Abstract
This study explored educators’ perspectives on the role the physical and sensory Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) environment plays in supporting children’s social and emotional development. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted, in August 2022, at two ECEC sites in Victoria, Australia. Data were thematically analysed and key findings suggest children engage and interact with their environment to facilitate opportunities for social interactions and emotional regulation. Environmental stimuli can have a positive and negative influence on children’s social and emotional competence. Educators reported lack of resources, building design, and limited staffing were barriers to using the environment. Reflective practice, collaboration within teams and services, and access to resources strengthened the use of the environment in everyday practice. Optimal environments rely on educator reflections and responsivity to adapt the environment to the needs of the children utilising the space.
Keywords
Introduction
Social and emotional development in early childhood is important for health and wellbeing across the life course. Early acquisition of social and emotional skills is predictive of education and social outcomes in adolescence and adulthood (Jones et al., 2015), and behaviour problems at three years of age can impact academic performance in adolescence (Washbrook et al., 2013). Social and emotional challenges can be associated with individual, parent, family and community factors, such as parental stress in infancy (Hattangadi et al., 2020) and social inequities (Schoon et al., 2021; Vaezghasemi et al., 2023). Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) can provide a means of alleviating social and emotional disparities that result from parent and family factors (Green et al., 2021). Social and emotional development is typically a continuous process that takes place in early childhood, and involves the development of skills that relate to social competence, emotional competence, behaviour and self-regulation (Halle & Darling-Churchill, 2016). Research suggests, educators enhance children’s social and emotional development through educator-child relationships in partnership with families, and use the physical environment to support social and emotional learning opportunities (Blewitt et al., 2021). Despite this, a systematic review, capturing studies from Canada, Italy, Romania, and the United States, found that minimal educator implemented physical and sensory environment interventions to support preschool children’s social and emotional development have been evaluated since 2000 (Tamblyn et al., 2023). Hence, the aim of this paper was to explore educators’ perspectives on the role the physical and sensory ECEC environment plays in supporting children’s social and emotional development.
The education environment
From an ecological perspective, children develop in the multilayered environmental context in which they are embedded, including family, home environment, education settings, neighbourhoods, and the broader social environment (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). If we consider ECEC through an ecological lens, the interwoven relationship between children, the ECEC environment, and interpersonal interactions are all nested among a broader organisational, community and policy context that highlights the complex interplay between children and their education environment. This study focuses on both the physical and sensory ECEC environment. In Australia, the physical environment is featured in the National Quality Standard that ECEC services are regulated against (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, 2023). The physical environment includes the materials, resources, furnishings and equipment, both indoors and outdoors. It generates unique sensory stimuli that can be interpreted through the eight sensory systems, including visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, vestibular, proprioceptive and interoception (Star Institute, 2023), such as classroom noise, smells, visual displays, and tactile play materials. The sensory environment is an important yet subtle and nuanced component of early learning centres, and it does not explicitly feature in the current ECEC quality paradigm, theoretical frameworks and policy requirements that govern ECEC educators’ practice. Additionally, activity areas in ECEC settings provide the context for play (activity or behaviour that is perceived as play) and activity (action, task or behaviour) to take place. In Australia, ECEC services are guided by the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) that focuses on play-based learning to build relationships, self-regulation, wellbeing, and learning opportunities (Australian Government Department of Education [AGDE], 2022). School age children perceived many different activities as play, including movement-based activities, creative activities, games, and social activities (Glenn et al., 2013), and the EYLF encourages educators to create environments that offer different types of play opportunities (AGDE, 2022). The ecological systems that influence how educators use the environment are an important consideration for effective intervention planning and development. Past research has shown there are multiple system level factors that influence how educators use the outdoor ECEC environment, such as weather and available facilities (Ihmeideh & Al-Qaryouti, 2016), relationships between parents and educators, and cultural factors (Nah & Waller, 2015). As key stakeholders in ECEC settings, educators play a fundamental role in children’s early learning experiences, and can offer valuable insights relating to the ECEC environment.
Environmental stimuli
When supporting neurodivergent children (Amaze, n.d), sensory stimulation is an important consideration. Neurodivergent children are more likely to have sensory processing impairment than neurotypical children (Sanz-Cervera et al., 2017), in the early school years and beyond. In preschool settings, the sensory environment can influence whether autistic children will prefer or avoid an activity, and can be used as a tool to support participation in ECEC programs (Piller & Pfeiffer, 2016). However, at present, there is limited understanding of the effect that universal sensory environment interventions have on all children’s social and emotional development (Tamblyn et al., 2023). While sensory processing challenges may account for more extreme reactions to sensory stimuli in some children, for all children attending ECEC services, sensitivity to the environment differs between individuals. Pluess (2015) has integrated several models to define a meta-framework called Environmental Sensitivity, and highlights the need to consider children’s individual environmental sensitivity in research endeavours. The current study explored educators’ perspectives on the role the physical and sensory ECEC environment plays in supporting children’s social and emotional development.
Educators are well placed to offer valuable insights into the experiences the environment offers children in everyday practice. In the Australian context, the National Quality Standard – Quality Area 1, focuses on educational program and practice; it encourages and supports educators to critically reflect on their daily practices and children’s learning and development to guide continuous improvement (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, 2023). Building knowledge of the relationship between the ECEC environment and children’s social and emotional development through educators’ reflections, in a qualitative interview format, can broaden our current understanding of the opportunities the environment can afford children. Additionally, exploring the challenges educators face in relation to the environment can inform the development of future interventions that seek to utilise the ECEC environment in everyday social and emotional interactions. A qualitative research design was used to address the following research questions: 1. What are educators’ perspectives on the relationships between the physical and sensory ECEC environment and children’s social and emotional development? 2. What are educators’ perspectives concerning their use of the environment to support children’s social and emotional development in their everyday practice? 3. What do educators perceive as the barriers, enablers or suggested supports related to the physical and sensory ECEC environment?
Methods
Study design and ethics
The current study utilised a descriptive qualitative approach to explore educators’ perspectives on the physical and sensory ECEC environment. A descriptive qualitative methodology offers a thorough and clear description of educators’ perspectives on this topic, data analysis aligns to the research data, and the findings are an organised descriptive summary of the data (Lambert & Lambert, 2012). This paper used the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) as a checklist to guide this project (O’Brien et al., 2014).
Ethics approval for this study was received from Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (Project ID: 27780). The research team invited the General Manager of a Victorian ECEC organisation to participate in this study via discussion and in writing. Following this, centre leaders and educators were invited to participate and received an Explanatory Statement detailing the purpose of the study. Written consent was received from the centre leaders of the two participating services. Following this, the educators within the participating services also provided written consent prior to taking part in the study. The leader that provided organisational consent at one service did not participate in the research.
Participants and setting
Demographic characteristics of the participants.
Data collection methods
Semi-structured interviews were conducted in-person by one researcher (AT). The interviews took place in a separate room within the ECEC service for a duration of approximately 45 minutes. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The structure of the interviews involved an introductory discussion and an opportunity to ask questions about the study, gathering demographic data and then semi-structured interview questions. The semi-structured interview questions were designed by the authors of this study. The semi-structured nature of the interviews used various prompts to promote discussion. The following questions guided the interview: (1) can you describe what you think the physical and sensory environment is in your ECEC setting? (2) how do you feel the physical and sensory environment affects children’s social and emotional development? (3) can you tell me about how you use or modify aspects of the physical or sensory environment to support children’s social or emotional development? (4) what factors support or enable you to use the physical or sensory environment to support children’s social or emotional development? (5) what are the barriers for you, as an educator/centre manager, in using the physical or sensory environment to support children’s social or emotional development? (6) what might help you overcome the abovementioned barriers? The richness of the data obtained from the 10 participants, with varying qualifications and levels of experience, sufficiently addressed the research questions and from this data new conclusions were about to be drawn on this topic.
Data analysis
Thematic analysis was used to identify, analyse and report patterns within the interview data, based on the methodology described by Braun and Clarke (2006). This involved familiarisation with the interview transcripts, generating initial codes, collating codes to generate themes, reviewing the themes, and then defining and naming the themes. One researcher familiarised themselves with the data by transcribing, reading and re-reading the transcripts to develop an initial code structure. NVivo software was used to assist in data analysis (QSR International Pty Ltd., 2022). The code structure was used by two researchers to code 50% of the transcripts. To ensure data analysis was consistent between researchers, any discrepancies were discussed and the code structure was modified accordingly. The remaining 5 interview transcripts were then coded by one researcher. Deductive codes were formulated relating to the study aims, research questions and interview questions, including environment definition, how the environment is used, how the environment affects children, barriers, enablers, and suggested supports. The corresponding sub-codes were inductively generated based on the data (Swain, 2018). Similar initial codes were grouped together to generate semantic themes that explicitly represented the interview data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The themes were reviewed and refined, with consistent reference back to the interview transcript to ensure the data were an accurate representation of the participant’s perspective. At this stage of data analysis latent themes were identified within the data to interpret the underlying meaning of the data.
Findings
The study findings are presented in the following five themes: (1) Children engage and interact with their environment; (2) Environmental stimuli; (3) The environment is dynamic; (4) Barriers – building design, resources and staffing; and (5) Reflections, collaboration and resources strengthen the environment. Themes one and three include subthemes.
Theme 1: Children engage and interact with their environment
A sense of belonging and ownership
Two participants discussed integrating family and culture into the ECEC environment through the use of visuals, such as family images, a world map and cultural food images in the toy kitchen. This builds confidence, allows children to feel safe and settled, and provides an opportunity to initiate conversation. One participant noted that “children who would be a bit more reserved, once they have something that’s very important to them, like…a photograph of their family, they come alive and they are able to talk and feel very confident” (Participant 2). The importance of working with families to understand the home routine and the child’s interests was acknowledged and integrated into the environment. Further, two educators discussed creating cosy or safe spaces where children can go to relax. One participant noted that displaying children’s artwork allows children to “recognise that this is my room” (Participant 6), show their families, and share their artwork with others.
The environment and social interaction
Three participants reported the environment provides turn taking opportunities as there are limits on the number of available play materials, seats at a table, or space in an activity area. Educators use visual aids, timers and stickers to encourage turn taking and respectful interactions. Five participants reported the environment or play activities initiate or encourage social interaction and communication with peers. Two participants reported occasions when they modified the environment to appeal to individual children’s interests and encourage social interactions. Once a child was engaged in the activity they were more settled and social interactions organically occurred: …at first I made a small dinosaur area, but then, because he was so interested in it, then we made a bigger one, so that I can actually promote children… coming to him as well… instead of putting it in little trays and put it in a big trough… so that promoted one or two, three or four children to be part of that, so he could be part of those interactions too (Participant 9).
This provides an example of how this educator used the environment to support a child to engage in social interactions with their peers. Further, one participant explains that the “physical environment can definitely support children’s engagement and participation” (Participant 10) and when children are engaged they are more likely to have conversations that promote interactions and build relationships with peers and educators. Another participant explained that larger table sizes were used at the beginning of the year to encourage the children to communicate and once friendships developed the table sizes were modified accordingly. One participant described block and pasting activities where several children can participate, promoted social interactions and the sharing of thoughts and ideas. This participant went on to explain that the social interactions that take place during these activities links the physical environment and children’s social skills.
The environment and the educator
All educators described the environment provided teaching opportunities. The environment is often an extension of what the children are learning. It is set up to appeal to children’s interests as a means of engaging them in an activity. Participants use and plan for the environment to create learning opportunities, promote conversations, interactions and play, such as, themed learning areas based on children’s interests and outdoor areas that promote conversations about nature. Educators engage with children through the environment, acting as a portal into the child’s play world where teaching opportunities naturally occur. The participants explained that when children are engaged in play with materials in the environment, educators connect with them to initiate conversations, guide behaviour, and in turn teaching is spontaneous, as reflected by this comment: I guess having that sensory and open space. We do encourage a lot of free play and which opens up I guess, intentional teaching moments so we can teach them about the different play spaces and how it makes them feel and I guess teach them a little bit of responsibility on how to play as well and how to respect each other (Participant 7).
Educators noted that the environment presents challenges, and learning opportunities occur as educators help children navigate these challenges. If there was not enough equipment to go around or an activity area was popular, it presented an opportunity for educators to have discussions about turn taking. One participant explained that if there was something new in the environment, children wanted to experience it; they touch it, ask a lot of questions and “it creates… [an] intentional teaching moment” (Participant 7). Three participants described the following occasions when the environment itself was the teacher: it is set up in a way that guides morning transitions and routines; visuals can guide behaviour; dimming the lights to encourage quiet time; number of chairs at the table indicates the number of children that can play in that area, as seen in the following comment:“…we’re teaching children that if you see a certain amount of…chairs…that gives them the indication how many people can actually play there, so that they have that boundary” (Participant 9). In this example the educator used the number of chairs at a table to encourage turn taking at a particular activity.
The environment and emotional regulation
Four participants talked about setting up activity areas with an intended purpose, where children can go for specific emotions, areas when they are feeling frustrated, unsettled, or needed quiet time. The following quote describes the relationship between the environment and children’s emotions: “if a child’s feeling angry and frustrated, and they want to use their hands, use their feet to get it all out, they’ve got something out in the environment to do so safely” (Participant 7). One educator described sensory play and toys to be an outlet for emotions and could assist with emotional regulation: “I think having some fidget toys and some sensory play in the room can help children to you know, better regulate their emotions” (Participant 10). Children could choose to go to specific areas to help regulate their emotions, according to five educators. One participant described: “spaces also that they can choose and they can say I would like to be quiet now – I’ll just go into the reading area” (Participant 1). Five participants explained they engaged children in the environment or activity area to help them feel calm, regulated, to support children with behaviour challenges or re-direct challenging behaviour.
Theme 2: Environmental stimuli
Educators described the sensory environment in their service. These included things the children touch, such as playdough, clay, water, sand, birdseed, rice, and textured craft materials. Displays and lighting offered opportunities for visual exploration. Sounds in the room might include music, quiet spaces and the overall noise levels of the children themselves. One participant reported using a diffuser, providing a specific smell stimulus. Sensory toys included bouncy balls. One educator suggested trying and tasting new food provides sensory input. The sensory environment is the sum of all these stimuli, as described by the following comment: …the classroom is very much a sensory environment, because there's lots of noises, different lights, there’s different experiences, like tactile experiences that they can touch. You know, there's, yeah, it’s just, I think the sensory environment is the whole environment as well (Participant 9).
Participants described that some of the environments were overwhelming for children. They described large outdoor spaces, a fast-paced room, cramped, cluttered or messy spaces, noise and bright light, can be overwhelming or overstimulating for children. Three participants explained that children have different sensory needs, including neurodivergent children, and loud noises were particularly challenging for some. One participant explained that tactile experiences could be easily catered for, but noise is the hardest sensory element to control. Another participant explained that if a colourful table cloth was used for block play it may be difficult for children to engage with the blocks because there was “a sensory overload of colour” (Participant 3). Stimulating, chaotic and loud environments can be overwhelming and the affect this has on children is explained in the following quote: …if a child is overwhelmed, because they can't deal with what's going on in the environment itself, then they're not going to learn how to interact with other children because they're too busy trying to regulate themselves…and trying to learn how to do that. So, there's no time about making friends if you're focusing on your own behaviours (Participant 9).
Two participants explained that the ECEC environment is often busier, noisier and has more children than the home environment and as a result, some children can take longer to settle into their new sensory environment. One participant reported that if children are not stimulated by their environment, if there were not enough things to do, or not enough activities that interest them, they get bored and behaviour challenges can occur. All the participants provided examples of the sensory experiences they used, including incorporating sensory toys, cutting with scissors, musical instruments, activity areas with different textural materials, quieter zones, calming music at transition times, and dimming the lights for quiet time. Sensory stimuli or experiences were used to calm children, according to eight educators. One participant reported using sensory play (water table, sand pouring, bubble popping) to settle and calm children. This participant goes on to explain the link between the sensory environment and social and emotional development: “when they’re calm there…it’s easier then to communicate with other people, interact with other people, and that’s where the friendship builds and their emotional development can sort of you know move on” (Participant 3). This educator reported sensory experiences to be calming, to help children regulate their emotions and behaviour so they could interact with their peers.
Theme 3: The environment is dynamic
Educators adapt the environment to children’s needs and interests
Five participants spoke about planning for the environment. They used observations to understand what children need from their environment, such as smaller group or sensory activities, and they listen and engage with children to get to know their interests. The environment was often rearranged to create new experiences and to respond to the needs of the children. Participants reported occasions when they had used the environment to re-direct challenging behaviours by engaging children in the environment or an activity that appealed to their interests. They respond to the needs of individual children and the needs of the group more generally.
Three educators spoke about changing the environment over the course of the year for several reasons: to foster friendships, to encourage turn taking, to adapt the environment to children’s interests, and to assist with transitions. One participant felt it was important to have flexibility between indoor and outdoor spaces to suit the needs of the children throughout the day. Another participant explained that children noticed when the environment changed, it sparked their interest and they try new things. One participant spoke about needing the environment to be flexible: It needs to be moved, it needs to be flexible, you need to be able to move, and evaluate and modify, and you need to be able to do that, sometimes at the drop of the hat, or sometimes you can plan for it… (Participant 3).
This quote suggests that both environment flexibility and planning were important.
The environment guides activity and behaviour
All educators provided accounts of using the environment to guide activity or behaviour. Some examples included dimming the lights for quiet time, sensory play materials to enhance learning, engage and calm children, table size dictates the number of children the activity is intended for, and a diffuser to help calm the room. Six educators also talked about using music throughout the day to encourage particular behaviours, activities, or feelings. Some examples included louder music for pack up time and dancing, specific music for rest time, calming background music, cheer up music as needed, or music to engage specific children in group time activities. One participant talked about using an “aerobic song” (Participant 9) during group time so children could move and release some energy, this helped some children regulate before calming down to read a book as a group. Another participant explained they think about who a space is intended for, how many children they want to play there, then they set up the space accordingly, and modify it if needed. One participant described modifying the environment to encourage a rest period; during this time, they “eliminate some sensory elements” (Participant 8) so children can stop and reflect. Two educators discussed how they used the environment to guide drop off times, and used visuals to assist with routines and transitions.
There were four accounts of the environment conveying messages about the activity it was intended for. There are behaviour expectations attached to a space and educators have regular discussions with children about the activities that are appropriate in each space. One participant explains the segregated activity zones in the ECEC environment set boundaries so children know the behaviour expectations in each area. Another participant explains that the activity areas give the program purpose so children know what is expected of them throughout the day. One educator explained that a well-planned, organised environment gently guides children’s behaviour.
Theme 4: Barriers - building design, resources and staffing
The design of the outdoor environment posed challenges for four educators. There were areas that required extra supervision, the surfaces used outdoors could create muddy puddles in certain weather conditions, there were tripping hazards, the surface was uneven and that made it difficult for ball play, some areas lacked shade, and the climbing equipment wasn’t challenging enough for children. One educator suggested that there may be a lack of consultation between building designers and educators: “…the yards are beautiful… sometimes I just think that people that haven’t worked in early childhood have designed them” (Participant 6). Two educators discussed building design issues indoors: the bathroom configuration posed supervision challenges, and the room design and furniture made it difficult to facilitate small group activities. Four educators across both services explained that there were limitations in educator’s capacity to display children’s artwork on the walls due to restrictions imposed by the building.
Three educators explained that lack of equipment and/or time to change the environment was a challenge. Two participants explained that children’s interests change quickly so it is important to have resources readily available and easy to access so educators could respond to children’s needs in the moment. Another educator noted that the focus is often on planning for the indoor program; there can be a lack of resource provision and planning for activities in the outdoor environment. This participant believed that the service was well resourced, but there were issues with educators’ utilisation of the resources: “a lot of the resources don’t get used or brought out enough as they should, but we definitely have the space to use it” (Participant 6). Staffing inconsistencies and shortages due to COVID-19 related illness and restrictions presented challenges relating to the environment. One participant explained that educators were “burnt out” (Participant 6) and as a result lacked motivation to set up play materials in the outdoor environment. Another participant noted that the staff have great ideas but staffing inconsistencies make it difficult to put them into practice, and understaffing could restrict indoor-outdoor play due to supervision requirements. Further, educator experience, qualifications, teacher-child ratios, collaboration and teamwork influenced how they used the environment. Another issue that influenced environment provision was multiple kindergarten groups that shared the same space but attended the service on different days. The kindergarten groups were often led by different teachers. This issue was raised by two educators who reported that the environmental requirements differ between groups, depending on the children’s age and the individual needs and interests of the group. Therefore, changing the environment requires consultation with the other educators using the same room, and this can take time.
Theme 5: Reflections, collaboration and resources strengthen the environment
The participants reported ongoing observations, engaging with children to identify their interests, encouraging children to participate in room planning, and reflecting on their own sensory needs informed how they used the environment. Their knowledge and experience allowed them to evaluate how the environment was working and inform environment planning.
Collaboration, working together as a team and utilising staff members strengths helped educators plan for the environment. This was particularly important in relation to multiple groups sharing the same room or outdoor space. One educator discussed the importance of alignment at all levels of the organisation: “if you’re going to make any change in your room, and also a share yard, you need to get everyone on board, the educators, the teachers, the management team, and even the parents” (Participant 10). Participants reported that having a room set of resources, adequate provision of resources at a centre level, sensory resources and the flexibility to modify and change the environment during a session enabled educators to use the environment to support children’s social and emotional development.
All educators made suggestions to further strengthen the ECEC environment, including staff training on the environment, excursions to expose children to different environments and sensory stimuli, more open-ended resources, additional staffing to set up the environment, more time for team collaboration, additional sensory resources and visual aids. One educator reported that additional time to get to know children’s individual sensory needs or support strategies would assist transitions at the beginning of the year, this was particularly relevant to children with additional needs. One participant suggested “having a bit more flexibility to access resources” (Participant 8), and being creative with resources, “recreating those materials, rather than just going out and buying them” (Participant 7). These factors were suggested to help educators create supportive environments.
Discussion
This study explored educators’ perspectives on the role the physical and sensory ECEC environment plays in supporting children’s social and emotional development. In the context of the ecological model, the ECEC setting is the microsystem (Bronfenbrenner, 1994), and is the focus of the study findings. The ECEC setting houses both interpersonal interactions (between educators and children, children and their peers, and educators and their colleagues), and interactions between ECEC stakeholders (children and educators) and the environment. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into educators’ perspectives on the interactions that occur between children and their environment, and how educators support this interaction. According to educators, when children engage and interact with their environment it affords a sense of belonging and ownership, promotes social interactions and emotional regulation. The educators in this study described that when children are engaged in the environment, they are calm, regulated, open to social interactions, participation and learning opportunities. These finding suggest that engaging environments, that consider children’s interests and needs, provide optimal conditions for social and emotional skills to develop. An explanation for this is that as children engage with their environment they bring their awareness to the present moment. Bishop et al. (2004) described that observing and attending to the current experience and the thoughts, feelings and sensations in that moment, is the beginning of mindfulness, and in this space, one feels alert. Hence, careful curation of ECEC environments, facilitated by educators, may be a means by which mindful moments can be embedded in everyday interactions.
According to educators’ perspectives, environment planning and resource provision considered the cultural background of the children attending the service. The educators reported that embedding culture in the environment through visual displays, such as a world map and images of cultural cuisine, creates a sense of belonging and ownership of the space. Previous research shows that inclusive books strengthen a sense of belonging and identity (Adam & Barratt-Pugh, 2020). The findings of the present study show that educators perceive the environment to present an opportunity to promote a sense of belonging where children see themselves and their families in the available materials.
According to the study findings, educators perceived that sensory stimuli in the ECEC environment influenced children’s behaviour and emotional regulation, and participants described how they actively considered the sensory experiences available to children. Educators perceived that overstimulating and under stimulating environments were where behaviour challenges occurred, they described occasions when sensory stimuli and experiences were calming, and there was an awareness among some educators that children have different sensory needs. According to Csikszentmihalyi (2014), when external stimuli are incompatible with children’s needs and expectations optimal experiences are disrupted. Additionally, there are several factors that influence how children interact and interpret their sensory environment, such as trauma (Harricharan et al., 2021), neurodivergence (Tomchek & Dunn, 2007), and a variance in environmental sensitivity (Pluess, 2015). Therefore, children’s preferences for and ability to process sensory input varies enormously, and too much or too little stimulation is not optimal. The study findings show that the environment is not perceived by educators as simply a backdrop where play and social interactions take place, instead it is an active participant in children’s ECEC experiences, and they reported modifying the environment to accommodate children’s needs. Children’s individual responses to sensory stimuli, and the important role it plays in behaviour and regulation are valuable and important considerations for the ECEC sector.
Educators perceived that they adapted the environment to the needs of the group and the needs of individual children to harness the full potential it has on offer. This highlights the importance of educator responsiveness in relation to the environment. Previous research suggests that teacher creativity, innovation and sensitivity foster a mindful classroom where teachers are aware of present moment activities and can adapt to the needs of individual children and the group (Capel, 2012). Additionally, when teachers are mindful in their daily interactions with children by observing, describing, and acting with awareness, nonjudgement and nonreactivity, multiple child social and emotional wellbeing domains are supported (Jeon et al., 2022). Hence, educator responsivity is necessary to adapt the environment to the needs of the children utilising the space.
According to educators, there were multiple factors that influenced how they used the environment to support children’s social and emotional development: (1) resourcing factors including: resource access and availability, flexibility to modify the environment, time, and staffing; (2) educator factors, such as educator knowledge, experience, motivation, and environment practices; (3) interpersonal factors such as, collaboration and teamwork within in-room teams, and with other teams that use the same spaces. Additionally, the educators in this study described that design and layout issues with the built environment influenced how it was used to support children’s social and emotional development. This perspective highlights the importance of involving educators in the initial building design phase to ensure their voice is heard. When collaboration and communication between education and design professionals occurs, environment quality is enhanced (Iwan & Poon, 2018).
Limitations of this study
There are several limitations to consider when interpreting the findings. Firstly, this study took place in mid-2022 in Victoria, Australia when staff shortages, due to COVID-19 restrictions, was a significant issue for the ECEC sector more broadly. This may have influenced the staffing, time and motivation issues reported by the participants. Secondly, the aim of this study was to explore educator perspectives on the role the physical and sensory ECEC environment plays in supporting children’s social and emotional development. This study did not intend to explore how these perspectives were translated to practice. Future research is encouraged to explore educator practices relating to the environment in an observational study design. Thirdly, while the aim of this study was not to be generalisable, it is important to recognise that the qualitative nature of this study means the findings cannot be extrapolated to other ECEC services that are set in different environmental conditions, and influenced by different organisational, geographical and cultural factors.
Conclusion
This study documents educators’ perspectives on the physical and sensory ECEC environment and the role it plays in supporting children’s social and emotional development. Educators recognised that children engage and interact with their environment to foster a sense of belonging and ownership, and provide opportunities for social interaction and emotional regulation. Educators described that environmental stimuli can influence children’s behaviour. According to educators, they adapt the environment to respond to children’s needs and interests, to guide activity and behaviour, and facilitate teaching moments. The findings of this study show that the design and layout of the built environment, access to resources, time, and staffing issues posed challenges for educators in relation to their use of the environment to support children’s social and emotional development. Observations of children to understand their interests and environmental needs, teamwork, and resources were recognised as important elements for educators to use the ECEC environment and consequently promote children’s social and emotional development.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
Professor Helen Skouteris and Dr. Claire Blewitt are joint senior authors on this paper. The research team wish to acknowledge the participants involved in this research study who generously shared their valuable perspectives and experiences.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Andrea Tamblyn is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.
