Learning and Teaching in Early Childhood Pedagogies of Inquiry and Relationships

This chapter introduces the reader to learning environments in early childhood settings. It explores different aspects of learning environments, including the physical environment, design considerations, risky play, resources and materials, and fostering responsibility for the environment. In doing so, it explores the notion that what an early childhood teacher does in the environment is a mode of scholarship. The scholarship of teaching in early childhood education and care involves systematic inquiry into children’s learning to inform educational practice. The teacher makes decisions about the construction of the learning environment – that is, the enactment of curriculum grounded in children’s learning interests – within the context of a socially just early learning environment. Reflective practice encourages us to inquire why the learning environment is constructed in the way it is, and what the environment’s construction says about what is expected to happen in that space and place. Your own identity – your values, motivations, roles and definitions – will influence your actions or the ways in which you inhabit places, and is an important starting point for inquiring about the early learning environment you intend to co-create with young children.