Understanding Pedagogy & Learning Theories (CST 413 )

CREATING A POSITIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Parents send   the students  to school  with complete trust and  confidence that their children  will be treated  well and kept safe  with their belief that  the school is the second home of the students. So it becomes   very important to   create a safe, healthy environment for the students to do their learning. On the other hand, if the learning environment is   not so   student friendly, no learning is going to take place in the classrooms.

In the child friendly environment if students are respected, supported, appreciated   and valued ;  learning  would become an easy task for the students and would help the student  to reach their full potential.

Some steps   that would help to create a positive learning environment are as follows:

v  Learn individual  students very well( background/physical health/ability  level / learning  style etc )

v  Try to spend as   much time as possible with the individual students in order to establish a good relationship   between the teacher and the student.

v  Display   the work of students in the classroom. They would feel happy to find them displayed thinking of how great they are.

v  Give positive feedback and reinforcements to   make them feel that their work is appreciated   and let them know the areas that they needed to improve on.

v  Create opportunities to express themselves either orally or in written. Could keep a box for the students to put their suggestions in / Assign a special place for the students to display their art work/ let them to do journal writing .

v  Have  a daily get together  with the students.

v  Allow students  to make appointments with the teacher  for a certain time , to talk in private if they have  any issues to be discussed with the teacher.

v  Let the students know the importance of conducting themselves in a respectable manner  in the classroom and also  to treat others in the same way.

v  Give students who show inappropriate behaviors  a place to cool themselves down. After that , get them to reflect on their behavior  and discuss the other ways in which they could have handled the situation.

v  Do as much as possible   to make the physical environment   as comfortable  and pleasant as possible. Bring in things that could enlighten the classroom like cushions, beanbags, magazines etc (McDaniels, 2012 )

Creating a safe, positive learning environment will enforce  all students, even those with learning disabilities and extraordinary  personal challenges to do well when they are physically comfortable, mentally motivated and emotionally supported. It is the responsibility of the teacher to   make the classrooms   a more enjoyable and better place for learning.

Reference:

McDaniels,M.M(2012).Children respond to a positive learning environment. Retrieved from http://www.brighthubeducation.com/classroom-management/13907-creating-a-positive-learning-environment/