2.4 Determinant factors or inputs for quality education provision
2.4.3 Physical environment, teaching and learning material and other resources
According to Rao (2010), the physical environment in the school is an important aspect that needs to be included when listing the determinant factors to quality ECD education. In this section the discussion will revolve around the theoretical overview of both the outdoor and indoor learning centres, teaching and learning materials involved and the general infrastructure for the school environment for quality provision in ECD. In the theoretical context, this is the maternal home that nurtures quality education provision in ECD. A rich and safe environment stimulates learning and total child development.
The characteristics of the physical environment were described by Profeta (2010) as being supportive to children‟s needs. The physical environment should allow children to have their lessons child-initiated and teacher-initiated. Profeta (2010) is concerned with the cost and with observing the safety and hygienic precautions of the physical structures for children‟s learning. This physical environment should also be culturally specific. The ECD school environment should have enough space for children to have injury free play. The environment school should have affordable facilities which are stimulating. This environment should satisfy cultural aspects. This is important because African parents and community
members are different from those in the Western countries; what may be considered sub- standard by Western people can still be regarded as perfect by African people. Therefore, aspects of safety, affordability and culture can be relevant in developing an ECD centre and the community can only contribute by providing locally available materials and furniture. For example, the Zimbabwean statutory instrument (12 of 2005) recommends mats made from reeds for children to sit on. However, of importance is to set an ECD centre that satisfies safety and health standards and attends to children‟s needs with sizable and stimulating facilities.
Outdoor play areas should be planned strategically to provide an entertaining and stimulating environment for ECD children (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Docket & Farmer, 2008; Waite, 2011). Waite (2011) goes on to say that the outdoor play area should be skilfully erected, for instance, natural school garden can be recommended for a stimulating learning atmosphere for ECD children. McMullen, Elicker, Wang, Erdiller, Sun-Mi, Chia-Hui and Ping-Yun (2005) and Waite (2011) concur that for observation and manipulation ECD children need a variety of natural features like vegetation; aquatic environment like a small, shallow, and clean pond, sand and mud for moulding and collage, animals, insects and birds. The learning dispositions mentioned above show that the exposure of children to a natural environment nurtures originality and stimulation for more discoveries, complex play and autonomy in children. Since children will be active in the child-initiated play, it stimulates observation, innovation, dramatic pretend play, and imagination. Waite (2011) and Arthur et al. (2008) claim that the best contributor to the children‟s emotional development is the natural environment because it provides a sense of independence and autonomy to children. Children benefit from the opportunities they get to feature themselves in this exploratory environment where they experience their own movements as transforming it (Waite, 2011). Thus, in the outdoor play areas, children learn about „nature and nurture‟ through observing living things, and if teachers properly guide the learning children, they will learn to respect both life and nature.
In addition the indoor environment that is naturally set with stimulating materials offers more of the experience than teaching (Bilton, 2010). Smith (2010) and Wood (2013) acknowledge the importance of the physical classroom environment which is appropriately arranged for children‟s learning. With the same sentiment, Caruso and Fawcett (2007) admit that the
effectiveness and efficiency of teacher-pupil interaction during the process of teaching and learning is highly correlated with classroom arrangement. The learning dispositions mentioned above reflect that children need an indoor learning environment that is attractive, stimulating and conducive to manipulative, experimental and self-initiated learning. ECD children learn effectively when they are given chances to discover through self-initiated activities and mostly their learning is increased through vigorous involvement using their hands to manipulate, hearing with their ears, and self-guided explorations. These natural environments provide for independent play and original exploration with various materials.
Therefore, ECD learning areas are supposed to be stimulating, child-centred, emotionally safe, and arranged in a way to facilitate learning through play.
Teaching and learning materials from the local environment are usually culturally appropriate, being cost-effective and child-friendly (Meier & Marais, 2007; Profeta, 2010). In the same perception MoWCD (2012) acknowledges the importance of using locally available resources to make low cost, appropriate teaching and learning materials that are child- friendly. These ideas are context specific on making teaching and learning resources from materials that can be found in the local environment. Availability of resource materials used for making teaching and learning resources vary from one region to the other, hence there is much flexibility in terms of context appropriateness. There is need to consult local people like the children, parents and community members to provide some of these required materials. For instance, Udommana (2012) reports a case where parents used resources found in their local areas to make teaching and learning materials for their children.
For ECD, the provision of quality education is highly determined by infrastructural support, for instance in the OECD countries, the governments provide infrastructural support and children have greater access to quality education (UNICEF, 2008). The key policy recommendation is that ECD schools must ensure the suitability and integrity of the classroom with enough illumination, ventilation and space for safe and flexible furniture arrangements to ensure that children have enough space for play as they learn indoors (Awopegba, 2010). The classroom should have enough space for all the children (recommended space is at least 16 square meters for 20-25 children) and be well illuminated so that children can see in every part of the room (NERDC, 2004). The classroom environment should allow free movement by the children. Since the ECD children learn through play, the indoor environment (classroom) should be spacious enough to allow
physical activities where children can work freely in groups or as individuals. These classrooms are supposed to be furnished with child-size furniture (NERDC, 2004; Laine et al., 2011). Each child should have a sitting position (either a chair or a bench) and corresponding tables appropriate for their age. The furniture should be tested regularly for integrity so that they do not pose danger to the children. The main idea for the classroom and furniture is to have a secure and conducive indoor environment for active exploration by children in both child-initiated and teacher-initiated activities for the enhancement of quality ECD education.
To bring this section to a close, the above support that should be given to ECD schools is contradicted by the Zimbabwean schools set-up. Bukaliya and Mubika (2012), Mugweni and Dakwa (2013), Chikutuma and Mapolisa (2013) conducted recent researches in different areas in the country and established that ECD children are learning under the trees and are experiencing many inadequacies like furniture, learning materials, suitable outdoor play equipment to mention a few. The government of Zimbabwe has relegated the ECD programme to local communities which are not able to support these requirements due to poverty (Dakwa, 2011; Mpofu & Shumba, 2012; Hlupuko, et al., 2013).