Creating learning environments for children under two

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Every day learning in home environments

• Creating learning environments for children under
  two

Helen Lynch, PhD Candidate, Occupational Science
Occupational Therapy Dept., UCC Dr. Noirin
Hayes, PhD supervisor, Dublin Institute of
Technology IFDCO Conference, UCC, July 2009
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Nature of early childhood sector

• Crosses boundaries between child-care, child
  development, child education, health promotion
  and services for children who are not developing
  typically
• Influences from psychology, health, education,
  care
• In health and health-care in Ireland
  traditionally related to screening and health
  checks now moving into the realm of well-being
  and participation
• Health viewed more from a social model- the
  impact on child's ability to engage in typical
  life experiences, in the context of family and
  communities

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Childrens Occupational Profile changing

• Impact of globalisation
• Family life and employment patterns
• A protectionist viewpoint of parenting
• Nature of play and leisure the marked rise in
  sedentary activities alongside a reduction in
  physical activity
• the complexity of society in which unsafe urban
  spaces, time pressured parents and the
  entertainment focus of new technologies in
  combination are creating a generation of
  occupationally deprived children
• Whiteford 2001

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Resulting in developmental concerns

• review of research on impact of sleep/play
  positions and motor development (Liao, Zawacki
  Campbell ,2005)
• Link with motor development and equipment use
  (Abbott Bartlett, 2001)
• Increase in children presenting with coordination
  disorders- better identification or a decrease in
  play skills?
• Too little risk leads to weak resilience in
  children

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Resulting in health and well-being concerns

• Increase in sedentary activity in children
• Increase in obesity levels
• activity patterns are more focused on organised
  play dates, TV watching,
• patterns of activity acquired throughout
  childhood and adolescence are more likely to be
  maintained throughout the life span-
• WHO, Physical activity and Health in Europe
  report 2006

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Leading to some interesting questions that we all
need to ask

• As early childhood practitioners, do we really
  know what typically developing children do?
• How do children of today typically spend their
  time?
• What is the role of the environment in supporting
  child development/learning?

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Aims of the seminar

• Play, development and learning
• To consider what we know about children in the
  Ireland of today
• Researching childrens environments the
  relationship with child development, learning and
  play
• The power of the ordinary natural learning
  environments and everyday learning opportunities
• Some exploratory research work to date
• Implications and considerations

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General agreement

• Children learn by doing
• Doing usually takes the form of play
• Play is more focused on process than product
• Play is a vehicle for child development/ learning

Think of a time when you were young What would
you say your favourite memory of play is? Write
down your memory of this experience
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Important elements to play

• Is it about toys and commercial objects?
• Is it about your intrinsic motivation and desire
  to develop the play?
• Is it about the physical and social environment
  you were in?

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Definition of play

• Play is freely chosen, personally directed,
  intrinsically motivated behaviour that actively
  engages the child
• (NPFA, PLAYLINK and CPC, 2000, p6) cited in the
  National Play Policy,)

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So what do we know about childrens lives in
Ireland today?
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In 2007EXPLORATORY STUDY

• What are the typical activity (play) profiles of
  Cork city
• children in middle-childhood (aged
  5-8 years)?
• Do these profiles compare or differ to those of
  other cultures?
• 34 children kept time-diaries for 1 school day
• 1 week-end day in March

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Some findings

• Favourite activities include
• catching ladybirds,
• playing with cousins,
• playing hurling,
• GAA football,
• playing in the terrace,
• dancing for my nan
• playing soccer

• 60 walk to and from school
• Average walking time per day to and from school
  31 mins so 15 mins walk to school per child
• 20 go shopping at the weekend with their parents
  
• 55 play outside in the park at weekends50
  during the week
• 23 are taken for a treat to eat out at the
  weekend
• 34 engage in religious practice visiting
  graves, saying prayers, going to church
• 17 visit relatives during the week 38
  relatives at the weekend

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TABLE 1 comparison of sample activities between
Canadian and Irish cultures
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Some implications from findings

• The environment appears to have a significant
  role in the activity/play profile of children
  (impact of grade/class in school)
• Occupations/play has a cultural dimension we
  need to ensure we do not take a globalised view
  of childrens play development consideration to
  context
• childs environment hugely influenced by
  parents/carers

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practitioners must be masters of the norms and
expectations inherent in activity ideas and the
palette of activities typically considered by
persons of different ages, genders or cultural
backgrounds

• (Pierce, 2000, p. 140)

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2008

• EARLY CHILDHOOD EVERY DAY LEARNING IN HOME
  ENVIRONMENTS

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Early learning and development
The link with Learning

• Clear association between play and development as
  well as play and learning (Hutt Hutt 1970
  Bruner, 1972 Siegler, 2000 Piaget, 1952, 1962
  Vygotsky, 1978)
• Human development needs to be situated within
  relevant sociocultural contexts (Valsiner, 1987
  Rogoff, 1993 Bronfenbrenner Morris, 1998
  Rogoff, 2003)
• Contemporary developmental psychology is moving
  towards context e.g. dynamic systems theory of
  learning (Thelen Smith 1998), and Gibsons
  ecological approach to visual perception (Gibson,
  1986).

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Environmental research
The link with Environment

• Children learn by doing learning and development
  is a result of the interaction between the child
  and the environment (Bronfenbrenner, 1979
  Wohlwill Heft, 1987)
• Sociocultural environments have been the focus of
  the majority of environmental research studies to
  date with little attention to the physical
  environments (Muniers, Teeters Myers Pierce,
  2008).
• The physical environment has been identified as a
  key factor in learning outcomes in children
  (Elardo, Bradley Caldwell, 1975 Wachs, 1978
  Wachs, 1979)

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Where is the environment in child-care/child
development?

• Research found that quality of physical, designed
  environment and quality of outdoor spaces is
  related to child's cognitive, social and
  emotional development (Moore 1987, Moore
  Sugiyama 2007)
• Wachs (1987)
• Study of physical features of the home strongly
  associated with cognitive development identified
  5 key features
• Physically responsive environment
• Presence of sheltered areas
• Degree to which the physical environment allowed
  for exploration
• Noise levels and confusion
• Degree of temporal regularity

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Context- how each piece interacts and effects the
other
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The Irish context..?
St. Patricks Day
Gaelic sports
Different communities
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An Irish profile
Statistics for children

• 2005 Ireland has the higher percentage of
  children under 18 than any other EU member state
  (25 of the population).
• 2002 86 live with both parents or guardians,
  compared to 14 who live with a lone
  parent/guardian.
• 2005 59.7 preschoolers minded by their own
  parent/guardian compared to 62.1 in 2002
• 2005 22.1 attend a creche/montessori or paid
  carer
• 2005 total no of preschoolers minded by parent
  or relative 75.7

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In the Irish context, the home is still the main
environment for baby/toddler care
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Home as learning environment

• In early childhood education, Home Learning
  Environments (HLE) has been identified as
  significant
• In early childhood intervention, importance of
  environment is being noted- e.g. and Natural
  Learning Environments (NLE)
• NLE research based on legislation in the USA-
  Part C of IDEA legislation
• In recent years, changing the way practitioners
  work in early childhood intervention

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Why natural learning environments?

• Linked to an inclusion philosophy
• Values daily, routine-based activities,
  incidental learning
• Integrates learning and family-centred practice
• Contextualised understanding of child development

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How children learn-from a NLE perspective

• Everyday life is made up of experiences and
  opportunities (social and physical settings) that
  are contexts for meaningful and functional child
  learning and development, and mutually beneficial
  parent-child interactions, strengthening both
  child and parent competence and confidence
  (Dunst, 2004)
• How children learn
• Natural learning opportunities
• Participation in existing activity settings
• Child and family interests (resources)
• Planned and spontaneous activities (Dunst et al
  2000)

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Definitions

• ENVIRONMENT
• environment objects, places, events and other
  people features in a setting that invite,
  permit or inhibit engagement in sustained
  progressively more complex interactions with and
  activity in immediate environment
  (Bronfenbrenner, 1993, p. 11)

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How to identify resources for natural learning
environments

• Affordances
• Affordances are opportunities for action that
  objects, events or places in the environment
  provide for the child (Hirose 2002)
• Identify routines and activities typical in your
  home (resource-based)

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A look at Sarah, 22 months
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A look at Sarah, 22 months

• What did you see in the environment
• Bowls
• Spoons
• Playroom
• Childs table
• Kitchen
• Mother/carer
• Family pet

• What did you see in terms of affordances?
• Objects that hold food
• Things for stirring
• Space to move and play
• An object for putting things on
• A place for cooking/washing
• A person who enables play experiences (scaffolds)

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Sources of everyday natural learning
environments- in the home

• Family routines
• Parenting routines
• Child routines
• Literacy activities
• Play activities
• Physical play
• Entertainment activities
• Family rituals
• Family celebrations
• Socialisation activities
• Gardening activities
• (Dunst et al, 2004)

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Things for hiding under play activity
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Places for activity family routine
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Things to explore physical-sensory play
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Places to share socialisation activity
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Place to dig gardening activity
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Place to move family routine
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What is the evidence for NLE?

• Does working with infants and toddlers in natural
  learning environments result in better
  developmental outcomes?
• Research review of 150 abstracts
• Young children learn best through naturalistic
  learning opportunities
• Authentic activities that are meaningful and
  appropriate for the child was the most important
  issue
• Children developed skills specifically in
  relation to self-help (independent living skills)
  and social development
• (research review Stewart, 2009)

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A note on the outdoor environment Same approach
applies

• Think of affordances and opportunities
• Places to explore
• Places to shelter
• Places to experience movement- rolling, crawling,
  running, hiding, climbing, chasing, sliding,
  swinging, rocking, skipping, catching and
  throwing balls
• Places for hanging-out!
• Places for exploring
• Objects for manipulating- ropes, pushing or
  riding toys, boxes, scoops and shovels, buckets,
• Objects for sitting on, climbing on, jumping off

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Concern regarding lack of outdoor play

• Research Institutes such as the NLI in North
  Carolina, USA
• Mission to help communities create stimulating
  places for play, learning and environmental
  education- environments that recognise human
  dependence on the natural world
• Researching different types of layouts of outdoor
  play spaces for children- to see which was the
  most active play area
• Grass and play equipment area
• Pathways, vegetation and play equipment
• Natural environment with segregated play
  equipment area
• (Costa, 2007, NLI)

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How to incorporate natural learning opportunities
into your setting

• Take an affordances approach
• Think out-side the box- i.e. dont always think
  of what toy first, but what opportunity
• Use manuals such as the Siolta Frame work
• Think of

THE POWER OF THE ORDINARY!
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• Consider typical home environments and see how
  you can use them to support learning
• In the garden
• Kitchen
• At the table
• On the floor
• On the stairs

• Consider typical home routines and see how you
  can use them to support learning
• Mealtimes
• Cooking
• Cleaning
• Sorting and tidying
• Weeding
• Hanging out clothes

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The universal child

• Universal child approach supports understanding
  of child care, health and development from an
  activity and participation perspective
• Supports an inclusive philosophy- inclusive
  programmes that value similarities rather than
  differences in children
• while globalised theories about the universal
  child might be very powerful, at a local level,
  good early childhood education is dependent on a
  thorough understanding of the culture in which
  the children and their families are embedded
  Munn, P (2008, p. 187)

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The universal environment?

• Focus on design and promotion of outdoor play
  areas in communities has been increasing in
  recent times
• Guided by principles of the universal child- a
  place for everyone Inclusion philosophy
• e.g.
• www.freeplaynetwork.org.uk
• NLI natural learning initiative, North Carolina
  State University

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Points to ponder

• Where does this fit with current practice in
  child-care environments?

• Is there a universal approach to home
  environments indoor and outdoor that can support
  this?

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Indoor and outdoor learning environments for
children under twoCommissioned by the
CECDECentre for Early Childhood Development and
Education

• A brief introduction to the research study

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Research purpose

• To begin to address the lack of research that
  exists in early play development in the context
  of the home environments of young children
• To explore and identify ways in which young
  children develop and learn to negotiate objects
  and spaces of everyday life in the home
• To supplement developmental theories by
  describing child-environment interactions
  involved in childrens interaction in
  activity/occupation

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with a focus on infants and toddlers under 2

• Question 1 What is the developmental sequence of
  the child in relation to his interaction with the
  physical environment in the home
• Question 2 What are the attributes/affordances
  of the physical environments that match/support
  this developmental progression?
• Question 3What are the environmental and
  curriculum implications for provision of child
  care in typical home environments?

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RESEARCH DESIGN

• To carry out a sequential analysis over time of
  the child in natural home environments, engaging
  in self-directed play sessions with usual objects
  (indoors and outdoors). A qualitative
  ethnographic approach, using grounded theory to
  produce substantive descriptions is to be used
  (Charmaz, 2006). Some quantitative data will be
  collected in relation to the identification of
  objects and spaces in the home environments.
• Analysis will be guided by transactional theory
  and the Bioecological model of Bronfenbrenner
  Morris (1998)

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Observation and interview

• Observation and use of video

• Interview

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Sampling Procedure

• sampling will be done by targeting a specific
  group of people rather than seeking a random
  sample (purposive sampling), using a snowball
  technique to connect to other potential
  participants (snowball sampling) with the aim of
  employing a theoretical sampling plan over the
  course of the study to ensure depth.
• at least 10 children (5 new-borns and 5 at
  1-year of age) will form the sample group
• Aim for mixed gender and different socioeconomic
  levels (families of different family types and
  backgrounds).
• Parents caring for their children at home
• 2 age-groups beginning in August/September 2009,
  babies from birth and infants aged 1 year.

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Exploratory work to date

• Student projects supervised Ni Bhriain and
  Coughlan
• impact of parents experiences of parenting
• Values and attitudes determining play choices and
  opportunities afforded the child
• Meaning of place to the child-determining the use
  of space in the home
• Preference for natural play objects over
  commercial ones

POWER OF THE ORDINARY!
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Pilot observations

• Space, place and object use social/cultural
  meaning for the child
• Proximity of parent determined use of space and
  objects
• Objects used for affordance rather than for
  purpose (child determined how objects were used)

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If you are interested in being involved in the
study

• If you are the parent of a child who will be 1
  year old in August/September 2009, or about to
  have a new baby in August/September 2009, you
  might be able to help

CONTACT Helen Lynch, Department of
Occupational Science Occupational Therapy
University College Cork, Phone [phone]
E-mail h.lynch_at_ucc.ie
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Potential challenges beyond the study

• How to translate the research in the power of
  the ordinary to practice in early child care,
  education, health and well-being
• To educate professionals in the sector on the
  settings approach- the importance of natural
  learning environments
• Implications for the design of play (learning)
  spaces, homes and child-care environments
• How to ensure quality evaluating physical
  environments
• In times of recession- where does evidence-based
  practice fit in service provision?

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• References available on request h.lynch_at_ucc.ie
• Thank You!
• Helen Lynch, University College Cork
• Dr. Noirin Hayes, Dublin Institute of Technology

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