C A R I B B E A N E A R LY C H I L D H O O D G O O D P R A C T I C E G U I D E
6 DESIGN OF LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS (PHYSICAL STRUCTURES)
6.1. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK IS THERE EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTIVE PRACTICE IN DESIGN OF EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS (PHYSICAL STRUCTURES?) “The quality of the physical, designed environment of early childhood centres – size, density, privacy, well-defined activity settings, modified open-plan space, a variety of technical design features and the quality of outdoor play spaces – is related to children’s cognitive, social and emotional development 1 ”. A well-designed environment provides the setting with flexible space that can be adapted to the needs and interests of the children; be arranged and rearranged easily to make the learning opportunities interesting; and, can enable easy movement of adults and children between different activity areas. By enabling direct access to learning activities by children, the design encourages exploration, freedom of choice, social interaction and cooperation between children.
A well-designed environment provides the setting with flexible space that can be adapted to the needs and interests of the children...
Learning environments that are designed for open access learning also provide staff with ease of visual supervision of children. They provide a better opportunity for interaction with children individually or in small groups than can be provided in environments set out for instruction of children in a whole group. The location of the physical structure of the early childhood centre (away from persistent loud noise, pollutants and poor air quality), the quality of the physical infrastructure (adequate space indoors and outdoors, lighting and ventilation; functioning toilets, washing and food preparation facilities; sufficient and appropriate equipment in good repair) and the adherence to safety precautions, are associated with children’s safety, health and well-being. 2
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Moore GT, Sugiyama T, O’Donnell L. 2003. Children’s Physical Environments Rating Scale. Faculty of Architecture, University of Sydney, Australia. http:// sydney.edu.au/architecture/documents/ebs/AECA_2003_paper.pdf Myers R (2006) Quality in early childhood care and education programmes. Paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2007 http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001474/147473e.pdf
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