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The Classroom Environment that Strengthens Child Development
In our world environment we need essential elements in order to live and grow. We need
air, water, food, shelter, warmth, etc. We also need certain elements for our academic
environments to promote learning and academic growth. Of course we need teachers who are
patient, have a passion for teaching and have a love for children. Second to great teachers, we
need a strong positive classroom environment. Establishing a strong environment within the
classroom helps to create positive learning experinces and strengthens the social and emotional
development in children.
Background and Significance
A classroom environment can be a the difference in a child thriving academicly or a child
failing academicly or not developing socailly or emotionally. How many times have you walked
into a classroom that was dull, uninviting and disappointing? We end up convincing ourselves
that maybe with more time or more energy the environment will change and evolve. On occasion
the classroom evironments do change but more often than not they stay looking the same.
So who is responsible for creating these positive classroom environments? Teachers,
right? Yes, teachers are responsible for creating positive, strong and safe learning environments
but unfortunatley, there inlies a major part of the problem. Many teachers find themselves
overwhelmed, and overworked, not allowing them the extra time or energy to invest in their
classroom environment. Reasons and excuses range from not knowing how to create strong
environments from a lack of knowledge or training all the way to placing blame on the school
district for not having enough staff or funding to support improving classroom environments (Sly
et. Al ,2022).
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Practical Application for Differentiation
We become products of our environments, out in the world, in our home and in our
schools and classrooms. Our academic environments need to be created with a fundamental
design and purpose to promote a positive learning environmen. Designing the environment is
both an art and a science. It involves arranging and organizing the layout of the space given to
promote student learning (Roskos & Neuman, 2011).
Teachers need to be provided with the knowledge and know how in order for them to
create quality classroom environments. A tool and resource some schools and early childhood
programs use a system called ECERS, which stands for Early Childhood Environment Rating
Scale. This scale helps to rate the quality of the classroom environment. This scale focuses on the
environment as a whole and is broken down into 6 categories and we will be focusing on the
space and furnishings scale. Within the space and furnishing scale there are seven subscales.
Those seven subscales include: indoor space, furnishing for care, play and learning, room
arrangement for play and learning, space for privacy, child related displays, spce for gross motor
play and gross motor equipement. These subscales can change depending on the age, grade level
and special needs of the children in the classroom.
With this recource, teachers can learn new information and perspective to help them
create a quality classroom environment. The quality of childhood education environments is
considered to be of higher importance and indicators of a quality environment usually include
design and safety of the space, activities, interactions, curriculum, teachers’ knowledge and
qualifications and parent involvement (Yaya-Bryson et.al, 2020). A well-designed classroom
environment is the first step in providing a academic environment that fosters learning.
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So as we look out across the classroom we should see an organized layout with a
fundamental flow that promotes different areas of learning. For a kindergarten classroom this
would consist of a reading area, a block area, an art area, a gross motor manipulative area, a
dramatic play area, a technology area, etc. Each of these areas promote learning through play and
interaction which help establish and strengthen social and emotional development in children.
With this differentiated mindset and classroom, teachers can create a quality environment
that strengthens the social and emotional needs of children. “Attending to students’ social-
emotional needs is not a digression that draws time from teaching academic subjects, but rather
an important part of classroom practice. Students are not just learning the curriculum; they are
learning about themselves, how they interact with their peers, and how they choose their friends
(Sousa & Tomlinson, 2018).”
Social and emotional development can look different for each child. To help create
positive social and emotional development, it is important to always practice inclusivity. Making
a child of any race, color, religion, nationality or limited ability feel included is vital to creating a
safe place. To grow we all need to feel safe, especially emotionally. Children’s emotional growth
is strongly contected to their behavior. Negative environments can create emotional stress and
axiety. When students have to focus on their emotional state they loose the ability to learn and
have to find a new way to cope which often leads to misbehaving or withdrawing (Sousa &
Tomlinson, 2018).
To help all children feel included it is important for them to feel comfortable and safe. A
few ways to help children feel comfortable would through display or images or lanuages that are
familiar. Displaying family photos of children, photos of their native countries and
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environments, photos of familiar food or toys and visial fonts of words in their native language.
Dolls of different ethnicities and abilities, clothes or dress up costumes from different parts of the
world and even traditional music played for all to hear. These are just a few ways we can
promote inclusivity and diversity in our classroom environments to strengthen social and
emotional development.
Lastly, it is so important to remember that in order to help children feel safe we need to
know them and what better way is there to know them? The parents! We have the parents as a
valuable resource in helping us know and understand their children. Sly says it best when she
says, “Personally, I think the parents are the best storytellers, they can tell you what works best
for their child” (Sly et. Al,2022). Parents can be our allies in helping to bridge the gaps and help
create strong, positive learning envrionments in our classrooms.
Conclusion
So now I turn to you and ask you as a parent, a student, a teacher, what can we do to help
create a strong quality classroom environment that promotes learning , and strengthens social and
emotional development in children? Let us review. We must create opportunites for teachers to
learn how to create a quality environment. The classroom needs to be well organized and have a
functional layout and design to promote many different areas of learning. Children need to feel
safe and secure by feeling heard and included throughout their classroom environmnets.
It may not happen overnight but if a teacher slowly implements these changes into the
classroom environement they will watch the classroom climate change and thrive. “Train up a
child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (NIV Bible, 2011,
Proverbs. 22:6).
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References
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica,
Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Roskos, K., & Neuman, S. B. (2011). THE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT: First, last, and
always.JThe Reading Teacher,J65(2),110-114.Jhttps://doi.org/10.1002/TRTR.01021
Sly, C., Chapman, E., & O'Donoghue, T. (2022). Creating inclusive classroom environments: A
practitioner-friendly typology of regular classroom teachers' responses to the
call.International Journal of Disability, Development, and Education,ahead-of-
print(ahead-of-print), 1-14.Jhttps://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2022.2060946
Sousa, D. A., & Tomlinson, C. A. (2018). Differentiation and the Brain (2nd ed.). Solution Tree
Press. https://libertyonline.vitalsource.com/books/9781945349539
Yaya-Bryson Dilara, Scott-Little, C., Berrin, A., & Cassidy, D. J. (2020). A Comparison of Early
Childhood Classroom Environments and Program Administrative Quality in Turkey and
North Carolina.International Journal of Early Childhood,52(2), 233-248.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-020-00268-2
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