Supporting a Sense of Competence

11/07/2017

Supporting a Sense of Competence

In the long run we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.
Eleanor Roosevelt

"Where do we feel at ease and sure of ourselves? Places where 'I know what to do and I can do it.'...Think of when and where we feel incompetent. When we don't understand what to do or how to do it. 'Go milk that Holstein cow, ok?' or 'Readjust those valves and calibrate the pressure.'"

So wrote Jim Greenman in his popular book, Caring Spaces, Learning Places (now newly revised by Mike Lindstrom). Greenman asserts that for children, spaces support their competence through:

"appropriate expectations
appropriate scale
clear organization
a variety of things to do and places to do them
a profound understanding and acceptance of the diversity of skills and limitations that children and adults possess, and a commitment to accommodation."

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