A rich and engaging environment for children requires more from us than a beautiful room arrangement.
– Deb Curtis, Really Seeing Children

Should early childhood environments belong to the children?

I asked Suzanne Axelsson, author of The Original Learning Approach, if I could share her response to a recent social media post which said, “Early childhood environments belong to the children.” Axelsson disagreed. She writes:

Early childhood environments should belong to children and adults. I am a believer in creating democratic spaces as a part of the Original Learning Approach—the moment we say an early childhood environment is for the children and not the adults is the moment we make that space undemocratic.

We share the space together, just as we share the world. In democratic spaces we spend time learning from each other and sharing experiences, adults and children as equals. Sometimes this is forgotten by too many adults and simply focus on preparing them to be adults through a series of levelling-up. So there is a need to remind adults about the power of childhood.

Early childhood environments are spaces controlled by adult politicians that have invested in (or not), and made policies about; and by adults who choose the location, the stuff, the curriculum (even emergent ones), what is eaten, what is documented, who is admitted, etc. The children are entering an adult-curated space based on adult perspectives of children. What is vital is that we hold space for the children to experience autonomy, and for the spaces to be rooted in relationships, love, and equity – for adults and all the children.

Real relationships are reciprocal, not adults following the children, or children obeying adults – but mutual respect and empathy. This requires creating spaces for children together with adults—spaces for play, learning and teaching which is at the heart of Original Learning.