The Learning Environment
The organisation of the spaces, the experiences on offer, and the sensitive interactions within the setting must engage, support, and challenge the children in their learning.
At Early Level:
- Practitioners must develop engaging, inspiring and challenging spaces responding to children’s developmental needs and interests.
- Practitioners must know the children as individuals and as learners using sensitive interactions and observations to inform their knowledge.
Realising the Ambition (Education Scotland, 2020) states that when creating spaces to develop and support learning, the following are some vital aspects of what children need:
“I need spaces that:
- Are adaptive and responsive to my emotions, interests and needs both outdoors and indoors,
- Promote interesting opportunities for developing learning in literacy, numeracy and other curricular subjects beyond designated “areas’ – encouraging me to connect and reinforce my learning. For example – notice the different ways I am learning literacy and numeracy and mathematical concepts as I play alongside others in the mud kitchen,
- Are rich in relevant environmental print showing meaningful connections to the way we use words and numbers in our everyday lives,
- Encourage and values play, fun, exploration, enquiry and movement,
- Offer independence, choice and opportunities for me to extend my learning with other children and adults,
- Provide both open-ended and structured materials which can support and challenge my learning in literacy, numeracy and mathematical thinking, and other curricular areas, in a meaningful way.
- Embrace my need to reinforce my learning through schematic play,
- Provide regular access to the natural world, enabling experiences, conversations and interactions that promote my curiosity and creativity,
- Encourage a sense of safety and security, yet enabling appropriate risky play, which enables me to be playful in my learning, and
- Encourage me to use and share my learning in everyday experiences and real-life situations.” (p. 69)
