Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/are-we-doing-things-just-because-weve-always-done-them-this-way/5019445/
At one of the first preschools I taught at after graduating from college, every classroom environment stayed the same from year to year. Whatever furniture was in the classroom when a new teacher moved in stayed there, and the furniture never moved around the classroom. The classroom materials rarely changed. The table stayed by the wall because that is where it had always stood. The toddler classroom had the animal puzzle in it because it had always had the animal puzzle. Change was not valued. Further, uniqueness and variety in classrooms materials were not a priority. Individual classrooms were not particularly suited to the children in them.Then I came to work at Boulder Journey School, where I currently teach. Boulder Journey School is a preschool in Boulder, Colorado, that welcomes children ages 6 weeks to 6 years. The learning community at Boulder Journey School has been studying the pedagogy of the schools for young children in Reggio Emilia, Italy, since 1995. Inspired by the schools in Reggio Emilia, the environments at Boulder Journey School change all the time �" not just when we switch classrooms each summer or fall, but throughout the school year. Teachers move furniture around the ...