ownership — Cultivating Space

OWNERSHIP

Offering students a sense of ownership in the classroom will boost their esteem, confidence and engagement.

When we feel ownership in a shared environment, we may feel an increase of self-esteem and a strengthened sense of responsibility. This happens when we can see the results of our efforts in our environment, understand the role we play in shaping a space, and witness it’s impact on others.

This can release “happy hormones”, like dopamine, which is involved in reward processing and works with the prefrontal cortex to boost motivation, planning, and attention. Additionally, the cingulate cortex, which is involved in social and emotional processing, benefits from feelings of belonging and acceptance.

Opportunities for ownership in the classroom can have a positive effect on a student’s sense of belonging and self-esteem - the second and third tiers in Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory.

Maslow’s theory suggests that once both the basic and psychological needs are met, self-actualization - ambition, drive, and personal growth - can occur.

“All people in our society have a need or desire for a stable, firmly based, (usually) high evaluation of themselves, for self-respect, or self-esteem, and for the esteem of others... Satisfaction of the self-esteem need leads to feelings of self-confidence, worth, strength, capability and adequacy of being useful and necessary in the world.”⁰²

For young children, feelings of being included and valued in the classroom environment will boost their sense of responsibility and respect for themselves.

This is crucial for their social-emotional development and will ultimately contribute to their cognitive development and well-being. Students can be offered a sense of ownership in the classroom by giving them personal space to care for, such as a desk, cubby, or plant. Students can also be given the opportunity of shared ownership and responsibility over decisions or tasks within the classroom.

This can include taking care of learning materials or a shared garden with classmates, or helping the teacher rearrange the classroom to be more comfortable during reading time. Anything that you can do to involve students in the arrangement, care, or personalization of the classroom will help them develop a greater sense of autonomy, choice, and independence.

The architectural firm, baukind, specializes in designing environments for children. In almost all of their projects, baukind finds clever ways to incorporate space for children to personalize with their art, colors, and textures. These interventions typically take advantage of free wall space and offer flexibility and impermanence. They often stretch string across a wall for students to weave their art into or flip empty Lego bases vertically for a 3D wall mural that students can update daily. All of these small details, which can certainly be adapted to most classrooms, give students the opportunity make changes to their learning environment that are a reflection of themselves.

“I use the children's projects and art to decorate my walls and shelves. The students need to feel like they have ownership in their classroom... Whatever the teacher puts up needs to have a meaningful purpose to your objective.”⁰⁵

Just a few decisions to include students in the shaping of their classroom can help them develop a sense of shared ownership in the organization and care of their space, thus creating an increased sense of responsibility, motivation, engagement, belonging, and esteem - all impactful feelings for students to have while they are socially and emotionally developing in school.

https://baukind.de/
Maslow, Abraham. “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Psychological Review, 1943
https://architectureau.com/articles/The-Cottage-School-by-Taylor-and-Hinds/
https://pin.it/70PrKnmBg
Response from supporting teachers survey

all other images are my own illustrations

CULTIVATING SPACE

INTRODUCTION LIGHT

ACOUSTICS MOVEMENT

ORDER

OWNERSHIP

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