Creating Maps—Translating a Child's Mind to Paper
Presenter
- Andrew Lerner, Ph.D., ECC psychologist and learning specialist
- Charles Leon Thompson, architectural designer
Session / Time
- Breakout Session I
- 10 - 11 a.m.
- Glenwood Room
Description
Children are always seeking to navigate and make sense of their environment. They turn the spaces they encounter into places they know and understand. In addition, because each child’s experiences are unique, their mental maps, as well, are distinct compared with those of another child, even of the exact same spaces. Environments that create more successful mental maps are “built” using these elements:
- paths
- edges
- districts
- nodes
- landmarks
Using this tool kit, we can explore, compare, and contrast parts of some example cities (and their organizational philosophies) with the classrooms of the Early Childhood Center to see how these elements can be applied to describe environments that are at such different scales.
Finally, we can learn how to use these elements to create an in-class project to help children present their own mental maps. This type of project can help teach children more about themselves and their classmates, but also inform educators about how children actually understand the classroom the educators created for them.
Goals / Content / Intentionality
By the conclusion of this session, participants will:
- understand what mental maps are and how they are created,/li>
- understand what the environmental elements are and how they assist in creating mental maps, and
- Understand how these elements can work across scale, culture, and organization scheme
Take-Home Messages
- Every child is unique and is constantly organizing information about their environment
- More successful maps can be created when environments harness specific elements
- Creating projects that help reveal the mental maps of children can help inform the classroom environment
Presenter Bios
Andrew Lerner, Ph.D., ECC psychologist and learning specialist
Andrew Lerner, Ph.D., ECC psychologist and learning specialist
Andrew Lerner, Ph.D., ECC, is a psychologist and learning specialist. As the ECC school psychologist, Dr. Lerner’s intention is to encourage learning and offer support for all of the children, parents, and teachers of the Brooklyn College ECC community. Having spent many years working with children presenting with a wide range of abilities and challenges, inclusive of those with hearing and/or vision loss, autism, and learning disabilities, he believes that encouraging and creating a common working vocabulary between educators and parents goes a long way towards encouraging success for all children. Dr. Lerner has also taught courses in learning theory, cognition, and psycholinguistics at numerous institutions of higher learning within the region and he teaches a course in the value of play for the Early Childhood Education and Art Education Department at Brooklyn College.
Charles Leon Thompson, architectural designer
Charles Leon Thompson, architectural designer
Charles Leon Thompson has a design background with B.S.Arch and B.Arch degrees in architecture from The Catholic University of America. He has worked in the architecture and education fields for more than 20 years in Washington, D.C., and New York City. He previously developed a line of bicultural children’s books with his wife based on her childhood. Currently, Charles is working on an interactive mapping project featuring community-created layers of virtual data that provide an immersive and educational experience.
