From the moment children are born, they begin their exploration and discovery of the world and their place within it, often using all their senses as part of this never-ending process. Starting with the people and spaces closest to them, carefully and curiously navigating and making sense of their home, to then stepping outside and building a familiarity with the places and spaces nearby, to learning about communities and landscapes across the world – this evolving journey and relationship truly is packed with awe and wonder!
‘Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community’ – EYFS 2021, Understanding the World, Educational Programme.
But, as Judith Twani in her recent Nursery World article on the revised EYFS says, this is clearly ‘a huge goal for someone who has only been alive for, at most, 60 months. In fact, very few of the adult population, if any, could honestly say they fully understand the world in its complexity and diversity.’
While remaining cognizant of the need to view learning holistically in early childhood education, and to help us support children meaningfully on their journey of understanding, there are a range of ‘geographical tools’ that we can use to help us when considering the experiences, teaching and resources we may want to offer to the children in our settings and schools.
DEVELOPING A SENSE OF PLACE
‘A developing sense of place is linked to a sense of belonging. A sense of belonging contributes to children’s overall social and emotional development’ (Epstein 2009).
Key to achieving this is helping children to see their personal relationship with the people and places they experience every day, and those which are further away. To support us with this, we can engage children in rich conversations to explore some key geographical themes through the concept of ‘everyday geographies’.
Without even being aware, our daily lives provide rich and meaningful geographical experiences, information and understanding. Every day we often instinctively think and act geographically – but we often do not recognise this, because it comes so naturally as we engage and connect with many aspects of the world around us.
From knowing your way around your own home, negotiating your journey to work, to making sense of the local or national daily news, choosing what food to buy and from where, deciding on a holiday location and how to get there, responding to the weather forecast, or not, and having powerful empathy for a community that has been impacted by human or natural disasters – each of these moments, reactions and decisions firmly connects us with a multitude of places and people.
Within the pattern of the day there are many moments when we can naturally introduce an idea or spark children’s curiosity.
Everyday moments for everyday geographies:
- Conversations at snack-time about where food being shared might have come from.
- Conversations in the outdoor area about how the weather is different from the day before – a national pastime of course!
- Conversations about a new shop or café that has opened nearby, and has anyone been yet?
- Conversations about how busy the roads were that day on the way to nursery.
And there are many more similar opportunities each day that provide us with meaningful moments to help young children develop the understanding of their world. What is key is how we as adults engage, interact and possibly inspire them to want to discover more.
DEEPENING UNDERSTANDING
Settings and schools may choose to approach some geographical themes primarily through planned ‘topics’ or perhaps by tapping into the children’s fascinations and interests, and then supporting them with their particular line of enquiry.
However, as highlighted in the questions below, we need to also ensure that we capitalise on the capacity of our learning environments to inspire young geographers every day and avoid the risk of the learning potentially becoming isolated, disjointed and shallow.
KEY QUESTIONS
What kind of place is this and why is it as it is?
We know that young children have a fascination with all things ‘domestic’ and the various aspects of day-to-day life. Home corner role play offers us a fantastic range of opportunities to reflect children’s own experiences of home, to gain insight into their understanding of the place where they live and to reflect these within the environments we create, e.g. providing resources which are unique to the local community and its amenities.
As children join our settings and schools, we need to ensure that they develop a sense of the ‘geography of the classroom’, so that they can fully access and utilise all the areas of provision and resources provided, to help connect and embed their learning; for example, understanding why some areas are placed close to others to help support them with their ideas and activities.
As part of this we need to ensure they are secure in knowing where things are that support their wellbeing. For example, ‘Where can I find a drink?’, ‘Where are my things?’, and ‘Where to go when I get lost or frightened?’.
As children develop their interest in their wider locality, we need to help them deepen their understanding of where they live. For many of us, this past year and the need to remain more local has perhaps forced us to deepen our own understanding too.
We know that first-hand experiences are critical to supporting this; from trips to local shops to purchase items to help with an activity in nursery, to exploring a local park through the changing seasons. However, we can supplement these experiences through the careful use of photographs, literature and maps related to the local area within provision to inspire and provoke conversations.
Small-world play also offers us great opportunities to not only reflect the immediate environment but those further afield. From the range of materials to build homes, materials to represent natural features such as rivers and woodlands and different people, to animals found closer to home and further afield – each resource needs to be carefully chosen and modelled with the children to ensure that their understanding and related language are both accurate and growing.
How is this place connected to others?
This questions invites us to develop children’s wider geography of their school or nursery, learning to successfully navigate their way around the building, identifying key spaces inside and outside, and building their relationship with the adults in their new ‘community’, such as the office staff and premises manager. The revised EYFS identifies a need to support children with their ability to interpret maps, and where better to start than their own classroom and the many connected spaces.
As part of these experiences, we can also introduce concepts of position, such as ‘where are you?’ and ‘what is next to you?’ within the classroom. This reminds us of the need to help young children develop their understanding of the difference between the geographical concepts of place, somewhere with an identity or attachment, and space being a physical connection.
Broadening things out, we can begin to help children understand how the place where they live may be close to other places and how people travel between the different localities – drawing on the frequent fascination young children have with transport and, if possible, enabling them to experience these journeys first-hand.
How is this place changing?
Starting close to home, we can explore with the children how their classroom may evolve over the year, with the outdoor environment also providing a fantastic opportunity to look at the concept of change over time. Similarly, it may be the case that your building has its own history that can be shared with the children through images and conversations.
This question provides a great opportunity to connect elements of geographical and historical enquiry, from taking children on walks around the local area and looking at the different buildings to exploring how the natural environment has evolved over time, such as increased development or how the coast might have changed. We must always be mindful of the vocabulary we are introducing to support the children’s understanding and the powerful impact of real experiences.
What would it be like to live here/there?
We know that young children quickly become fascinated by the wider world, eager to discover the different landscapes, wildlife and communities both near and far.
Engaging children in conversations at a ‘domestic level’ is a great starting point, gathering their opinions about their classroom, and also their home locality. Discovering the rationale behind their choices of favourite spaces and places can open the door to much wider enquiry-led exploration. This can also be a great transition tool, with the children sharing with the next cohort just what it is like to come to their school or nursery.
‘I Wonder?’ also provides us with a fantastic gateway to conversations about other people and places. The revised EYFS highlights how we can use books to support us with this; however, technology also offers us many opportunities to share recorded and live images from across the globe and to connect with different communities – something many of us have come to rely on over the past year.
What we need to consider carefully is how what we offer connects not only with the children’s interests but also with their own unique life experiences. This is when sharing the everyday lives of children similar in age and not too dissimilar in context can be particularly valuable; finding ways to explore what we all have in common with people living across the globe, while at the same time celebrating what is unique about different places and communities.
Throughout such conversations and activities, we also need to be mindful and recognise how quickly ideas and perceptions can be formed. We need to challenge stereotypes and the risk of reinforcing the misunderstanding that all children in one country may live in a certain way.
Thinking global and local:
- Think about the way the world is depicted in your classroom – what images are used for displays, and do they represent the diversity of your locality and beyond?
- Do the resources and books you provide truly reflect your local community and beyond – including similarities as well as differences?
- Consider carefully the language used when having conversations about different people and places – being ready to challenge stereotypes.
A JOURNEY OF LEARNING
‘It is important for early childhood educators to understand that early geography experiences, such as actively exploring spaces and manipulating objects in the environment, help children develop cognitive skills and begin to understand the world around them. These experiences are the foundation for understanding our sense of place’ (Brillante and Mankiw 2015).
Helping young children as they develop their sense of place is not about ensuring that we and they know the tiny details of the world, the local area, every feature and facet of the planet, every culture and all the activities that take place. It is about understanding and appreciating our own geographical knowledge, and acknowledging that it grows and evolves.
Our aim is that the learning connections that the children will have made both locally and globally become personal, rich and sustained.
At its heart, developing a true Sense of Place is ultimately about children building a powerful authentic relationship with themselves, their community and the wider world.
REFERENCES AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION
- Brillante P. and Mankiw S. (2015) ‘A sense of place: Human geography in the early childhood classroom’, Young Children, 70(3), 16-23
- Epstein A.S. (2009). Me, You, Us: Social-Emotional Learning in Preschool. HighScope
- The Geography Association: https://www.geography.org.uk/About-the-GA
- ‘Revised EYFS - In focus… Understanding the World’, Judith Twani (2021): https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/features/article/revised-eyfs-in-focus-understanding-the-world
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phil Armstrong is head of Regional Development, South & International for Early Excellence
