University of StrathclydeSEYER Conference

September 7th 2013

Workshop : The Learning Environment

Cathy Downes and Liz MacAulay

How can the environment teach children?

What influence does the environment have on children’s learning behaviours?

What does the environment tell children about values and expectations of learning?

How can we ensure that we listen to children and support young children’s competencies in expressing their perspectives about the learning environment?

Some questions raised by literature and research

Prohibitive or discouraging

Permissive and affording

Inviting and encouraging

Expansive, powerful and potentiating

Learning Environments

Claxton (2010)

What might expansive, powerful and potentiating environments look like?

Discuss and jot down key words and/ or phrases which capture for you, the notion of an expansive, powerful and potentiating environment

Discussion point

In an expansive learning environment staff plan and organise the space, resources, materials and activities in ways which creates an inviting and challenging environment for every child.

The aim is to provide an environment in which children are ready, willing and able to engage profitably in learning.

We can be more or less disposed to learning. Positive dispositions to learning can be supported and encouraged- or not!

The Expansive Environment

Adapted from Delaney (2011)

What is clear is that early childhood centres and schools do change children’s learning orientations, for better or worse. (Claxton and Carr 2004)

The learning environment can steer children towards or away from developing the attributes of effective learners.

The influence of the learning environment

Look at your photographs and consider the following questions........

Small group activity

What does your environment tell children about values and expectations?

How can the environment influence, strengthen, broaden and enrich children’s learning behaviours and dispositions?

How does your environment ‘speak’ to children about what they can do, how and where they can do it and how they can work together?

What sort of messages and invitations are presented?

Questions to think about....

Adapted from Delaney (2011)

How can we ensure that we listen to children and support young children’s competencies in expressing their perspectives about the learning environment?

Listening to children

Clark (2010)

Observations

Photo books

Tours and map-making

Interviews

Finding out about children’s perspectives of the learning environment

Clark (2010)

‘For Malaguzzi, the business of teachers and learners was to learn and relearn together. In this way children are not shaped by experience but shape it themselves.’

‘The purpose of research that teachers do, either on their own or with colleagues, is to develop and use strategies that will be useful to children’s learning. They go from research into action or from action into research. It becomes a spiral process.’

Future Research Possibilities

Smidt (2013:24)