Aspiring teachers received direction recently from an unlikely source: elementary students.
Nearly 100 students from Columbus Signature Academy — Lincoln Campus and Rockcreek Elementary School came to IUPUC Dec. 4 and 5 to see inclusive schoolyard designs created by IUPUC elementary education majors, and to provide feedback on their own playgrounds.
IUPUC students were tasked with exploring ways in which elementary schoolyards were inclusive of diverse abilities, cultures and ecologies, and how they may be designed to be more inclusive.
The project was part of an assignment in their science and social studies for elementary schools course, and it required students to observe recess at a school of their choice, said Laura Liu, assistant professor of elementary education at IUPUC.
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“By engaging in inclusive schoolyard design, teacher candidates learn to reflect on their own schoolyard experience and bring this into dialogue with the experiences of elementary students, who may see and experience life through a very different lens,” Liu said.
IUPUC students working in groups of four displayed their designs to elementary students, who were asked about their own playgrounds and what potential improvements they would make.
Alicia Harvey, a junior at IUPUC from Columbus, said she observed the playground at Parkside Elementary School to develop ideas for her group project, and said she thought the school’s play area was inclusive for many individuals.
However, Harvey said receiving input directly from elementary students themselves was beneficial.
“It’s important to have an inclusive playground because you want children to feel like they belong,” Harvey said.
Rockcreek Elementary School third-grade student Kristopher Sterling was among the children who contributed feedback to IUPUC students.
The 8-year-old said he felt his own playground at Rockcreek could be made more inclusive for individuals who have disabilities.
“I think you should make playgrounds so that everyone in the world can play on it,” Sterling said.
Fellow classmate Brylee Austerman also said accessibility for people in wheelchairs is something she recognizes when she goes out to the playground at Rockcreek during recess.
“There’s no swings for people that have wheelchairs,” Austerman said.
One of the designs by IUPUC students included a tree house in which individuals with wheelchairs would be able to access, something Austerman said she favored having at Rockcreek. That would allow all individuals a chance to enjoy themselves together, she said.
Liu also said the project provides an opportunity for teacher candidates to grow in seeing the world, including classrooms and schoolyards, through the eyes of their students.
“We ask teacher candidates to be flexible in how they conceptualize inclusion, innovative in how they design schoolyard spaces to be more inclusive and to realize that inclusion benefits everyone,” she said.
Liu said the assignment also intended to give her students a way to understand the world of students outside of the classroom. In addition, they are also able to assess how they can improve their classroom presentations as they prepare to enter the education field based on their work, she said.
“It’s very important for teachers to practice culturally relevant teaching,” Liu said. “They are able to integrate their curriculum development and instruction and classroom environment.”
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For more information on the IUPUC Division of Education, go online at iupuc.edu/education/.
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