Evaluating the physical environment of ecological kindergarten based on the requirements of early environmental education: a case study in Döşemealtı, Antalya

Abstract

In recent years, Early Childhood Education has been widely influenced by ecological approaches and sustainable design. The reason for that could be named as the increasing number of studies which claim to invest on promoted awareness of young children towards the natural environment which has roots early childhood education. Environmental education in early childhood is a holistic concept that encompasses knowledge of the natural world parallel with developing children’s emotions, dispositions, and skills. The current study is tracking the architectural features of a newly built ecological kindergarten in Antalya, Turkey that has adopted environmental education to explore its compatibility with the NAAEE guideline for Early Childhood Environmental Education Programs. The methodological approach of this study contains a detail site-analysis, physical environment of the so-called ecological kindergarten, as well as the profound questionnaires for teachers and parents to share their ideas related to the weaknesses and strengths of the physical environment of the kindergarten. Comparing the data collected from the questionnaires with the one from the observation survey, this study concludes that the outdoor space of the kindergarten is more compatible with environmental education. While the architectural features of the ecological kindergarten do not meet the approved requirements of an ecological design, this design approach promotes a noticeable development on the environmental education of the neighborhood and its surrounding.