What can teachers do to make the classroom environment more conducive to children’s learning and

development?

Page 1: Early Childhood Environments

Safe, responsive, and nurturing environments are an important part of supporting the learning and
development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Such environments also help to prevent challenging
behaviors and serve as a core component of interventions for infants and young children with identified
disabilities. According to the Division for Early Childhood Recommended Practices (DEC-RP):

“Environmental practices refer to aspects of the space, materials, equipment, routines, and activities
that practitioners and families can intentionally alter to support each child’s learning across
developmental domains.”

Unfortunately, many practitioners are unsure how to create environments that support their children’s
learning across different age groups (e.g., infants, toddlers, preschoolers) and developmental domains
(e.g., social, communication, cognitive, motor). Well-designed classroom* environments:

Support responsive caregiving

Foster independence and feelings of competence in young children

Encourage staff efficiency

Promote children’s engagement

Decrease challenging behavior

Facilitate appropriate social interactions among children

Provide structure and predictability

Research Shows

Changes in classroom environmental arrangement, such as rearranging furniture, implementing activity

schedules, and altering ways of providing instructions around routines, have been found to increase the
probability of appropriate behaviors and effectively decrease the probability of challenging behaviors.
(Chandler et al., 1999; Dooley, Wilczenski, & Torem, 2001; Martens, Eckert, Bradley, & Ardoin, 1999)

Conclusions

The results of this experimental research design did not show strong evidence to

support the hypothesis. However, individual results were strong enough to conclude that

the environment does have an effect on children’s behavior. Direct observation of the

children proved to be the most constructive and successful method of data collection.

The results from the questionnaires may be influenced by the small sample size, as well

as teacher biased or unpredictable events such as children’s absence or withdrawal from

the study. Further research might eliminate these problems with the use of a larger

sample, more control over the instruments provided, and a specific period designated for

data collection between treatments within the environment.

With the growing interest in preschool and early childhood environments, it is

important to take into consideration the user and the user needs for these environments to

avoid the presence of unnecessary negative behaviors and to optimize the learning

experience of children. These spaces are not only a pastime, they are a place where

children learn and acquire their first life experiences. It is our responsibility to further

research the impact of environment on behavior as well as the proper design and

treatment of preschool environments. MIRIAM MARGARITA GARCIA ANCHEITA