Learning environments for children and learning experiences

Learning environments for children and learning experiences

In this assignment you will identify, examine, and reflect on your theoretical understandings of learning environments for children developed throughout the subject and to demonstrate them through the design of an indoor and outdoor environment for early years and lower primary children. This design will be presented in a multi-slide e-portfolio showing overviews of your designs for both the indoor and outdoor environment and detailed illustrations of specific elements and spaces of both environments. You will annotate your portfolio for the markers highlighting the key design features, aligned pedagogical practices and the rationale for them.
Learning experiences – you will plan four learning experiences: two for early years children and two for lower primary children

The purpose of this assignment is for you to design and plan for indoor and outdoor learning environments, demonstrating your understanding of and appreciation for the significant influence that space, place, time, and nature have on the lived experience and identity of early childhood and primary school aged children. You will also apply contemporary theoretical and philosophical perspectives related to the child-nature relationship, environment-behaviour interactions, place-based connections, indigenous knowledge systems and sustainability education in your own design and plan whilst adhering to the central concepts of the social sciences (history and geography).

Process:
Using PowerPoint, you will create an e-portfolio that illustrates the design of and plan for indoor and outdoor environments for children in early childhood education and care settings and primary school. Design one indoor and one outdoor learning environment. Illustrate each learning environment (whether digitally or by hand then scanned into e-portfolio).

Your e-portfolio will contain the elements below.
Learning environments (600 words, minimum 15 slides + illustrations)
– For each learning environment (indoor and outdoor), provide an outline of the settings you have created and justify your choices in those creations with a scholarly rationale.
– Using theoretical perspectives and pedagogical philosophy, discuss ways in which your designs incorporate child- nature relationships, Indigenous perspectives, place-based perspectives and place connections, inclusiveness, and sustainability learning.
– Your discussion will clearly articulate your appreciation for the deep influence that space, place, time, and nature have on the lived experience and identity of children.
– For each learning environment you have created, identify possible teaching and learning opportunities for children in early childhood education and care settings and primary school.
– Discuss the types of engagement and learning that your environments will foster and the relationship to your design characteristics or elements.
Learning experiences (1200 words)
– For each learning environment you have designed (indoor and outdoor), plan one learning experience for a child in an early childhood education and care setting (under 5) and one learning experience for a child in lower primary (grades K-2). You will have 4 learning experiences altogether.
– Each learning experience will identify the appropriate complementary physical components from your design, relevant learning goals for children, overview of the learning experience, and curriculum links (EYLF and History or Geography Syllabus).

Marking criteria:
• Learning environment designs reflect understandings of the influence that space, place, and time have on the lived experience and identity of children. Designs and justifications demonstrate innovation and explicitly reflect the influence that space, place, and time have on the lived experience and identity of children. 10 marks
• More than 10 scholarly texts are referred to, to rationalise the philosophy and design decisions presented. Well integrated, targeted recent and relevant selection of references used in assignment. Reference list included.
• Designs strongly and inherently reflect throughout the settings the child nature relationship, sustainability education, place-based learning, and inclusion. Annotations explicitly emphasise these connections. Indigenous perspectives are a key integrated feature and are included in the designs and annotations.
• Comprehensive evidence of an understanding of relevant policy and legislative frameworks, and how they shape the provision of environments is reflected in design justifications. Policy and legislative frameworks are definitively linked to theories of children, nature, and play.
• Strong and insightful learning experiences for all plans, which are meaningful, relevant, goal-oriented, and age-appropriate. A wide range physical elements from the designs are used to support the learning experiences. Strong links to all curriculum frameworks evident.

Please only use resources from the list provided below. The first book in the list is essential to include for reference in this e-portfolio. You can download the kindle app and use my login details to access it.

Title: Making humanities and social sciences come alive: early years and primary education
Author: Green, D. Price, D