Spaces for Children: The Built Environment and Child Development

by T.G. David (Editor), C.S. Weinstein (Editor)

Overview

As a developmental psychologist with a strong interest in children's re­ sponse to the physical environment, I take particular pleasure in writing a foreword to the present volume. It provides impressive evidence of the concern that workers in environmental psychology and environmental design are displaying for the child as a user of the designed environment and indi­ cates a recognition of the need to apply theory and findings from developmental and environmental psychology to the design of environments for children. This seems to me to mark a shift in focus and concern from the earlier days of the interaction between environmental designers and psy­ chologists that occurred some two decades ago and provided the impetus for the establishment of environmental psychology as a subdiscipline. Whether because children-though they are consumers of designed environments­ are not the architect's clients or because it seemed easier to work with adults who could be asked to make ratings of environmental spaces and comment on them at length, a focus on the child in interaction with environments was comparatively slow in developing in the field of environment and behavior. As the chapters of the present volume indicate, that situation is no longer true today, and this is a change that all concerned with the well-being and optimal functioning of children will welcome.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781468452297
Publisher:	Springer US
Publication date:	03/29/2012
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1987
Pages:	346
Product dimensions:	7.01(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.03(d)

Table of Contents

I. Introduction.- 1 The Built Environment and Children’s Development.- The State of the Field: Conceptual and Methodological Considerations.- Guiding Propositions.- The Organization of the Book.- References.- II. The Impact of the Built Environment on Children’s Development: Research, Theory, and Recollection.- 2 The Development of Place Identity in the Child.- The Development of Place Identity.- Place Identity and the Home Setting.- Place Identity and the Neighborhood.- Place Identity and the School Setting.- Place Identity and Place Belongingness.- Urban Image and Identity.- References.- 3 The Physical Environment and Cognitive Development in Child-Care Centers.- Child Care and Cognitive Development.- Limitations and Unexplored Domains.- Research on Cognitive Development and the Physical Environment in Child-Care Centers.- Effects of Child-Care Centers and Family Day-Care Homes.- Effects of Center and Group Size, Child—Caregiver Ratios, and Density.- Effects of Technical Design Features.- Recent Research on Two Dimensions of the Physical Environment.- Modified Open-Plan Facilities.- Spatially Well-Defined Behavior Settings.- Toward an Interactional Theory of Child—Environment Relations.- Unresolved Issues.- Summary and Conclusion.- References.- 4 The Environment as Organizer of Intent in Child-Care Settings.- The Evolution of an Idea.- Organization.- Variety.- Complexity.- Amount to Do.- Special Problems.- Designing the Environment to Make Things Work Better.- Broadening the Sense of Places and Spaces.- The Task or Organizing Theme.- Places and Props.- Social Structure.- The Uses of Setting.- Soft—Hard.- Variations in Social Structure.- Intrusion—Seclusion.- A Comparison of Home versus Center Environments.- Some Differences in Objects.- Differences in Space/Time Boundaries.- Some Differences in Social Grouping.- The Purpose of a Home.- What Is Quality in Children’s Environments?.- References.- 5 The Institutions in Children’s Lives.- Development and Socialization.- Institutions as Agents of Socialization.- History of Institutions.- Settings for Learning.- Settings for Deviance.- The Nature of Contemporary Institutional Environments.- The Quality of Daily Life and Its Experiences.- Control and Authority.- Public versus Private Experience.- Independence and Conformity.- What Are Children Learning in Institutions?.- Changing the Institutional Environment.- The Prospects for Positive Institutional Change.- References.- III. Designing Spaces for Children.- 6 Designing Settings for Infants and Toddlers.- Environments That Assist Children’s Development.- Environments That Encourage Movement.- Environments That Move and Stimulate the Senses.- Environments That Assist Caregivers.- The Floor.- Changes in Level.- Sleeping.- Feeding.- Diapering and Toilet Training.- Types of Play Areas.- Discovery Play.- Dramatic Play.- Strategies for Designing an Area.- Location.- Boundaries.- Area Size and Private Places.- Play and Sitting Surfaces.- Materials Storage and Display.- Mood.- References.- 7 The Developmental Implications of Home Environments.- Review of the Literature.- Survey of Home Environments.- Design Guidelines.- Play Areas in the Main Living Areas of the Home.- The Kitchen as a Family Room.- Access.- Privacy.- Active Play.- Outdoor Opportunities.- Conclusion.- References.- 8 Designing Preschool Classrooms to Support Development: Research and Reflection.- Developmental Goals and Design Implications.- Socioemotional Development.- Cognitive Development.- Motor Development.- Some Final Thoughts.- References.- 9 Designing Playgrounds for Able and Disabled Children.- Design Guidelines.- Sense of Place.- Unified Environment.- Variety of Spaces.- Key Places.- System of Pathways.- Three-dimensional Juxtaposition of Parts.- Nonobjective Environment.- Variety of Surface Finishes.- Loose Parts.- Conclusion.- Observations.- A Final Note.- References.- IV. Involving Users in the Design Process.- 10 Children’s Participation in Planning and Design: Theory, Research, and Practice.- Children’s Spontaneous Design.- The Natural History of Children as Designers.- Experiments in Children’s Spontaneous Architecture.- The Social and Psychological Benefits of Building.- Children’s Participation in Planning and Design.- The Social and Psychological Benefits.- Implications for the Quality and Maintenance of the Finished Product.- Tokenism in Child Participation.- The Development of Children’s Ability to Participate.- Some Guiding Principles.- Children’s Participation in Practice.- Environmental Design and Planning in the Schools.- Playgrounds, Farms, and Gardens.- Urban Studies Centers.- Concluding Thoughts.- References.- 11 Imaging and Creating Alternative Environments with Children.- Conceptual Framework, Assumptions, and Goals.- Our Evaluation Process and Methods.- Two Futures Groups.- The Neighborhoods, Schools, and Children.- Initial Images and Questions about the Future.- Documenting the Neighborhood and Creating Alternative Environments.- Research for Change.- Communicating: Presenting Our Work.- Evaluation of the Project.- Issues in Implementation.- Children Changing.- Children Creating and Involved in Change.- Future Directions for the Project.- References.- 12 Children’s Spaces: Designing Configurations of Possibilities.- Introduction: Becoming Immersed.- The Broadview Playroom.- The Playroom as We Found It.- The Finished Room.- The Design Process.- Informal Evaluation.- The Heights Playstructure.- The Design Process.- What Happened in the Two Design Processes.- Using Analogies instead of Conventional Images.- Replacing “You Can’t” Statements with Statements of Conflicts.- Getting the Questions Right by Being Aware of a Hierarchy of Needs.- Avoiding the Head Nurse by Involving All.- Making a Design: Integrating Images into Places.- A Reflection.- References.- V. Conclusions.- 13 Developmental Perspectives on Designing for Development.- The Built Environment and Children’s Development: Are We Asking the Right Questions?.- Some Considerations for Appropriate Research Methodology.- The Use of Intervention and Institutional Studies.- Utilization of Adequate Environmental Measures.- Developmental versus Process Outcome Measures.- The Utilization of Existing Knowledge.- The Problem of Assumptions.- Utilization of Available Knowledge on Environment and Development.- Understanding the Nature of Environmental Action.- The Nature of the Relationship between the Physical and Social Environments.- Environmental Specificity.- Organism—Environment Covariance.- Organismic Specificity.- Conclusions.- References.- 14 Children’s Environments: Implications for Design and Design Research.- A Characterization of Current Research.- Content Issues: Who and What Are Being Studied?.- Methodological Issues.- Ways of Defining Settings.- Suggestions for Further Research.- Implications for Design.- References.