom. Using materials such as tree trunks helps bring the outdoors in. Engaging children in typically “indoor” activities when outside shows how the outdoors can be a classroom for everyone.
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The use of open-ended materials which let children explore and imagine, and don’t have a fixed, finite task or prescribed outcome.
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Authentic assessments that let children demonstrate their learning and that check for their understanding in the context of a typical day, and that provide information to guide instruction.
- Materials and activities that promote executive functioning and self-regulation skills. The teacher’s approach to her classroom models responsibility and trust. Her actions are clearly intentional, research-based and stem from high quality training. Research shows that a teacher achieves these skills through ongoing professional development and engagement in professional learning communities.
What would you add to this list?
November 17, 2022 at 11:00 am, Carol Garcines said:
Allowing other staff and assistant to get involve in working out good classroom environment to give input and ideas how to help children in the learning process.