accessibility — Cultivating Space

ACCESSIBILITY

A classroom that is designed to prioritize children’s access to tools and information will help develop their independence and confidence.

Accessibility and autonomy in a learning environment is one of the most effective ways to develop a child’s cognitive, physical, and social-emotional abilities. All developmental objectives are targeted when a child is given proper access to tools in their environment, allowing them to independently explore learning materials, navigate space on their own, and offering them a sense of belonging because they are in a space designed for them.

When children can independently access classroom materials, tools, and information, they engage their prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for executive functions like planning, decision-making, and problem-solving. Additionally, classroom environments that prioritize the child's scale will enhance their spatial awareness and fine motor skills. When children are able navigate and interact with their environment on their own, the parietal lobe is engaged to process spatial relationships and the cerebellum is activated to support coordination and balance.

Classroom accessibility, especially for young children, can lead to increased levels of confidence and help them develop their problem-solving skills.

Similar to offering opportunities for ownership in the classroom, ensuring accessibility for students will help boost their esteem and generate a sense of belonging as they become more capable of navigating through and interacting with their environment on their own.

Architect Herman Hertzberger believes in the classroom’s ability to empower children and designs his schools with the child-scale in mind - often incorporating nooks under the stairs, coat hooks at the height a child can reach, and furniture, sinks, and storage all scaled down to suit the needs of the child.

“But more than this you are also trying to give a child not only the feeling of home, but also of horizon. It’s important for them to feel safe, but it’s also important to give children confidence, born of spaces that inspire learning for themselves, to look outwards, to seek adventure, new things, better things.”⁰³

Hertzberger attended a Montessori school growing up, and attributes much of his ability to the independence and autonomy he was given in his early years of development. One of the most controversial aspects of Maria Montessori’s approach to education at the time was the independence she gave to the students, offering them the tools to cook, clean, work on the ground, and decide their daily schedules on their own.

She believed this was a key factor in getting students to take ownership and responsibility over their own education and found that it lead to more engaged participation in classroom activities. To support her method, Montessori designed all of the classroom furniture, storage, and materials to be completely accessible to the child.

“In short, where the manufacture of toys has been brought to such a point of complication and perfection that children have at their disposal entire dolls' houses, complete wardrobes for the dressing and undressing of dolls, kitchens where they can pretend to cook, toy animals as nearly lifelike as possible, this method seeks to give all this to the child in reality - making him an actor in a living scene.”

- Maria Montessori, Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook⁰⁵

06 - see more in the LIGHT chapter

There are a number of other examples that successfully accommodate the child-scale, whether through the scale of furniture, window height, open storage, or visual queues. When discussing the success of the child-centered design of the Crow Island School, a former principal of the school says,

“…the building speaks to children. It says, 'This is for you. We knew you were coming.'"⁰⁷

You can create a classroom that instills confidence and independence in your students by addressing both visual and physical accessibility.

Consider everything your students are asked to interact with throughout the school day - what tools, actions, or material are they fully capable of interacting with independently but currently do not have access to?

Visual accessibility can include posters and signs on the wall that are large and simple enough for children to read. It can also be addressed with the use of visual cues to indicate transitions between spaces, differentiated by color, texture, light, symbols or signs. Visual accessibility also can contribute to enhanced feelings of safety. It includes being conscious of sightlines outside the classroom windows and within the classroom space.

For example, if a child chooses to retreat to a corner of the classroom for reading, the rest of the class should still be visible to them. A sense of safety and protection gives students the confidence to take risks and do things on their own.

Prioritizing physical accessibility can include the use of furniture that is appropriate to the size and age of children in your class, placing tools for lessons at a reachable height for students, and even smaller applications, like a water cooler that every child has access to without being required to ask. These small interventions will not only develop a child’s independence and engagement in their learning, but also promote a sense of security through the access and consistency offered by the classroom.

“Design from a child's eye view should be considered any place where children will spend their time - in public spaces, schools, doctors' offices and museums - wherever it is important to meet children as equals, to see things from their perspective and to help them find confidence in their own abilities.”¹¹