The World Forum Global Collaborative OnDesign held a three-day meeting focused on early childhood environmental design and innovation, including discussions, tours, small group workshops, and presentations at Riverfield Country Day School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, from October 22nd to October 25th, 2024. The group explored strategies, materials, and environments that foster innovation in arts and education and design thinking and collaborated with other members of the global early childhood education design community to share ideas, strategies, and outcomes.
The event was graciously hosted by Riverfield Country Day School whose philosophy is to provide a student-centered approach to education with an innovative program of authentic, experiential learning in which individuality is valued and the needs of the whole child are honored. In the Pre-School and Lower School, interdisciplinary curriculum combined with adaptive learning environments encourage each student to grow and develop with teacher support in multi-age classrooms. In the Middle and Upper Schools, interdisciplinary projects foster the same growth.
The group participated in a nature-walk and arts activity exploring mark-making, product development ideation with authors and designers, and had the wonderful opportunity of visiting Sally Haughey’s Hummingbird Cottage. Group dinners were hosted by Haughey at her home in downtown Tulsa and by Riverfield complete with a jazz band and a one-hour presentation on quantum versus classical physics, in the context of mind and matter, looking at cutting edge science, time and philosophy by a quantum physicist doing work on material science at UCLA.
With the effect of deepening the group’s shared understanding of issues and ideas around environments for young children, the Global Collaborative OnDesign plans to host annual meetings each October, as part of their Working Group efforts. More information to come.
