<p>The Early Childhood Care and Education Center (ECEC) physical environment plays a significant role in shaping children’s behavior and learning outcomes and influencing educators’ management of children’s exploration and action, which is pivotal for their overall development and well-being. This study compared the researchers’ and educators’ physical environment quantitative assessments of 12 Portuguese ECECs. Wilcoxon tests were used to investigate possible differences between the researchers’ and educators’ assessments. The ratings differ significantly regarding the institution’s image and scale, safety, indoor organization, building location, and site characteristics, with educators reporting consistently higher levels of quality than the researchers. This study’s outcomes highlight the importance of adopting an interdependent perspective between the researchers’ and the educators’ assessments regarding the ECEC physical environment quality. Such complementarity facilitates the accurate identification of key physical features of ECEC that need to be readdressed to promote children’s high-quality education and positive development, learning, and overall well-being.</p>

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

The quality of the physical environment of Early Childhood Care and Education Centers in the Northeast region of Portugal: a comparison between researchers’ and educators’ assessments

  • Mariana Moreira,
  • Pedro Magalhães,
  • Frederico Lopes,
  • Catarina Vasques

摘要

The Early Childhood Care and Education Center (ECEC) physical environment plays a significant role in shaping children’s behavior and learning outcomes and influencing educators’ management of children’s exploration and action, which is pivotal for their overall development and well-being. This study compared the researchers’ and educators’ physical environment quantitative assessments of 12 Portuguese ECECs. Wilcoxon tests were used to investigate possible differences between the researchers’ and educators’ assessments. The ratings differ significantly regarding the institution’s image and scale, safety, indoor organization, building location, and site characteristics, with educators reporting consistently higher levels of quality than the researchers. This study’s outcomes highlight the importance of adopting an interdependent perspective between the researchers’ and the educators’ assessments regarding the ECEC physical environment quality. Such complementarity facilitates the accurate identification of key physical features of ECEC that need to be readdressed to promote children’s high-quality education and positive development, learning, and overall well-being.