Classroom space is a fundamental field of interaction in which all interchange and determination activities between the person and the social environment can be developed. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the systemic relationship between places and groups. It specifically investigates how the pedagogical reorganization of classroom space during the application of cooperative structured mathematical activities can lead to educational success. The method employed was action research. The research tools used were the sociogram, an observation guide and an archive, interviews, math tests and photos. The assessment of the programme was formative and final. The basic conclusion was that both the places the children created and the group have a systemic function in the classroom’s educational environment because their structure and function have common characteristics. This systemic function led the children in the research classrooms to ‘educational success’; they all did better in mathematical activities and tests than the children in the control classes. They particularly improved their ability to ask questions, to problem solving, to compare and combine information and thoughts, and to generalize their ideas and the mathematical concepts.

Parents’ involvement in early childhood education is of great importance. In Greece, many educators still hesitate to involve parents in their school’s daily program. They also do not use pedagogical documentation in the educational process as it is not included in the official curriculum. Our main goal was to bring parents closer to the early childhood curriculum, in an active and participatory way, through the documentation process. The main research question referred to the way in which the systematic use of pedagogical documentation can help parents understand the kindergarten’s daily curriculum and participate in it in a new way, in a country where pedagogical documentation is not mandatory. We used collaborative action research between ten kindergarten educators from five schools and two researchers from the same university department. The methodological tools were a researchers’ diary, two digital questionnaires for the educators (pre-/post-implementation) and a post-implementation digital questionnaire for the parents. The results showed that the documentation helped the educators to bring the parents closer to the kindergarten’s daily program and made them feel as if they could participate in it creatively. Also, the documentation derived from the children, educators and parents constructed a community of relations, participation, shared values and learning among them.

Material and Non-Material Qualities of the Space Created by the Child in the Preschool Classroom Dr. Alexandra GkloumpouAbstract The space is an important and peculiar field of res

Οι αύλειοι χώροι αποτελούν βασικό στοιχείο του σχολικού περιβάλλοντος, ένα υλικό και κοινωνικό πλαίσιο, που περιλαμβάνει έναν γεωμετρικά διαμορφωμένο χώρο που χρησιμοποιείται από ομάδες ανθρώπων που μοιράζονται κοινά ενδιαφέροντα και ανάγκες. Τα φυσικά και τεχνητά στοιχεία των αύλειων χώρων προκαλούν ποικίλα ερεθίσματα που προσφέρουν πολλές ευκαιρίες δράσης, αλληλεπίδρασης και ανάπτυξης εκπαιδευτικών δραστηριοτήτων που συμβάλλουν στην ανάπτυξη των παιδιών. Σκοπός της έρευνάς μας ήταν να καταγραφούν τα χαρακτηριστικά του αύλειου χώρου των δημόσιων νηπιαγωγείων του Νομού Θεσσαλονίκης και οι τρόποι αξιοποίησης τους στην ανάπτυξη των παιδιών σύμφωνα με τις απόψεις των νηπιαγωγών που υπηρετούν σε αυτά και οι προτάσεις που διατυπώνουν για τη βελτίωσή τους. Η συλλογή των δεδομένων έγινε με ηλεκτρονικό ερωτηματολόγιο σε google form το οποίο περιλάμβανε ερωτήσεις ανοιχτού και κλειστού τύπου. Η ανάλυση των δεδομένων έγινε στις ανοιχτές ερωτήσεις με θεματική ανάλυση περιεχομένου και στις κλειστές ερωτήσεις με ποσοτική ανάλυση με τη χρήση του στατιστικού εργαλείου SPSS. Τα βασικά συμπεράσματα έδειξαν ότι οι νηπιαγωγοί θεωρούν απαραίτητη την...