How is Your Classroom Environment Affecting Children in Your Care?
By Jill Norris, MPH
Many things affect our mood and our self-esteem defined as our “internal evaluation or
judgment about [our] worth and competence” (Copple and Bedekamp, 2009). Our daily
encounters with other individuals, particularly those who are important to us, greatly
impact our self-esteem. It’s important as Early Care and Education Professionals that
we consciously think about how we impact the self-esteem of children in our care.
Research indicates that children with secure attachments to adults and who feel
accepted and supported by adults have higher self-esteem (Harter, 1999). The
classroom environment in which we spend the day can have an effect on how we
interact with children in our care and therefore the attachments we develop with them.
Do our classroom environments help us support children in their daily efforts? Do these
environments provide opportunities for children to be successful? These are some
important questions in regard to our classroom environment, but how do we determine
the answers to such questions?
Classroom environments that help produce positive encounters
are what we want to provide to children in our care. Materials
and space that is well cared for leads to children and adults
who take care of the environment and ensure that care routines
regularly occur in the classroom. To the other extreme, poorly
maintained space increases the chances of accidental injury
and the risk of depression among children and adults (Cryer,
Harms, and Riley, 2003). Here are some specific things to
consider when examining the condition of your physical
environment:
•
Ensure that the classroom is not too loud. If the
classroom noise level is so high that you and the children in your care have to
raise your voices to be heard, everyone is negatively affected. Loud noise levels
can affect language development “because it interferes with children’s attention
to adult speech and makes it hard for children to hear the subtleties of spoken
language” (Cryer, Harms, and Riley, 2004). Additionally loud environments can
increase tension felt by all and/or increase children’s likelihood of being over
excited. It can also make it difficult for you to know when a quiet child is in
distress. If you find yourself continually having to raise your voice to be heard,
consider ways that you can add sound-absorbing materials to your classroom
such as additional soft furnishings or pads to the bottom of chair legs that will
make them quieter as they scoot across the floor, for example.
117 Jones Jaggers Hall 1906 College Heights Blvd #11098 Bowling Green, KY 42101‐1098 Email: ccrr.expert@wku.edu 270‐745‐2216 or 800‐621‐5908 Fax: 270‐745‐7089 Web: http://www.wku.edu/ccrr‐wku/ •
Ensure that materials and furniture are properly maintained. Making sure that
your classroom and the materials contained in it are appealing will go a long way
toward improving mood and children’s self-esteem. When children play with toys
and materials that contain all of their pieces, it helps them to feel valued and
learn to value their own and others belongings. It is important to recognize that
pages in books may be torn as children are learning book handling skills. When
this occurs we must assist children in making repairs as a way of showing them
how we care for our books. Of course, at some point those torn books will need
to be replaced, so be sure to watch the wear on them closely as books without
covers and many torn pages or missing pages do not encourage reading. The
same goes for games and other materials in your classroom. If pieces can be
replaced and torn boxes can be repaired, it helps children learn to care for things
and make them last, but again at some point the items will become so worn they
must be replaced. Otherwise children will become frustrated and stop playing
with the item. This can significantly impact their feelings of success and
competence which are directly related to self-esteem. Having plenty of materials
available in good condition helps children to see that they are valued which boots
self-esteem. Spills are another great time to get children involved in learning
how we must care for and maintain our environment. Ensuring that daily cleaning
routines occur is shows children that we care enough about them to provide them
with a safe and healthy place to play and learn.
•
Ensure there is adequate space to play with materials. For infants and toddlers,
make sure that crawling infants have enough space to move freely to prevent
them from attempting to crawl under cribs and other furniture. Frequently having
to tell children “no” and get them out from under furniture not only presents a
safety hazard but also impacts children’s ability to explore their environment. For
this age group, the ability to explore freely is critical to the development of their
trust in the world and their self-esteem. For older children, it is important to
provide opportunities for building structures in the block area, for example. Not
having enough blocks or space to build structures children imagine, limits their
creativity, again affecting their feelings of success and competence. Drawing or
painting in overcrowded areas or without enough brushes and paint color options
has the same effect. Look at ways to make sure children have the materials and
supplies they need and adequate space in which to use them.
117 Jones Jaggers Hall 1906 College Heights Blvd #11098 Bowling Green, KY 42101‐1098 Email: ccrr.expert@wku.edu 270‐745‐2216 or 800‐621‐5908 Fax: 270‐745‐7089 Web: http://www.wku.edu/ccrr‐wku/ In addition to the physical environment, it is important to consider the emotional
environment we are providing for children. The American Academy of Pediatrics lists 12
components of high self-esteem and encourages adults to think about how we can help
children develop these characteristics. Here a just a few to think about in regard to your
classroom environment.
•
A sense of security. Providing the safe
environment that promotes children trying new
things and freely exploring is a great place to
start in helping children feel secure about who
they are and the things they are capable of
accomplishing.
•
A sense of belonging. This simply means
children need to feel accepted and loved.
Being accepting ourselves and helping
children to accept others, particularly those
who they view as different from themselves,
will help children to feel like they belong in our
classrooms and have friends who enjoy being
around them.
•
A sense of purpose. Children need those classroom opportunities for
accomplishment. They need the chance to become involved in working a puzzle
or building a city and ample time to achieve their goal of completing the task.
This will help children to continue to see that they are capable of being
successful at trying new things.
•
A sense of personal competence and pride. Children love to show us the things
they create and the tasks they complete. Those are the times when we know
children are proud of their accomplishments. Those are the times we need to
celebrate with them in their achievements. This will help children feel confident
that they can meet the challenges they will face in life.
There are many actions we can take to help children build high self-esteem and be
ready to meet life’s challenges with confidence. I hope you will take some time to
examine your own classroom environment to see how you’re doing in providing a place
for children to feel valued, be safe and healthy, and develop high self-esteem. For more
information on this topic you may want to check out the references listed below.
117 Jones Jaggers Hall 1906 College Heights Blvd #11098 Bowling Green, KY 42101‐1098 Email: ccrr.expert@wku.edu 270‐745‐2216 or 800‐621‐5908 Fax: 270‐745‐7089 Web: http://www.wku.edu/ccrr‐wku/ Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children
From Birth through Age 8; Carol Copple and Sue Bredekamp, editors; NAEYC 2009
All About the ITERS-R; Debby Cryer, Thelma Harms, and Cathy Riley; Pact House
Oublishing 2004
All About the ECERS-R; Debby Cryer, Thelma Harms, and Cathy Riley; Pact House
Oublishing 2003
Helping Your Child Develop A Healthy Sense of Self Esteem; The American Academy
of Pediatrics Healthy Children website; healthychildren.org 2010
Copyright © 2009 WKU Child Care Resource and Referral
Funded in part by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services through the University of Kentucky Research Foundation.
Equal Education and Employment Opportunities.
117 Jones Jaggers Hall 1906 College Heights Blvd #11098 Bowling Green, KY 42101‐1098 Email: ccrr.expert@wku.edu 270‐745‐2216 or 800‐621‐5908 Fax: 270‐745‐7089 Web: http://www.wku.edu/ccrr‐wku/