The transformation of the outdoor learnings environments in Greek kindergartens and children's participation in decision making progress
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to examine the quality of outdoor learning environments in relation to the level of children’s participation in the transformation process. The sample of our research will focus on kindergartens which have transformed their outdoor spaces the last academic year. Our research tool initially will be the POEMS scale (DeBord et al. 2005) which examines the quality of the outdoor environment in the kindergarten units. This scale intends to investigate through the observation of children and teachers, the outdoor environmental quality and their use in the kindergartens’ everyday life. The information collected through observation will be combined with semi-structured interviews with the teachers, who will reflect and describe children’s participation in the decision-making progress of the outdoor environment’s’ transformation. The analysis of our results highlights the passive participation of children as well as the lack of cooperation and communication between the users and architects-designers. The scores in the quality of the outdoor learning and play environments appear to be linked to environmental elements that promote the identity and preferences of children. Our proposal is the transition to an active participation process by assessing the quality of these sites from "bottom up" and the participation of children in setting the steps and interventions to achieve the design goals.
Article Details
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- THEMATIC FIELD ΙΙ & ΙΙΙ The multimodal intersection of urban and educational spaces & The city as a learning environment
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