Beautiful... but Appropriate? II

10/14/2015

Beautiful... but Appropriate? II

Beautiful surroundings make us happier, more creative and productive.
Melanie Falvey, designer

The ExchangeEveryDay for September 23, "Beautiful...but Appropriate?" highlighting a Portuguese article featuring "the most beautiful day care centers in the world," stimulated a near-record 83 comments reflecting a wide variety of reactions. Here are a few of the comments (click on the title in the previous sentence to view the article and all the comments, and scroll down to "Comment on this Article" to share your viewpoint):

My Administration of Early Childhood Programs class agrees that these facilities, although very modern and colorful, appear empty and not personalized. They aren't inviting to us as adults and we suspect young children wouldn't find most of them attractive either.
Peggy Reed
Evangel University
Springfield, Missouri

This is a stimulating exercise. Considering environmental features for form and function is a complex concept. In the pictures presented, I saw form, or course, but I generally imagined children and teachers and what they might do with the space (function). Most of these spaces seemed empty and ready to be enriched. In a few of the settings, safety issues were apparent. It would be good to know how staff handles those steps and too high spaces. In some, cultural features were obvious. The big take away doing this activity was the juxtaposition of the cleanliness, the expansive spaces, and the beauty in the settings with the tiny closet-like spaces and over-crowded rooms I have seen in many early childhood programs.
Janice Fletcher
University of Idaho
Moscow, Idaho, United States

An indication that buildings are being designed by architects and stylists without input from educators or anyone else who understands the developmental needs of children.
Kerrie
Catholic Education WA
Australia

I thought the spaces were definitely beautiful, some more than others. I especially liked the spaces with lots of windows. I remember how beautiful our brand new center was when we first opened in November 2012. I remember thinking how much more beautiful it will be once we have had children using the space. The children are the life of the center. Their interests, their inquiries, their wonderings brought even more beauty to our spaces.... It's the people who use the space that bring it to life. Any space that is left in its sterile, original state will quickly die, no matter how beautiful it is. The space can only survive if it is growing.
Josee Lavallee
ISS of BC
Richmond, BC
Canada

Why are you encouraging readers to pass judgement on the different ways that other cultures view educational spaces? Scholars in different parts of the world have different opinions about what is appropriate or effective or even beautiful, obviously. Why on earth would we think that we have a 'right' answer that these obviously well-intentioned and well-planned preschools do not? Also, I have seen videos of several of the Japanese spaces with children running around free in them, and as one reader said, the space looks a lot different while it's being used than it does empty.
Bibi,
United States

Wow! While my own ideal facility is the outdoors with a square cube building open to the elements that teachers can arrange and rearrange to best fit the children's and curricular needs, I have two other observations: 1) its very signification that none of these are from the US, which I believe illustrates our lack of commitment to the early years, and 2) when I was looking at these photos, my mind kept going back to all the church basements my Head Start program used in the 1980s!
Francis Wardle
CSBC
Denver, Colorado

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