Environments: tools of the educational trade or networked spaces of learning? Reflections at the intersection between learning environments and intergenerational relationships
Article
Farini, F. and Scollan, A. 2025. Environments: tools of the educational trade or networked spaces of learning? Reflections at the intersection between learning environments and intergenerational relationships. Children's Geographies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2025.2556411
| Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Title | Environments: tools of the educational trade or networked spaces of learning? Reflections at the intersection between learning environments and intergenerational relationships |
| Authors | Farini, F. and Scollan, A. |
| Abstract | This article discusses the concept of environments that enable as networked social spaces structured by expectations of personal expression, equal positioning of adults and children, and empowerment of all participants in communication. What is enabled by the environment are opportunities of intergenerational contact, centred on the person rather than the role. Environments that enable ic critically compared with the concept of enabling environment promoted by the English curriculum for Early Years education, to disentagle the latter from its underpinning adult-centric vision that approaches the environment as a tool of the educational trade. Enabling is purposeful: enabling children to achieve curricualr goals.. In the second part of the article, the coevolution of enabling environments and trust on expertise on the one hand, and the coevolution of environments that enable and personal trust on the other hand are discussed, arguing that the type of trust underpinning adults-children interactions may signal the ontological status of children vis-à-vis an intergenerational order. The final section of the article investigates the social conditions that make environments that enable viable places of intergenerational contact. Facilitation of agency will be discussed as a form of communication that can support personal trust in contexts of intergenerational agentic learning. |
| Keywords | Learning environments; early years education; personal trust; children's agency; dialogic pedagogy; facilitation |
| Sustainable Development Goals | 4 Quality education |
| Middlesex University Theme | Creativity, Culture & Enterprise |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (Routledge) |
| Journal | Children's Geographies |
| ISSN | 1473-3285 |
| Electronic | 1473-3277 |
| Publication dates | |
| Online | 23 Sep 2025 |
| Publication process dates | |
| Submitted | 25 Jan 2025 |
| Accepted | 20 Aug 2025 |
| Deposited | 01 Oct 2025 |
| Output status | Published |
| Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
| Copyright Statement | © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2025.2556411 |
| Web of Science identifier | WOS:001577123600001 |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/2w300x
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