News

‘Home, School and the Places In Between’: children’s learning needs on the agenda as speaking tour arrives in Melbourne

Media Release, Wednesday 8 October 2008

The University of Melbourne will co-host a six day speaking tour in October focussing on children’s needs for greater independence, the benefits of risk and the need for skills development based on real experiences.

The “Home, School and the Spaces in Between” tour will look at the issues surrounding the public access and space needs of children and the roles such places have in a child’s development.

The tour will feature commentary on how architecture, design and planning impacts children’s learning, and feature international experts Harry Heft (Ecological Psychologist, Denison University Ohio), Marketta Kytta (Environmental Psychologist, Finland University of Technology and Advisor to the Norwegian Institute of Transport Economics) and Tim Gill (Policy Analyst, London).

The University will hold lectures, professional workshops and discussions from October 27 to October 30. Registration for these public events closes on October 13.

Julie Rudner from the University’s Australasian Centre for the Governance and Management of Urban Transport (GAMUT) says the tour will provide planners and other experts with tools and information for maximising children’s learning experiences.

“Children need access to a variety of quality public urban and educational spaces that encourage exploration of the self and the environment. However, policies often define children¹s space narrowly, encourage strong adult surveillance and intervention, construct children as vulnerable, and lead to unimaginative play spaces in the urban environment and within school grounds.

“Rather than emphasising over-protection, this programme focuses on the positive influence of outdoor informal and formal learning on children¹s healthy development. It explores the impact of architecture, design and planning on children¹s experiential learning using approaches from ecological and environmental psychology.”

Full details and registration forms are available from www.abp.unimelb.edu.au/gamut/about/news-events/.