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
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).
