Environment as the Third Teacher: A Curriculum Reflection

An effective course of action in education is through involvement of the environment, considering it an important part of the child's learning and well-being. The Reggio Emilia approach to pre-school as a place of culture posits that infant-toddler learning centres are places of culture and establish the basic method through which their learning can be enhanced (Rinaldi, 2001, p. 39). The approach, therefore, requires the use of environmental stimuli, from lighting to touch and visuals. Every aspect of the classroom can be modified to enhance a child's learning experience. The basic principle of the approach to Reggio Emilia, which considers pre-schools to be places of culture, is to involve the children as active protagonists (Rinaldi, 2001, p. 39). This means that instead of teacher-centred views of learning in traditional classrooms, the places of culture approach require children to also navigate how the lesson progresses and is given. This is based on the underlying idea that children can communicate their ideas in several ways. There are a hundred ways of thinking, expressing, understanding and responding (Xiao, 2021, p. 3). Children can analyse, understand and respond to classroom data in several ways. The consequence of this approach in the classroom is that teachers must be perceptive and responsive to these different ways of expressing themselves.

The hundred approach to teaching leads to the argument that children can interact with their environment in numerous ways. Therefore, the reasoning behind classroom design must be focused on the environment as a part of the curriculum. In this regard, the research conducted by Merewether (2022, p. 5) has argued that an inviting environment for the child is key in making the classroom a space for socialisation, learning, interaction and ensuring playful nature. Creating a safe space for the child and designs that encourage learning through thoughtful processes is a credible method of ensuring that the classroom environment becomes part of the curriculum. This opposes the brick-and-mortar traditional outlook towards a classroom, with rows of desks facing a blackboard. Nowadays, technologically advanced methods of immersive learning through virtual reality have allowed children to visualise lessons not just on the blackboard but also feel part of the lesson (Liu et al., 2020, p. 2035). On the other hand, learning can also be fostered through game-based learning, in which motivational games as part of simulations can be shared in the classroom, and each level represents a new ability in the child to conduct problem-solving (Beck, 2019, p. 1620). In these ways, the classroom environment can encourage and enhance learning, which goes beyond the traditional methods.

However, it is not only the relationship that children have with the environment that enhances learning. The study by Mackey (2016, p. 29) highlighted that relationships can impact learning, including relationships with immediate and extended family, friends, and the environment. These relationships are built on trust within the child to explore places, make judgements and be adventurous in their learning (Mackey, 2016, p. 26). In the approach to reviewing education to be influenced by factors, relationships are an external factor that impacts learning for the child. Trusting and safe relationships with family, friends, and the environment can foster learning. However, when relationships within the family are bad, i.e. domestic abuse, the children's learning is affected, and their risk of developing a learning disability also rises (Masonbrink & Hurley, 2020, p. 1). Similarly, social exclusion in classrooms, irrespective of the reason, can result in behavioural changes in the child that also affect learning (Juvonen et al., 2019, p. 251). This leads to the argument that the environment must support a child's learning process, or they can be impacted negatively and learning can be impeded.

In this regard, the educator's role is critical because they are responsible for fostering a healthy and supportive environment of friends and the classroom to encourage learning, even if familial relations are beyond their control. In the educator's philosophy, the core understanding is that educators are given a basic curriculum. Still, it is their own understanding and philosophy that establishes the way that curriculum is enacted in the classroom (Giamminuti, 2022, p. 43). Therefore, the official curriculum provides a basic framework, and it is the teacher's duty to establish an informed approach towards enacting that curriculum. The curriculum, therefore, can also not just be described as a document; instead, it is a complex system of planning the lived experiences of learning within a classroom (Gobby, 2022, p. 10). The curriculum ensures that diversity is represented, children are exposed to varying cultures, and knowledge gradually increases from basic ideas to established concepts. Therefore, curriculum plays a critical role in informing the educator's philosophy to establish an informed approach to teaching, which in turn is also affected by the educator's personal philosophy. In this regard, Buchanan et al. (2022, p. 2) have added that an educator's philosophy is affected by ethical philosophies and professional application, as conduct, teaching, obligations to the land and the First Peoples, along with diversity and cultural values must be enacted through responsible methods of teaching.

To ensure that each aspect of teaching philosophy and ethics can be met, the most credible tool is critical reflection. In this approach to teaching, a cyclical teaching process is established, beginning with teaching lessons. Self-assessment is conducted to identify strengths and weaknesses, followed by forming an action plan to improve and implement that action plan (Down, 2022, p. 3). However, the new approach to teaching does not stop this self-learning process, as the teacher must reflect, analyse and then implement learnings in their practice. For the teacher, Zahid and Khanam (2019, p. 32) have argued that critically reflective practice is key to creating confident teachers who are receptive to external forces and implement these forces in their teaching. The children also receive high-quality lessons, as informed approaches are made on constant personal improvement by the teacher.

The story to be narrated is a personal account of enhancing learning experiences with the help of a supportive environment that encourages learning among the students. The story's topic is related to the placement of the classroom environment as the third teacher, which can encourage learning and enhance learning outcomes by increasing the motivation of students. The activity is a personal story, during my placement as an assistant to a teacher in a school in Australia.

As a teacher assistant in pre-school, a classroom activity was arranged for students in the mathematics subject. All the desks from the classroom were removed, and small blackboards were placed in a circle around the class. Each board had an unsolved math problem, and students were assigned to complete the problem in succession.

The activity began with asking the children to make teams of threes or twos to begin the task. Some children immediately found their team members, while others had issues finding any team to join. To resolve this issue, the teams that were more than three were asked to let go of one of their members, and that member was assigned to the children who were left alone. Team assigning took some time, as some children were not happy with the teams that they got. However, to resolve this issue, the teacher highlighted the importance of teamwork and collaborative work needed to win the task.

The blackboards were revealed once the teams were assigned, and the children were asked to get into position. There was no time limit, but the winners were the team that got the most problems solved. Slowly, in succession, from board to board, the teams were asked to solve questions written. On each board, 2 to 3 minutes were enough to solve the query, and the team would move on to the next board. Afterwards, the teacher checked them and noted the marks, after which problems were changed, and the next team was asked to begin the activity.

The activity proved to be a great success among the children and acted as a great source of motivation for them to solve problems independently. The motivation for doing so was that they could score much better than their classmates the next time this activity was arranged and won. Regarding team tasks, the children who raised an issue with their teams initially were comfortable with their team members by the end of the task. In the end, the teacher appreciated the winners for their understanding of the subject and problem-solving skills, while others were appreciated as well for their skills.

My narrative has been informed by my readings on the role of the environment and other factors in generating a positive learning experience for the children. The story highlights the importance of establishing positive relationships between children and their peers to encourage learning. At the same time, the traditional setting of classrooms can also be changed to support learning in a meaningful manner. In this regard, the research by Gobby (2022, p. 10) can be added, arguing that curriculum is not a simple document but defines how students' lived experiences can be included within teaching strategies. The academic goals established in the document can be met by planning the curriculum following the children's needs. Still, the social and cultural requirements of a child's learning can also be met.

On the other hand, the Reggio Emilia approach also considers children as active protagonists in their own learning, which is why they must be actively involved and participate inside the classroom (Rinaldi, 2001, p. 39). The motivation behind this planning for the teacher and me was exactly this understanding of making the students active protagonists. Their involvement was necessary, and by making the activity into a competition, their involvement and interest in solving math queries also increased.

The unit's readings have also informed my understanding regarding classroom learning, as children have a hundred ways of interacting, which supports their learning in different ways (Xiao, 2021, p. 3). In the task that was assigned, some of the children who used to perform average in traditional settings outperformed their classmates and proved to be more understanding of the concepts of the mathematics subject. The understanding gained from Xiao (2021, p. 3) therefore leads to the argument that the children who performed well had a different way of understanding and responding to learning. With the help of the activity, the classroom was made into a space for socialisation, learning and interaction, which helped children to communicate with their peers. The preferred methods of learning were also evident, as some children used their fingers, some wrote down the queries and some did not use any resource and just wrote down the answer after thinking about it for a few minutes. This is aligned with the hundred approaches to learning as well, as children have different methods of understanding and analysing information to come up with answers or solutions.

However, in this regard, the findings of Mackey (2016, p. 29) can be added as well, which highlight the importance of relationships with family, friends and the environment. If children are receiving positive reinforcement from all three areas, then their learning is amplified and supported for critical thought and improved cognitive functions. However, in the present activity, only two areas of relationship were present, i.e. friends and the environment. Parental involvement in this activity was not present; however, in other aspects of learning, the parents were involved. Particularly in regard to relationships with friends, the variance in social inclusion could be seen, as some children had more friends than others. Compared to the research by Juvonen et al. (2019, p. 251), it can also be argued that social exclusion can impact students' behaviour. Therefore, the activity shared in the story encouraged peer relationships among children, especially for those who did not have many friends or faced some form of social exclusion from their classmates.

From the teacher's perspective, the unit readings have also informed my opinion. Particularly, in the case of critical reflection, it is critical as part of an educator's philosophy in ensuring self-learning and a continuous process of identifying gaps in learning and an action plan to overcome any hindrances (Down, 2022, p. 3). In the current activity, there were a lot of lessons to be learnt by the teacher as well. In adjusting the complexity of the queries to managing team assigning, the teacher and I faced issues that could not be predicted or even expected before the activity had been conducted. This provides a critical opportunity for me, as an educator, to reflect on and assess my strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement. On the other hand, the use of environment as a curriculum is much more extensive, as fostering relationships with students and parents, positive reinforcements, visualisation of lessons, cultural relevancy, classroom behaviour policy and much more can be included to foster positive relationships between students and the environment. With the advancement of technology, the methods have increased even more, with augmented reality and virtual reality offering visualisation of lessons and immersive learning for the students. Therefore, learnings from the story and my experience personally are to foster a learning environment inside the classroom, which overcomes the hindrances of traditional classrooms and makes the children active protagonists in their own learning.

In conclusion, it can be argued that the environment has a critical role to play in fostering learning and positive relationships among students. The environment can be used as the third teacher to enhance learning, such that students feel motivated to improve their skills and apply problem-solving skills to an activity. For the future, my action plan is to apply environment as part of the curriculum, and include other stakeholders as well, especially parents, to encourage learning.