Pay Attention to the Physical Space Around You

04/16/2021

Pay Attention to the Physical Space Around You

Even on your worst day in the classroom, you are still some child’s best hope.
Larry Bell, educational consultant

An online article in Psychology Today describes how keeping the physical space around us clean and organized can actually reduce anxiety:

“We've evolved a preference for order and symmetry because, presumably, those things conferred an evolutionary advantage back in our ancestral environment. When things feel out of order, it can…make us feel scattered and anxious. Creating order relieves that anxiety.”

In the much-loved book, Caring Spaces, Learning Places, (which has been revised by Mike Lindstrom), author Jim Greenman wrote about the effects of the physical environment on adults (teachers, administrators, volunteers) who are part of an early childhood program:

“All the dimensions of the environment that are important to children apply to adults as well. Do adults feel safe, secure, and competent? Is their comfort over the course of the day considered? Do adults have some sense of autonomy in relation to the environment? Are they able to adjust time and physical space?”

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