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The importance of environmental aesthetics to educator and child wellbeing

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Imagine walking into an early childhood education and care (ECEC) space that is dominated with loud splashes of colour and mismatched furniture. Walls cluttered with children’s artwork, as well as children’s creations piling up on the benches. The outside view obscured by poster-painted windows. Toy…

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Any thoughts, ideas, questions, or comments you want to share about the Policy you're reading? Please add to the comment section below each Policy - let's start a conversation!

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Any thoughts, ideas, questions, or comments you want to share about the Policy you're reading? Please add to the comment section below each Policy - let's start a conversation!

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The aim of Quality Area 3 under the National Quality Standard is to ensure that the physical environment is safe, suitable and provides a rich and diverse range of experiences that promote children's learning and development.

The way that the environment is designed, equipped and organised determines the way that the space and resources are used and has the potential to maximise children's engagement and level of positive experience and inclusive relationships.

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Physical environment is safe, suitable and provides a rich and diverse range of experiences that promote children's learning and development.

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As a service what are our current sustainable practices and what could we implement to continue to improve? I'd also like to link this to natural play environments and how we embed that at our service. 

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As a service what are our current sustainable practices and what could we implement to continue to improve? I'd also like to link this to natural play environments and how we embed that at our service. 

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Let's add a goal to our Quality Improvement Plan

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This article is from the Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment and first appeared in Childcare Queensland's Early Edition - Summer 2012. The National Quality Standard (NQS) encourages educators to reflect on sustainability and what it means in early childhood settings. Standard 3.3 of the NQS invites services to take an active role in promoting sustainable practices in the immediate service environment and beyond, as well as fostering children's respect and care for the environment.
The Standard aims to support children to develop positive attitudes and values by engaging in learning experiences that link people, plants, animals and the land and by watching adults around them model sustainable practices. Many long day care services include environmental practices in their everyday programs - by planting vegetable patches, recycling paper and turning off lights when leaving the room, for example. This is a great starting point and opportunities to build a sustainable program are endless. Early childhood services are at varying stages in the journey to sustainable education and practice. The following suggestions are designed to get you thinking about ways in which your service can build on Standard 3.3.

Sustainability in early childhood

The way in which services approach environmental sustainability will vary depending on the context, the children, the families, and the community in which the service is delivered. Services should encourage children and families to investigate the environment in which they live; rather than to impose a particular set of values or practices.

Learning about sustainability starts with everyday practice. Babies and toddlers can begin by watching adults model these behaviours. They may learn through song or rhyme as adults verbalise what they are doing. Children over three can begin to reason why practices are needed and to understand the impact that their actions have on the planet.

Getting started

It's important to take a holistic look at sustainability across your service. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Conduct a self-assessment or audit of the sustainable activities already taking place in your service. Celebrate these achievements, share them with families and acknowledge staff contributions.

Make sustainability a key component of the service's philosophy and quality improvement planning process, and seek commitment from children, educators and families.

Give children a sense of ownership. Ask them for ideas and get their participation.

Appoint a sustainability officer to champion and motivate the service to 'go green'.

Commit to actions that are realistic and that people are motivated about. Consider experience, knowledge, budget and resource constraints.

Involve other people, groups and organisations in the building of the program. Consider ways to show them the results of their contributions and acknowledge their support.

Where to make changes

During an assessment and rating visit, authorised officers will be looking for evidence that sustainable practices are embedded in service operations.

Assessors may want to observe how children are supported to appreciate the natural environment and to take responsibility for caring for it - be it water, waste, energy, fauna or flora. You can do this by introducing smaller and more manageable activities in to every day practice and helping children to understand why.

Early childhood teacher, Karen Reid from Chiselhurst Community Preschool and Kindergarten in Toowoomba has kindly shared her ideas for addressing Standard 3.3:

Model 'green housekeeping' practices in the service, such as minimising waste, and reducing water and energy consumption. Replace appliances with more energy efficient ones, purchase recycled products where possible and build a compost bin. Engage children in the process so they learn why these changes are occurring.

Find ways to save money and energy by de-lamping lights where natural light is sufficient. Children can be responsible for turning off lights and fans when going outside.

Encourage parents to pack low waste lunches, using washable sandwich bags or plastic containers. After every meal, children can sort rubbish into general waste, recyclables and scrap bins.

Talk about rain and tap water and place stickers or timers at taps to encourage reduced water usage. Collect water in buckets when it rains.

Allow children to choose what seasonal fruit, vegetables or herbs they'd like to grow and seek ideas from families for the design of the outdoor environment. Water plants during the cool parts of the day to maximise absorption.

Observe and monitor biodiversity by keeping a log of all creatures big and small in the grounds. Work with children to research native wildlife.

Looking after animals can be fun, consider sponsoring animals at zoos and sanctuaries.

Build sustainability into policies and procedures, and use this to communicate with and educate the wider community.

Create critical thinkers

Turning off the lights at the end of the day is one thing, but do children understand why they're being asked to do so? During the assessment and rating visit, authorised officers will want to know how children are being supported to develop an understanding and respect for the environment.

Build strategies in to your program that will encourage critical thinking. Prompting children to question where uneaten food scraps go may be one way to do this. Discussing the concept of drought by examining photographs and drawing signs about water conservation can provoke curiosity and creativity in older children.

Early childhood is a critical time for environmental education. Children are more likely to adopt good behaviours if they understand why and how to be sustainable.

Lessons that can last a lifetime

Children can learn a range of valuable experiences through adopting environmentally responsible practices. Respectful attitudes learnt in these early years can last a lifetime.

There are many useful resources available to support early childhood educators to embed sustainable practices, including the Early Childhood Australia website.

For additional information on Standard 3.3 of the NQS, refer to the National Quality Standard page available from the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority website.

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A 'green' thumbs up to sustainable programs

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This article is from the Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment and first appeared in Childcare Queensland's Early Edition - Summer 2012 . The National Quality Standard (NQS) encourages...

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"We place enormous value on the role of the environment as a motivating and animating force in creating spaces for relations, options and emotional and cognitive situations that produce a sense of well-being and security" Loris Malaguzzi, Reggio Emilia Italy.

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The Spoke - Early Childhood Australia's Blog

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Are you curious about why the environment is called the 'third teacher'? This concept rose in popularity through the global growth and influence of the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy. The founder, Loris Malaguzzi, said there are three teachers of children-adults, other children and their physical environment.

How does the environment 'teach' children?
The Reggio Emilia approach suggests that children direct their own learning. It is a child's own creativity and natural desire to explore the world that leads them on a path of discovery-not a set curriculum or fixed-outcome tasks.

The environment plays a foundational role in the process of making learning meaningful. When a teaching space is set up optimally, it facilitates and empowers children as they navigate this open-ended exploration of things that interest them. Children are seen as partners and collaborators in their own education and the environment stimulates, provokes and facilitates this learning.
What is required for an environment to be the 'third teacher'?
A dynamic environment is key to this approach, with teaching spaces and resources changed regularly in response to the evolving needs and desires of children.

The aesthetic of the environment also plays an important role. Natural light is encouraged with calm, beautiful and uncluttered spaces providing a canvas for children to play, investigate and explore in. Mindful care should be taken to select materials, furniture and resources that are in harmony with one another. When the environment is the 'third teacher', it provides a captivating and ever-evolving yet orderly environment which is conducive to learning.

The resources in the environment should be open-ended so that the focus is on the process (which can take the children in many different directions), rather than being outcome-orientated. Materials and resources should be authentic with as many loose parts as possible drawn from the natural world.

Most importantly, the environment should encourage communication and make the children feel welcomed, loved, safe and supported.
What do children learn from the environment?
Whether children are sitting at a tinkering table developing their fine motor skills, strengthening their bodies by clambering over obstacles in the playground, hypothesising about why ants follow one another in a line or experimenting with water and food colouring, their environment is providing them with opportunities to be active participants in their own learning.

The environment-both indoors and outdoors-enables children to develop a range of physical, cognitive, language, literacy, emotional and social skills. They learn how to interact with others in a responsible, healthy way. They learn to solve problems through their own critical thinking, creativity and collaboration. They challenge their minds and their bodies. They become more independent and self-confident as they are empowered to choose the materials they want to play with and follow their own path of hands-on discovery.

The environment aims to inspire a sense of wonder and awe about the world and children should be supported as active contributors. One way to do this is by encouraging the children to bring in materials or objects they have found at home or in nature that represent their interests and cultures. They should be encouraged to continue their investigations in pursuit of their own interests.
The right environment benefits children, educators and families
In Reggio-inspired environments, the focus is on holistic involvement in children's learning and growth. Displaying documentation is a key feature and it can help provoke further investigations, discussion and learning. The sharing of this documentation with children's parents and caregivers is a key aspect in supporting development and creating shared experiences.
A last word on the environment as the 'third teacher'
In the Reggio Emilia philosophy, the environment is seen as enabling children to explore their own interests and learn from their experiences. Teaching spaces are curated to be aesthetically pleasing without being contrived. They are welcoming spaces that spark joy and a love of learning, and where children are encouraged to collaborate, communicate, create, experiment and explore.

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A guide to the environment as the 'third teacher' - The Spoke - Early Childhood Australia's Blog

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Are you curious about why the environment is called the 'third teacher'? This concept rose in popularity through the global growth and influence of the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy. The founder, Loris Malaguzzi, said there are three teachers of children-adults, other children and their physical environment. How does the environment 'teach' children?

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Professional Development - Creating Meaningful and Enticing Spaces

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Professional Development - Creating Meaningful and Enticing Spaces

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As a team we held an in-service professional development evening on creating meaningful and enticing spaces on the 13th of March 2023. This was facilitated by Kirsty Fantini from Early Years Training. We also invited educators from Cessnock Kids and the Cottage to the Professional Dev. Night.  Here are some reflections of what we learnt, which is reflected in our educator reflections and room goals.

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KOALA: How are the backgrounds and cultures of families and the broader community reflected in the environment?

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KOALA: How are the backgrounds and cultures of families and the broader community reflected in the environment?

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POSSUMS: How do we support children’s interaction between the indoor and outdoor environments?

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POSSUMS: How do we support children’s interaction between the indoor and outdoor environments?

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JOEYS: How do we ensure the environment is organised to meet supervision requirements, and also provide appropriate spaces and activities for children’s need for privacy and autonomy?

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JOEYS: How do we ensure the environment is organised to meet supervision requirements, and also provide appropriate spaces and activities for children’s need for privacy and autonomy?

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BILBIES: How is the environment equipped and organised to cater for all ages and levels of capabilities?

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BILBIES: How is the environment equipped and organised to cater for all ages and levels of capabilities?

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KOOK: How does the environment support children’s learning? What barriers do we need to overcome?

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KOOK: How does the environment support children’s learning? What barriers do we need to overcome?

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As a team, I believe we are all interested and passionate to make more sustainable choices. When reading this policy, I feel we have let a lot of these practices go.
Please read this policy as we will be discussing and reviewing our current practices at our next team meetings.
Please also acknowledge you have read this policy, by commenting and leaving your name below.

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Do you feel we need to add more to this policy? What would you like to see added?