FUTURE LEARNING SPACE

ASPECTS OF MY CHILD-FRIENDLY FUTURE LEARNING SPACE

Many organisations and agencies fund school programs, yet children of all ages should have access to education and care in times of a crisis. Access to quality early childhood education is consistently a major factor influencing developmental, learning and social abilities. Research demonstrates that children who attend early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are likely to experience better behavioural and learning outcomes than those who do not attend. The potential benefits of ECEC are clearer and greater for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. These potentially positive impacts of ECEC appear to increase with the gradient of social disadvantage (Melhuish et al., 2015). Effective ECEC settings have been found to offer children from disadvantaged backgrounds added advantages both while they were in the setting and also through partnership work with parents to enhance the early and later home learning environment.  

Therefore, pre-school education is important for young children, particularly disadvantaged children. In times of crisis, pre-school education is important more so than ever.  Natural disasters are often very traumatic for children as they can be faced with many frightening and overwhelming experiences. Preschool children are a high risk group for poor outcomes following a traumatic event. However, due to the common misconception that children under the age of 5 years are resilient to the effects of trauma, this population is often neglected. Pre-schoolers typically present with similar patterns of traumatic stress reactions that are seen in older children and adolescents. However, there are several important unique developmental differences in the rate and manifestation of symptoms in preschool children.

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Therefore, this future learning space will focus on providing a child-friendly space for pre-school aged children where they can play, laugh, interact and heal. My child-friendly space will provide fun activities, such as games, sports, singing, drama and puppet-making, informal learning opportunities like reading, basic hygiene and life lessons, a chance for children to express their feelings of fear and loss through creative play, stories and group interactions. This learning space is flexible and provides the children with choice. It provides rich opportunities for group interactions, to support and facilitate communication, relationships, expression and healing. 

POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS AND INTERACTIONS

Responsiveness and sensitivity of care of very young children has been found to be predictor of effective brain development and social emotional functioning (Stonehouse, 2012). Children will reach out and explore when they feel safe. Their sense of safety comes from a nurturing, predictable, calm environment, where adults are attentive and attuned to children's bids for attention and their basic needs for shelter, warmth, comfort and love are met (Stonehouse, 2012). 

Educator–child relationships help children feel secure, which frees them to explore, play and learn; contribute to children’s sense of identity; offer opportunities for children to learn how to interact with others: respect others’ rights, be appropriately assertive, show caring, negotiate and resolve conflicts; and enable effective teaching and learning (Stonehouse, 2012).

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Secure attachment plays a pivotal role in the regulation of stress responses in times of distress, anxiety and illness (Stonehouse, 2012). Traumatic events may be very distressing, yet securely attached children are more able to be comforted and to reset to a non-fear driven response (Stonehouse, 2012). Positive relationships develop a range of personal and interpersonal capacities, including coping mechanisms, strategies and the ability to regulate their emotions (Stonehouse, 2012).

PLAY

Play builds a strong sense of self-confidence. There are also therapeutic benefits to play that help all children. For children under the age of five, play is the foundation for creativity, constructive problem solving, self-regulation, and learning as a whole (GreatSchools Staff, 2016). Through play, children build a range of skills they need for life, including gross and fine motor skills, language skills through cooperative play, social skills of listening, negotiating and compromising (GreatSchools Staff, 2016). 

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Children’s play can be divided into categories, but the types of play often overlap.

• Dramatic — Fantasy-directed play with dressing up in costumes, assuming roles as characters, using toys to represent characters in stories, creating imaginary settings, and pretending to take on the roles of adults.

• Manipulative — Holding and handling small toys often used to build objects but also found in puzzles, characters, beads, etc.

• Physical — Using the whole body in activities with bikes, balls, jump ropes, hoops, play structures, etc.

• Creative — Using art materials such as paint, clay, markers, pencils, glue, etc. The play takes place in the process of using the materials, not in the end product

(GreatSchools Staff, 2016). 

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Play based counselling encourages the expression of a child's feelings, experiences, and cognitive functioning in a non-threatening manner (Attachment and Trauma Treatment Centre for Healing (ATTCH), n.d.). Play Therapy is a therapeutic approach which provides an opportunity for children to ‘play out’ feelings and problems,  using toys to symbolically represent their inner and outer worlds (ATTCH, n.d.).  Play is a child’s natural language and  way of making sense of their experiences-through the use of play (ATTCH, n.d.). 

In play therapy, traumatized children learn: 

• that the world can be safe, consistent and predictable

• that feelings (both positive and negative) are acceptable

• to trust and attach to other people

• to be creative and resourceful in confronting problems

• develop a greater capacity to cope

• to experience behaviours and feelings of control/mastery

• to develop an internal source of evaluation

• to be more self-directed, responsible and autonomous

• to develop an enhanced sense of self and become more self-accepting

(ATTCH, n.d.).

SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Physical activity is vital for a child’s development and lays the foundation for a healthy and active life.

Research has shown that the involvement of children in physical activity who have experienced trauma significantly reduced mental health problems – “increased levels of physical activity had significant effects in reducing depression, anxiety, psycho- logical distress, and emotional disturbance in children” (Ahn & Fedewa, 2011, p. 393). Furthermore, Ahn and Fedewa identified that “studies also showed that physical activity increased children’s levels of self-esteem”, and that these results mirror studies done with adults.

“When designing physical activity interventions for children, this study showed that individualized- or class- wide interventions had the greatest effect on children’s mental health. When the intervention was led by teachers, researchers, or PE specialists, children showed the significant reduction in mental health problems through physical activity” (Ahn and Fedwa, 2011, p. 394).

ARTS AND CRAFTS

Art is vital, and if children engage in hands-on art activities, they learn much better in all disciplines (Van’t Hal, 2016). Children thrive from when they make art because it promotes creativity, encourages neural connections, builds fine motor skills, is a precursor to writing, develops problem-solving abilities, helps children understand themselves and their world, and helps connect children (Van’t Hal, 2016). 

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Creativity can be used as a means of self-expression and healing (Little Seeds Big Trees, 2011). During art and craft, is is important to have a focus on the creative process, not the end product, hence ensuring there is no requirement for artistic ability.

It can:

• facilitate the exploration of feelings

• develop skills in self directed activity

• improve focus and concentration

• increase self esteem and confidence

• encourage interaction and communication

• provide a range of creative activities to stimulate visual, aural, and kinasthetic learning

• create a safe environment for self-exploration and expression

(Little Seeds Big Trees, 2011). 

MUSIC

Singing and music play an important role in our culture and provides a platform for educators to integrate familiar experiences into the learning space (Bright Horizons, 2017). Music is inherently nonthreatening and an inviting medium (Bright Horizons, 2017). It offers a child a safe haven from which to explore feelings, behaviours and issues ranging from self-esteem to severe emotional dysregulation (Bright Horizons, 2017). Dancing provides children with opportunities to develop their motor skills and practice self-expression.

DRAMA

Drama plays an important role in pre-school education. Using drama is a way of expressing the persons feeling in a healthy manner; to improve the child's imagination, to enable children to think and act independently, to improve the child's social awareness and cooperative awareness.

Theatre and acting is a platform for relief for victims of trauma, providing them with hope for the future and helping improve their psychological state, by being able to express themselves.  

"Theatre benefits not only participants but also their families,” Nawar Bulbul (Syrian actor and director), with parents transforming from people striving to handle the burden of displacement into directors watching the development of their children’s performances.

GARDENING

Through gardening, children can learn new skills, have fun, play and develop self-confidence by spending time in the garden tending plants and growing their own food (Better Health Channel, 2017). Gardening is educational and develops new skills, including responsibility from caring for plants, self-confidence from achieving their goals and enjoying the food they have grown, reasoning and discovery by learning about the science of plants, animals weather, the environment, nutrition and simple construction, cooperation through a shared experience and teamwork, and knowledge of nutrition by learning about where fresh food comes from (Better Health Channel, 2017). 

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In a disadvantaged situation, these skills and knowledge can be taken home with the children to benefit the community and their everyday lives. Whole communities can benefit from providing young children with gardening opportunities, as they provide extended opportunities for crops, agriculture, improvement in nutrition and therefore, improved income, health and livelihoods. 

BASIC HYGIENE

Good personal hygiene is key to healthy living and can protect children from the spread of diseases (Saha, 2015). The teaching of basic hygiene would include the importance of drinking clean water, washing hands and using the toilet. These hygiene practices would protect children who are one of the most vulnerable groups during times of devastation when there is no clean water and large scale spread of diseases, as they have the knowledge of how to prevent the further spread of these diseases and potential death (Saha, 2015).