Giving children choices

From: Ann Hentschel
Email: ann.hentschel@nl.edu
Date: June 05, 2008

Comments

Keith,

You asked, "How can classrooms become more "choice" oriented and less "one size fits all" types of environments?" It is disheartening to spend time in classrooms for young children where they spend many hours per day in whole group experiences. Dramatic play or block play are open for a brief periods and carefully regulated. Often three children are allowed in dramatic play at one time and they can only play for 15 minutes so the next set of designated children can have a turn. This clearly stifles the opportunities for engaging in meaningful learning experiences.

I agree with Eileen’s point about the difficult schedules being imposed on teachers. And, many teachers have a strong desire to have power and control over the environment. There seems to be a concern if I set these children free to make their own choices chaos will erupt. The challenge is finding ways to help teachers recognize the value of setting a stage which allows ample choices for children. Amazing to see how all those behavior issues seem to magically disappear once the children are given opportunities to choose whom, where, and for how long they will play in a particular area of the classroom.