Day 4 - Edinburgh - Cowgate Children's Centre

Quote of the day -aim for 'UNIQUENESS NOT SAMENESS' when working with young children.

Hello from Dunblane, Scotland. Today we travelled once again in a noisy bus ( teachers tend not to be shy and retiring) into the heart of Edinburgh's city centre. We met Lian (Cowgate Children's Centre) at the top of what turns out to be many sets of steps in Edinburgh.  She took us to the centres little plot of forest where the children unlock the gate and walk through this little plot to forage, build, discover, explore, ponder, grow frogs, feed birds,theorise and play as part of their learning. This is the first sign of the centres strong association with the principles of Froebel ( German founder of 'Kindergartens' -children's garden.) His vision was for children to be nurtured in unity with nature as free, active, feeling and thinking human beings who should be cared for "as individual as every seed and flower in order to flourish." In this forest space, the educators work alongside the children to question and discover the answers for themselves without overteaching but to inspire children to search for their own answers. Eg Lian told us of a child who wanted to know what wind was but instead of being given the answer she was asked what she thought - "Well" she said "I think it's strong air" and for the rest of the time in the forest she watched the wind. It is not for us to always give the answer because the children's theories are much more important.

          

Next door amongst the dense urban environment  there lies a tiny plot of land which houses a little gem of a children's centre. We were led down a little laneway by Lian to a small door surrounded by other doorways where people haggle for any space they can. 

Upstairs we entered the most delightful spaces full of opportunities for children to play in nature. I cannot begin to describe nor give credit to the ambience nor the variety of connections to nature that the staff have created both indoors and outdoors. Outdoors -The most creative spaces unraveled before us on what used to be a big piece of asphalt. Again, diverse nooks and crannies everywhere for children to stumble across driven by their own curiosity, creativity and energy. Gardens to nurture, places to hide, cubbies, thrones, music, rope swings, plants and trees for their imaginations and physical exploration. No more whinging back in Australia - no space is too small.

The photographs really do not do the outdoor spaces justice and I wish I could capture the serenity and beauty of the garden. Sorry.

PS Today I saw the biggest land snails in the world and a child said to me " I spose you have these where you come from" (in the broadest of Scottish accents). I replied "What do you think?" She replied "Do you come from a special place?" I responded with a yes and so she replied "Well of course you would then!" Precious - if I had given her a straight 'Yes' - I would have missed out on the chance to hear something priceless.

The day finished with a half pint at a local bar and a few tartan souvenirs in my bag and then back on the noisy bus.

Have a good weekend! 

Angela from the UK.