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Topics in Early Childhood Education

Topics in Early Childhood Education

Designing Environments for Active Learning

What do you want the children in your classroom to do?

This becomes a key question as teachers arrange a classroom and plan each day. The physical environment can, in a very concrete way, guide the children to meet the program goals. The physical environment communicates with children and adults--it tell us how to act and how not to act. Think of your own experience: Do you act differently when dining at a four star haute cuisine restaurant than you do when having lunch at Burger King? Likewise, the classroom learning environment speaks to the children and directs their activity. So the question remains important...

What do you want the children in your classroom to do?

What is a teacher's role in designing an evironment which considers these goals?

To meet the goals listed above, the teacher plans the clasroom environment with a genuine acceptance of the children's ability to construct their own knowledge and to be in charge of their own learning.

Is your classroom...

A teacher has an active role to play in arranging spaces for active learning. Careful, informed planning will free the teacher during class time to meet the needs of individual children and to become partners with children as they play and learn.

Ingredients for Active Learning

What are the ingredients of active learning?

Many teachers believe that as long as children are handling materials they are engaged in active learning. Manipulation of materials is essential, of course, but by itself it does not constitute active learning. According to the High/Scope approach as described by David Weikart and Mary Hohmann in their book Educating Young Children (High/Scope Press, 1995), active learning occurs when all the following ingredients are present: