Freedom of movement and environmental knowledge in elementary school children

The work presented in the present article was carried out for the purpose
of evaluating the effects of the limitations imposed on children's
autonomy on their acquisition of environmental knowledge. The
representation of the home-school itinerary was investigated in 8-11 year
old children who travelled along the itinerary in different ways (on their
own, accompanied by an adult, on foot or by car). The tasks proposed
included the drawing of sketch map of the route and the drawing of same
the itinerary on a blank map of the neighbourhood. In order to investigate
the role of autonomy in the development of a full understanding of the
environment in which they live, the children were asked to use landmarks
to find their way around a blank map of the quarter and to mark on it the
position of significant components of their environment. The children's
freedom of movement in the quarter was investigated by indirect
observation.
The data were analysed and discussed as a function of the children's
method of mobility, their age and gender. The results confirm the
importance of the type of individual - environment interaction, in
particular of freedom of movement, in acquiring, processing and
structuring environmental knowledge. Children going to school on their own
achieved the best performances in both making a sketch map of the
itinerary and in drawing their movements on a blank map of the quarter.
Even when the representation of the environment in which they live is
taken into account, the key role played by autonomy is confirmed.