Educational psychologists' intervention in the early years : the influence of the classroom environment

Abstract

It is acknowledged that the environment plays an important role in young children's learning development. Research shows that the term environment does not refer only to the physical space but also to the relationship between the teacher and the children. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of the classroom environment on educational psychologists' interventions. Through the use of unstructured observations in kindergarten settings, and interviews with psychologists who work within this field, such data was collected. The themes discussed in this study are the ones which emerged from the data collection from observations and interviews and the ones I deemed important to be able to address the research question. This process yielded three main themes. These were a) the physical environment, b) the interaction between teacher and child and c) the activities done in kindergarten setting. Such ingredients affect the psychologists' interventions. One major implication is that despite the fact that psychologists work with the referred child, there is the need to be part of the education team in order to support teachers in creating an environment that is conducive to children's development and in line with child-centred learning. This environment seems to support better the psychologists' interventions.