How can young children play an active role in developing the design of learning environments? What methods can be used to bring together children’s and practitioners’ views about their environment? What insights can young children offer into good designs for these children’s spaces? With the expansion of early childhood education and the move to 'extended schools', more young children will spend more time than ever before in institutions. Based on two actual building projects, this book is the first of its kind to demonstrate the possibilities of including young children’s perspectives in the design and review of children’s spaces. Situated at the heart of the debate about the relationship between the built environment and its impact on children’s learning and wellbeing, Transforming Children’s Spaces provides insights into how young children see their environment discusses children’s aspirations for future spaces develops the 'Mosaic approach' , pioneered by the author, as a method for listening to young children and adults Emphasising the importance of visual and verbal methods of communication, this fascinating book demonstrates how practitioners and young children can articulate their perspectives, and shows how participatory methods can support new relationships between children, practitioners and architects. This book is essential reading for those who work in children's spaces and for those who design them as well as being of general interest to those studying education and childhood studies.

The classroom environment is an essential component for maximizing learning experiences for young children. "Inspiring Spaces for Young Children "invites teachers to enhance children's educational environment in a beautiful way by emphasizing aesthetic environmental qualities that are often overlooked in early childhood classrooms, such as nature, color, furnishings, textures, displays, lighting, and focal points. Step-by-step instructions and lush photographs take educators through the process of transforming ordinary classrooms into creative, beautiful learning spaces, providing children with an environment where they can learn and grow. With easy-to-implement ideas that incorporate nature, children's artwork, and everyday classroom materials, the photographs and ideas in this book promote creativity, learning, and simple beauty.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

The best-selling source of inspiration for early childhood professionals designing learning environments; updated with all new photographs and fresh content

Public places are places where all citizens, irrespective of their race, age, religion, or class level (social or economic), cannot be excluded. It serves to improve the lifestyle experience of its inhabitants, as well as promote social connections. All citizens are responsible for it and are interested in it, and the intervention for change must be the responsibility of all without exception. As such, bottom-up urban planning is essential for urban environments and for transforming nightlife in public places in order to create more meaningful experiences and instill a greater sense of identity and community. Transforming Urban Nightlife and the Development of Smart Public Spaces analyzes the patterns of transformations of nightlife in public life. The book investigates urban nightlife transformations and the challenge of enhancing the sense of belonging in sensitive areas such as local communities and historical sites. The chapters present new insights to control the chaotic intervention related to the elements of traditional or digital technology, whether from citizens themselves or local authorities. The objective also is to document urban nightlife transformations that enhance the sense of belonging in historical sites. Important topics covered include urban-gamification, digital urban art, urban socio-ecosystems, and reimagining space in the urban nightlife. This book is ideal for urban planners, developers, social scientists, technologists, civil engineers, architects, policymakers, government officials, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in urban nightlife and nightscape and the smart technologies used for transformation.

You likely have dreams for your early childhood environment that are greater than rating scales, regulations, and room arrangements. Designs for Living and Learning has been a favorite resource among educators and caregivers for more than a decade, and this new edition is packed with even more ideas that can be used as you create captivating environments that nurture children, families, and staff while supporting children's learning. With hundreds of all-new colorful photographs of real early learning settings and a multitude of simple and practical concepts for creative indoor and outdoor spaces and learning materials, this book truly is a source of inspiration as you learn how to shape welcoming spaces where children can learn and grow. Expanded chapters include new information reflecting current trends and concerns in early childhood, such as the use of repurposed and nontraditional materials, children in the outdoors, alternative ways to think about providing for learning outcomes, facing and overcoming barriers and negotiating change, and the impact of environmental rating scales in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS). Two new chapters are included, one highlighting the transformations of environments with before and after photos and outlines of the process, and the other with examples of soliciting children's ideas about the environment. Deb Curtis and Margie Carter are internationally acclaimed experts in early childhood. They host three-day institutes and professional development seminars for early childhood professionals; consult with early childhood programs across North America, Australia, and New Zealand; and have written many books together.

High-quality early care and education for children from birth to kindergarten entry is critical to positive child development and has the potential to generate economic returns, which benefit not only children and their families but society at large. Despite the great promise of early care and education, it has been financed in such a way that high-quality early care and education have only been available to a fraction of the families needing and desiring it and does little to further develop the early-care-and-education (ECE) workforce. It is neither sustainable nor adequate to provide the quality of care and learning that children and families needâ€"a shortfall that further perpetuates and drives inequality. Transforming the Financing of Early Care and Education outlines a framework for a funding strategy that will provide reliable, accessible high-quality early care and education for young children from birth to kindergarten entry, including a highly qualified and adequately compensated workforce that is consistent with the vision outlined in the 2015 report, Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation. The recommendations of this report are based on essential features of child development and early learning, and on principles for high-quality professional practice at the levels of individual practitioners, practice environments, leadership, systems, policies, and resource allocation.

Although rarely explored in academic literature, most inhabitants and visitors interact with an urban landscape on a day-to-day basis is on the street level. Storefronts, first floor apartments, and sidewalks are the most immediate and common experience of a city. These "plinths" are the ground floors that negotiate between inside and outside, the public and private spheres. The City at Eye Level qualitatively evaluates plinths by exploring specific examples from all over the world. Over twenty-five experts investigate the design, land use, and road and foot traffic in rigorously researched essays, case studies, and interviews. These pieces are supplemented by over two hundred beautiful color images and engage not only with issues in design, but also the concerns of urban communities. The editors have put together a comprehensive guide for anyone concerned with improving or building plinths, including planners, building owners, property and shop managers, designers, and architects.

More than ever before, children are apparently being recognised as social actors and citizens. Yet public policy often involves increased control and surveillance of children. This book explores the contradiction. It shows how different ways of thinking about children produce different childhoods, different public provisions for children (including schools) and different ways of working with children. It argues that how we understand children and make public provision for them involves political and ethical choices. Through case studies and the analysis of policy and practice drawn from a number of countries, the authors describe an approach to public provision for children which they term 'children's services'. They then propose an alternative approach named 'children's spaces', and go on to consider an alternative theory, practice and profession of work with children: pedagogy and the pedagogue. This ground breaking book will be essential reading for tutors and students on higher education or in-service courses in early childhood, education, play, social work and social policy, as well as practitioners and policy makers in these areas.

This collection of essays is concerned with the experiences children have within the supervised worlds they inhabit, as well as with architecture and landscape architecture. International examples of innovative childcare practice are illustrated together with the design processes which informed their development. The emphasis here is on new and experimental childcare projects which set-out to reassert the rights of children to participate in a complex multi-faceted world, which is no longer available to them, unless under adult supervision. Research supports in depth recommendations regarding the ideal children's environment, across a range of contexts and dimensions. Until recent times, the needs of children within the urban environment were largely ignored. There is little tradition and no broadly agreed contemporary architectural or landscape theory as to how children should be provided for, beyond a limited functional agenda. There is a sense that architecture for childhood is not taken seriously; it is either whimsical and ephemeral or largely designed for adults, an adjunct to the more important business of adult needs and aspirations. Yet children access much of their education and development through play and social interaction with their childhood counterparts. The spaces in and around children"s daycare centres, schools, supervised parks and other dedicated children"s environments are the subject of this collection. As more and more purpose designed buildings and gardens for children are opened, the need to listen to children and their carers is becoming more aparant. Mark Dudek gathers together a number of internationally recognized experts in the field of childcare environments to write about different aspects of the landscape. They have been chosen in particular because of their background in enquiring, research orientated work, both theoretical and practical. They listen to and watch children. Contributors have considered the child"s environment as one which is secure and controlled yet offers additional environmental dimensions which extend developmental possibilities. Children often spend a great deal of time in daycare facilties and schools, as parents are absorbed in their own work and leisure activities. This places an emphasis on architects and planners to consider the needs of children in great detail. As such, the children"s environment must be conceived of as a rich, complex place; a "world within a world". We use the word LANDSCAPE in recognition that children do not differentiate between the inside and the outside, private and public; every part of their perception is open to stimulation by a stimulating environment.