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ScienceDirect Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 146 (2014) 40 – 46

Third Annnual Internattional Conferrence «Earlyy Childhood Care and Edducation»

Creating New Leaarning Ennvironmeents: Chaallenges for Earlyy C Chhildhoodd Develop pment Architectuure and Pedagogy P y in Russiia Tigrran Shmisa*, * Jure Kotnnikb, Maria Ustinovaa a

b

The Wo orld Bank, B. Molcchanovka st., 36/1, Moscow, 121069,, Russia Architektura JureKotnik, J Trg Prekomorskih P brigaad, 7, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia

Abstracct This article observes thee attempts to inttroduce modern international appproaches to kinddergarten designn in the Russian regions and it aiims to set the disscussion about th he importance off the open, flexibble and child-cenntered spaces, ass well as the creaation of new leaarning environm ments for the early childhood development syystem in Russia. Specifically, it reviews theoretical approaches with respecct to the correlaation of the pedaagogy and architecture design, and its influencce on the learniing and behavioral abilities of the children, itt analyses the current c status off early childhoood developmentt system in Russsia, its n barriers for thee modern reform ms of the Russiann kindergarten design. d The authhors pay challengges and potentiall implementation a speciaal attention to thee role of the teaccher as the agentt of change and the t influence of the teacher’s perrception on the reforms r implemeentation. © 2013 2014 The The Authors. Authors. Pu Published ublished by by Elsevier Elseevier Ltd. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license © (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Selectio on and/or peer-reeview under resp ponsibility of Ruussian Psychologgical Society. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Russian Psychological Society. Keywordds: early childhoodd development, kin ndergarten design, learning pyramid,, new Russian kinddergartens, sciencee-based architecture, open environm ments, teachers perrception

1. Background The early childhood developmeent and preschool education is becoming increasingly i im mportant for Russian R o educatiion. During laast decade thee kindergartenn design has witnessed sevveral changes due to the ongoing transforrmations in varrious aspects of o the contempoorary society, including i technnological deveelopment, archiitecture and peddagogy. All thhese changes have h called for revising the concept c of learrning environm ment. Russia is facing

* Corrresponding authorr. Tel.:+7-495-745 5-7000, ext. 2047; fax:+7-495-745-77002. E-maail address: [email protected]

1877-0428 © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Russian Psychological Society. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.08.084

Tigran Shmis et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 146 (2014) 40 – 46

these changes with the attempts to support new approaches of designing preschool architecture and learning environment, as well as to simplify and optimize the overprescribed construction and sanitary standards. At the same time the country strives for the costs reduction in building of the preschool facilities, which have been relatively high in comparison with other OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. Unfortunately, the interventions and investment programs lack the attention to teachers, although the teachers are identified as main agents of innovations. Thus, there is a certain demand for studying innovations and teacher development strategies in a dynamic environment of reformed education system. 1.1. Kindergartens development in Russia: a historical overview Russia has a long history of Early Childhood Development (ECD) which starts at the late XIX century. The first public and private kindergartens were opened in 1866 in Saint-Petersburg [1]. At the same time, although Russia has been following “European trends”, there were differences. The Russian approach to kindergarten development was initially based on educational interventions which included learning and upbringing [2]. The ECD system was being rapidly developed over the course of XX century: first ECD curricula were introduced, special research institutions were established, and training and educational institutions for the teachers and nursery staff were opened across the country. The pedagogical interventions were supported by construction of the kindergarten buildings in urban and rural areas. A special model designs for kindergartens with the capacity of 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 and 200 children were developed and during the century replicated further across the country with small adjustments [3]. It’s important to note, that architectural designs were strongly influenced by the ideas of hygienists: the desire to reduce contacts of children as a measure to prevent health diseases led to designing a large number of small group rooms, corridors and separate exits. The principle of group isolation still defines the kindergarten architecture, as well as pedagogical practices in Russia. By 1990s the national ECD system became strong and comprehensive: the services were being provided to all children in need from the nursery till the preschool. Right after the collapse of USSR and the following economic shocks, that population had experienced, the demand for all existing kindergarten spaces in Russia was not there anymore. The birth rates went down dramatically during the transition period, which caused the change in the demand and the existing soviet infrastructure turned out to be excessive. Starting from early 2000s, the birth rates had recovered and started to boom causing growth of public demand and new social request to the national ECD system. Currently the Russian education system enrolls more than 62% of children at ages 0 to 7. The Russian government has recently addressed the issue of developing ECD systems at regional level [6]. The system is being reformed in a way to become more child-centered, modern and flexible. A new federal state standard on preschool education, which was adopted in 2013, is designed to stipulate completely new pedagogical practices [4]. Moreover, significant interventions to increase enrollment are designed to support infrastructure and equip the kindergartens with relevant modern technology. However, to increase the number of places simply through the construction of new kindergartens without introducing long-term policies addressing the ongoing demographic changes and dynamics can lead to overstaffed and undersupplied kindergartens in the future. Thus, new innovative approaches for designing preschool architecture have to be introduced. 2. Creating new learning environments Under innovation in ECD facilities we understand creating open environments with multifunctional and always accessible equipment. Several authors call for more attention to contemporary architecture as well as to efficiency of architecture for learning [5,7]. At the same time there are several theories which are connecting the architecture and learning, hence there is a lack of evidence on connection between particular types of learning environments and student performance. Overall, there is a notion of the quality learning environment and its

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positive impact on student performance – here we are talking about minimum standards. For instance, an improvement in school conditions from extremely bad to good was associated with an increase of approximately 10% of a standard deviation in learning achievement [8]. The majority of the important changes in kindergarten architecture take place in the interior design, while focus lies also on the sustainable construction, rational material selection and energy efficiency of the facilities through the whole process from construction to maintenance. The broad selection of international experiences can be very useful for Russian regions. Still the aim is not merely to copy foreign examples, but to find an adapted model that would formulate “new Russian kindergarten” - a design response for contemporary pedagogy challenges of modern Russia. 2.1. Connecting pedagogy with architecture These transformations can be achieved only with combining together findings in the field pedagogy, children psychology and architecture. The architecture as a spatial frame for the processes in pre-school education has big influence on what can happen in kindergarten. Therefore, the several pioneers in the education, e.g. Rudolf Steiner, have given a special attention to it. Some other researchers, e.g. Bettina Rühm, are saying that the space is “the third teacher” [9], while Christopher Day points out the environment's ability to influence on the way we think, the way we feel and the way we act. The environment shapes our habits, our beliefs, values and it can encourage our physical, mental and social development. Though a big part of the influence is subliminal, it is still very important [10]. Even Winston Churchill said: “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us”, meaning that by using the appropriate design we can easier achieve desirable effects and this is where pedagogy and architecture should come together in search of quality learning environment. The focus of the new interior designs can rely mainly on the findings of the “learning pyramid” as introduced by National Training Laboratories (Bethel, Maine), which identifies the most effective ways of learning [11].

Fig. 1. Learning pyramid as a basis for new educational design (Learning pyramid source: National Training Laboratories, Bethel, Maine)

The larger part of the pyramid advocates an active role of the children in their educational processes. According to it, the most effective learning can take place in such environment, where children can meet, interact and therefore learn from each other. It also promotes the spaces, where children can actively participate in their learning or can even learn on their own. These aspects are the trends of contemporary pedagogy, especially with the increasing involvement of technology in the kindergartens. As the children are different and they learn


differently, new kindergarten designs should promote the spatial environment, that cater diverse types of learning from active to calm spaces and from dynamic group spaces to more individual (e.g. resting and reading corners).

Fig. 2. Changes call for the different environment: the transition from the institutional typology (left) into educational landscape typology(right).

The keywords of contemporary kindergarten design are flexibility, mobility and diversity, because rich learning environment can benefit children’s ability to play and learn [12]. One of the notable design changes in comparison to the traditional kindergarten architecture typology in Russia is the avoidance of complex and closed system of corridors and their replacement with central multi-use space of an open spatial configuration, which represents the core of every kindergarten and plays the role of the main square in the city [13]. Such central multi-use hall has to function as an extension of the adjacent playrooms and is a middle way to the next evolutional phase of contemporary kindergarten, transforming it from a cluster of playrooms into a diverse learning environment, which promotes active and self-learning. Such change makes kindergartens even less institutional and brings them closer to the informality of children museums, while we can also find some parallels with the contemporary office environment, where several companies in creative and “blue chip” industry are benefiting from the informality of the work environment in the fields of creativity and effectiveness. The deinstitution of the kindergarten is one of the processes that can already be identified in several new facilities. 2.2. The importance of local characteristics: location, climate and culture Besides the architecture relation to pedagogy in contemporary kindergarten design it is also very important to address the individual kindergarten specifics in relation to its location, climate and culture. This is especially important in such big and diverse country as Russia. For example, in the Khanty-Mansyisk Autonomous Okrug or in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the climate can be identified as the main challenge that determines the architecture. The long winters, low temperatures and the abundance of snow – all these specific conditions call for solutions that can provide an answer for these peculiarities. One of the solutions can be an inclined green roof, especially, if we know that the big part of heat is usually lost through the roof. A green roof is the great insulator, has good fire protective characteristics, handles the meteor waters, etc., while at the same time can be used as a slope for sledging or skiing in long winters or as an amphitheater space and additional playground in the summer. Such site-related approach is converting the weakness of the location into its strength, using architecture as a catalyst of the process. Due to harsh weather conditions in the exterior, the children spend a lot of time inside of the building. This condition advocates bigger glassed surfaces of high quality windows in order to allow receiving as much as possible amount of natural light. In addition to that, designers can turn to another scientific principle – a “biophilia effect”, which claims that the exposure to the photos of the nature helps in improving the

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efficiency and well-being of the users. Beside the natural, also a connection with the cultural environment is very important for the ability to connect kids, teachers, parents and the rest of local community together; making kindergarten as a community orientated public building, where some spaces can be shared to the benefit of all, increasing the use of the building. Also a strong attention has to be given to support motoric activities for kids in specially designed sport halls, as well as through activities in multi-activity halls. According to the studies on relation of sport activities to brain functions, the physical activity benefits children’s mental achievements and promoting spaces for physical active kids is very important, due to the ability to increase children’s IQ and improve their performance [14]. Connecting pedagogical and behavioral science with architecture design has a great potential that might lead to the innovations in kindergarten architecture. The choice of such approach could classify Russia among the leading countries in the development of educational design. 2.3. A need for change in Russia The older approach in Russia was to create a single room per each activity, which transformed a preschool facility into a labyrinth of corridors and separate rooms. Overall 20% of space is still allocated to the corridors. An extreme case we worked with was a kindergarten for 120 boys and girls, which had 98 separate rooms inside. This situation is explained by the current sanitary and fire regulations which are designed to protect children from the health diseases, to ensure safety and to prevent possible risks. These regulations stipulate the “groups’ isolation” principle, which prevents mixing of children from different groups (usually, one group includes 15 to 30 kids with one or two teachers). In many OECD countries preschools are designed to allow children to communicate with each other, to have common activities and use maximum space of the kindergarten for their activities. Moreover, the Russia is the only country in Europe which requires (i) presence of medical staff in the kindergarten, (ii) daily check of health condition of children at entry, and (iii) principle of “group isolation” at the same time. Given the strong attention to child health and the importance of child well-being, the last principle has its limitations. These limitations are related to lack of needed physical development: (i) children have less ability to run and move, and (ii) the limited size of the room increases the risk of decease spreading. Meanwhile, the major factor is extreme inefficiency in usage of space and its availability for children: while Danish kindergartens are usually 40% smaller in overall space, than Russian (~10 sq. m. per child versus ~20 sq. m. per child), so called “active space” –– the space available for boys and girls at any time –– is up to 4 times more in Danish preschools, than in Russia (2.5 sq.m. per child in Russia versus 7-8 sq. m. per child in Denmark). Thus, changing these proportions in Russia would generate tremendous change in learning spaces as well as generate huge savings for public funds. 3. Implementation barriers Indeed, the introduction of these important changes to the learning environment may not be an easy process. On the one hand, through our practice we see a growing interest from the Russian regions to the improve the quality and efficiency of the ECD and preschool education system through the introduction of innovative designs in kindergartens infrastructure that are cost and energy efficient to better support pedagogy and learning. For example, the World Bank is providing technical assistance to the Government of the Kanty-Mansyisk Autonomous Okrug and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which includes construction of new kindergartens applying principles of the openness, flexibility, multifunctional use and flexibility, providing a completely new environment for the ECD activities and programs, as well as allowing for transformation of the playrooms into primary school classes in order to address the demographic challenges later during the lifecycle of the buildings. We see that project implementation process may face different challenges from various angles, e.g. very rigid and sometimes outdated construction, fire protection and sanitary laws, regulations and norms, high level of skepticism and conservatism expressed by the architectural and planning specialists, who are afraid to break the


norms and are not interested in implementing changes, very different perceptions of the kindergarten’s conceptual idea by the main users: children, parents, teachers and administrators. In our opinion, the most important factor, which can strongly influence the introduction of the new design ideas are the teaching practices. Designing a new open environment entails, that children feel more relaxed and independent from the timetable and teaching activities. The usual day in Russian kindergarten is very structured, as well as the learning activities and games, which are mainly directed by the teacher. The current teaching practices strongly correlates with existing spatial organization of a kindergarten and define the interaction between an adult and a child, which sometimes is very formal and includes the frontal (teacher-oriented) forms of tuition. Newly adopted federal state standard on preschool education [5] is designed to change this approach and to stipulate child-centered education in Russian ECD system. This pedagogical document has some recommendations on how the environment should be organized and is clearly in line with the modern approach to the learning spaces – transformable, flexible and accessible. We believe it is the first time in Russia when childcentered reform comes as part of the regulation. We also believe that the teachers with the broad support and less regulatory burden are becoming more innovative and may change the traditional approach to early education and stimulation through new learning, using techniques of developmental education (as per Vygotsky) [15], [16]. While the teachers are usually the main agents of change and addressees of regulations, there is still a risk that the teachers can try to shape and use a new spatial environment in a way they used to do it, which is going to affect the initial ideas of the project. For example, the teachers may not feel comfortable to work in the open transparent environment with glass walls and doors and will tend to cover the transparent surfaces in order to avoid others looking through it. Therefore, there is a strong need to improve the capacity of the teachers and nursery staff in the kindergartens and provide them with special trainings, explaining how to work with the children in the flexible and open learning environment and how to adjust their teaching methodologies to it. 4. Conclusions The early childhood development system in Russia is facing new challenges. There is a strong need in creating new learning environments, which changes the conventional approach to the kindergarten design and teaching practices. The contemporary architecture of educational institutions is strongly connected with the pedagogy and calls for the open, flexible and child-centered spaces, which may better contribute to the learning activities of the children. The thorough adaptation of the international best practices to the local climate, cultural and landscape conditions can help Russia to create a concept for “new Russian kindergarten”, which response to modern challenges. A strong attention to the role of the teacher as a main agent of change and addressees of the regulations and the detailed analysis of teacher’s perception of the new approaches to the early childhood education can allow us to facilitate better the reforms implementation. References [1] Doshkol`naia pedagogika [Preschool pedagogy]. Ed. by V. I. Iadeshko, F. A. Sohin. Ɇ.: Prosveshchenie; 1978. 429 ɫ. [2] M. F. Shabaeva, V. A. Rotenberg, I. V. Chuvashev / Ed. by. L. N. Leetvina. Istoriia doshkol`noi` pedagogiki [History of preschool pedagogy]. Ɇ.: Prosveshchenie; 1989. [3] By`linkin N.P., Kalmy`kova V.N., Riabushin A.V. i dr. Istoriia sovetskoi` arhitektury` (1917-1954) [History of Soviet architecture (1917-1954)]. 2nd edition, revised and enlarged. M. Stroyizdat; 1985, 256p. [4] Federal state standard on preschool education Retrieved from http://www.firo.ru/wpcontent/uploads/2013/11/PR_1155.pdf 02.04.2013 [5] Kotnik J., New Kindergarten Architecture. Links, Linksbooks.Net, Barcelona; 2011.

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[6] Bennett, Shmis & Umarov. Early childhood care and education quality initiatives in six Russian Regions : a comparative analysis in the light of international research and best practice. UNESCO and World Bank, Moscow; 2012. [7] Shmis T., Kotnik J., Enhancing the early childhood development system in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia: meeting the challenges. CELE Exchange 2011/12, OECD; 2011. [8] Michaelowa K., Wechtler A. The Cost-Effectiveness of Inputs in Primary Education: Insights from the Literature and Recent Student Surveys for Sub-Saharan Africa; 2006. [9] Rühm, B., Kindergärten, Krippen, Horte: neue Architektur - aktuelle Konzepte. Dt. Verl.-Anst., München; 2011. [10] Day, C. Environment and children: passive lessons from the everyday environment. Architectural Amsterdam, London; 2007. [11] Booth, C. Reflective Teaching, Effective Learning: Instructional Literacy for Library Educators. American Library Association; 2011. [12] Mark Schneider. Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes, National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, 1090 Vermont Ave., N.W., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005-4905. Tel: 888-552-0624; Web site: http://www.edfacilities.org. For full text: http://www.edfacilities.org/pubs; 2002. [13] Ceppi, G., Zini, M. Children, Spaces, Relations: Metaproject for an Environment for Young Children. Grafiche Rebecchi Ceccarelli; 2001. [14] Meyer, A.L., Gullotta, T.P. Physical Activity Across the Lifespan: Prevention and Treatment for Health and Well-Being. Springer; 2012. [15] Vygotsky, L.S. Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1978. [16] Crawford, K. Vygotskian approaches to human development in the information era. Educational Studies in Mathematics. (31); 1996, p. 43-62.