Does space make a difference?
Photo credit: Anglican Church Grammar School
Terry Byers, Anglican Church Grammar School and Wes Imms, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, conducted a longitudinal study as part of the E21LE project– the New Generation Learning Spaces project, which focused on providing an approach, and suite of tools to measure the pedagogical impact of different learning environments. They have just released a report on the project findings.
I find that when children come through the door at My Science Playroom (www.scienceplayroom.co.nz) in AucklandNZ it is as if they say to the adults around them “hands off, stand back, this is my space, my time to explore and learn.” We find they are not keen for you to interfere with their play and will invite you in to play when they are ready. If you do interrupt them with learning material l they do move away. However, they are accepting that you are in charge at certain activities such as chemistry experiments. It is as if the set up in the environment leads them to understand that you can participate and engage in this activity with the guidance of a teacher.