7.3: Environmental Factors in Supporting Social and Emotional Development

The physical environment provides young children with expectations for behavior. When educators are mindful of the aesthetics, organization, and function of each area in the space, challenging behavior is likely to decrease while constructive, cooperative behavior increases.

A program’s vision for learning and philosophy of care dictate how an environment is designed. For example, if the curriculum is based on the view that children are competent directors of their own learning, educators develop a physical setting and activities that reflect children’s emerging interests and provide easy access to meaningful play materials. Shelves for manipulatives and other materials are near the floor where children can easily reach them. Special areas in the room are designed for individual, small-group, and larger-group interactions. Play materials and other materials are carefully selected to reflect children’s emerging interests, as observed in the context of play and conversation. In this environment, adult-child interactions can expand children’s questions and comments.

High-quality learning environments set the stage for social-emotional exploration and growth. When children are presented with a warm, inviting, and culturally familiar environment, they feel comfortable and secure. The attractive spaces adults prepare for children communicate expectations of responsibility and cooperative care (we all play in and care for this beautiful place together).

Preparing a variety of learning areas with open-ended materials encourages each child to participate in meaningful play experiences that match their individual temperaments and abilities. Incorporating elements from the home creates an atmosphere of community while simultaneously acknowledging the presence of individuals.

A physical environment that supports social-emotional learning has the following characteristics:

• Challenging and developmentally appropriate materials
• Ample supply of materials
• Appropriately sized small-group activities
• A variety of small-group activities within a range of adult supervision
• Aesthetically appealing
• Spaces to be with others and spaces to be alone
• Furnishings and materials accessible to children
• Displays of children’s work
• Space for children’s belongings
• Reflective of diversity
• Space for arrivals and departures
• Supportive of children’s active engagement
• Outdoor areas supportive of social-emotional development

Just as the physical environment helps young children successfully meet the social-emotional demands of the curri­cu­lum so, too, does the design of the daily schedule. Young children are better able to manage themselves and their relationships when daily routines and activities are predictable, transitions are signaled and supported, and there is a balance between relatively active and relatively quiet play and between group and individual activities. In the sections that follow, strategies to support social-emotional development are described in detail.^[1]

Helping Children Cope with Stress

Teachers in an early childhood education program are often the first persons outside the family to become aware that a young child may be experiencing overwhelming stress. They may notice a child who reacts with uncharacteristic aggression to a peer’s comment that would not bother another child, or they may notice that a child has become unusually quiet and withdrawn lately. Young children convey their stress in individualized ways: some are emotionally over-reactive, while others are emotionally over-controlled; some become clingy, others withdrawn; some become provocative and defiant. A common characteristic is that young children under stress exhibit a marked change from their ordinary behavior. They often lose their capacity for competence and self-control that they previously had. When teachers observe these changes in a child, it can be helpful to consult with parents to discover whether recent events have created challenges that children are having difficulty managing. Often these challenges arise from within the family.

How can teachers assist young children under stress? One of the most important things they can do is provide the child with a predictable, safe haven where children can feel secure. Teachers can create a comfortable and comforting everyday routine that is child-centered, individualized, responsive, and helpfully structured to give young children a sense of control and predictability that may be lacking in other aspects of the child’s life. Central to these efforts is providing children with supportive adult relationships that are reliable and helpful. This may be more difficult than one would expect because young children under stress often test these relationships to see whether teachers and other adults will remain responsive to them even when children act defiantly or negatively.

In some circumstances, it can be helpful for teachers to obtain the advice of an early childhood mental health consultant who can observe the child in the classroom, talk with the teacher about the child’s behavior, and suggest strategies for providing supportive assistance. Early childhood mental health consultants can be valuable resources to an early childhood education program. They can help teachers provide much-needed support to young children who may not have other such sources of support elsewhere in their lives.^[2]