The Pre-primary Open Classroom
An Open classroom is an active environment where children are encouraged to make age-appropriate decisions about their own learning. Learning is a personal endeavour, and children become free to learn from each other and by exploring a set learning environment in their own unique way. For the pre-primary school, this means arranging an environment with learning centres and choices, and allowing the child to freely choose from a range of options.
The Role of the Educator
The educator sets up the open classroom for success and focuses on the way individuals are using the room.
In the open classroom, the educator has two distinct roles. The first is to arrange the learning environment for choice and exploration, and the second is to know every child. The educator must know children's likes and dislikes, their interests and their strengths. Using this information, individuals can be gently encouraged to reach their potential and to expand their experience. It is also this knowledge of individual children's needs and interests that informs changes to the learning environment and future choices. In this way, the educator is able to control the environment to best meet the needs of a particular group of children.
Experiential Learning
In the open classroom, opportunities are created for children to explore, experience and try out new ideas.
Experiential learning is key in an open classroom. Both the educator's and the children's creativity drive the construction of new knowledge. New experiences allow children to build upon what they already know or believe to be true. In this way the environment enriches the child's growing understanding of the world and how things work around them. They do not rely on being told what is what. Children trust their own observations and test out their ideas by trying things out. In this way a natural form of the scientific process is observed.
Choices
In the open classroom, children are provided with choices so that what they experience is not predetermined by an authority.
In an open classroom, the educator maintains the responsibility for arranging the learning environment, but is able to pass on some of the choice and responsibility to the children. Children have opportunities for group involvement, but do not always have to do what the rest of the group is doing. An emergent curriculum evolves out of the interests and ideas of the children. When children learn to make informed, considered choices, they are self- confident individuals. When they make choices about how they learn best and what their interests are, they come to be life-long learners.
