What is a learning community? How do you fit in? Community is defined as the experience of belonging to a group including a feeling of unity with those in the group and a commitment to the functioning of the group. How is an adult community the same as a children’s’ classroom community?

I belong to many different communities of adult learners. The community that best meets my emotional, social, intellectual, and physical needs are simultaneously the groups I am comfortable in and I learn and enjoy myself. Many of my communities overlap. There are some groups that I belong to that only partially meet my needs and my commitment to these groups is less strong.

I reflect about the need for community as follows as I compare the groups I belong to and the classrooms I see daily.

As an adult in a community, I want to feel a sense of belonging to meet my emotional needs. This unifying sense is what has me coming back again and again.  This can be accomplished by the way I am greeted and addressed and if I am given a name tag and offered a place for my things. Being offered food and drink and a place to sit would go a long way in making me feel welcome in the community. A familiar face helps me feel secure.   This translates to the children’s environment as well.

In a learning community the children and parents are pleasantly greeted by someone familiar and the children have a labeled space for their things in a defined classroom. Around the classrooms, posted in various locations are family photographs and photographs of the children.  In several classrooms these photographs are in frames the children can carry around with them. Some play objects such as boxes and blocks are adorned with the children’s photographs.  The children are ushered into a favorite spot or into a familiar ritual with their caregiver as the parent leaves. Each classroom is equipped with an appropriate sized place for an adult and child to sit. In the perfect learning community teacher turn over would be very minimal and many personalized objects would be in each classroom. Lowered ceilings and soft elements would add additional emotional security in the environment.

My social needs as an adult are met by having someone introduce me to a person with interests similar to mine within a community. I want to be heard and respected for my view even if it is in opposition to another’s point of view. In the children’s classroom, the teachers encourage children with similar interests to play together.  Social interventions are modeled and practiced.

In an intellectual community I want to be challenged to learn something new. I want to believe I can fail and still be supported. Ideally, I commit to working collaboratively and cooperatively within the group. This requires a commitment to a common goal.   In children’s learning communities the teachers support the children in actively exploring the environment indoors and outdoors. The teacher allows for risk and failure. The teacher scaffolds the children’s learning in the classroom.

I feel part of a community when my basic physical needs are met. The community meets my need for shelter, a comfortable temperature, rest and activity, a bathroom and food. In the classroom community teachers allow for meeting these basic physical needs as well as the need for physical activity.  Children are dressed in appropriate clothing for indoor and outdoor temperatures. The teachers provide for active and quite activities. The children have their diapers changed and they are fed regularly and often fed on demand! Teachers allow children to take physical risks within the confines of comfort. I encourage teachers to trust that the children know their abilities and limitations.

In conclusion in comparing adult communities with early learning classrooms in the most successful communities our emotional, social, intellectual, and physical needs are the same throughout and met in a similar way!