Part 2b - Individual Reflection

Creating positive environments for learning is a vital element of quality teaching practice. In
order for teachers to engage students and help them develop their understanding, the
classroom environment must be conducive to learning. There are many elements which are
involved in creating a positive environment for learning, including effective communication, clear
expectations, formative assessment and intervention strategies to help manage challenging
students. While I have developed my understanding of creating positive learning environments
during this course and on my practicum, I will continue to engage in reflective practice in the
years to come, as there is still much that I have to learn.

In creating positive learning environments, it is vital that a teacher builds rapour with their
students and forms healthy relationships with them. The need for a teacher to have healthy
relationships with their students is argued in current literature as a key influencer in the
classroom environment (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009, p.515). Furthermore, I have personally
experienced the effect of positive teacher-student relationships on my Professional Practice
(PP1). In reflecting on my experience in the classroom, I realised the attitude of the students
towards their work had improved as I had been able to learn their names, and made the
deliberate effort to talk to each student, about their work, in every lesson. As a result of the
rapour that I had built with them, students were clearly more responsive to my instructions and
demonstrated a greater interest in their work. However, I do realise the importance of ensuring
that I am not too friendly with students and lose their respect. This is something which I will
deliberately take efforts to remember and develop my ability to do.

However, it is not enough to simply develop healthy teacher-student relationships, as it is

equally important that teachers make their expectations clear to students, setting classroom
rules and enforcing them. As I am someone who has a tendency to be very relaxed on
discipline, I know that this is an area where I can grow in. For this reason, when I have my own
class, I plan to set rules in the first lesson (Lyons, Ford & Slee, 2014, p.88). In preparation, I
would have a set of rules which I thought would be important to ensure that the classroom
environment was healthy. They would include entering the room with an attitude to learn,
allowing people to finish talking and only talking one at a time. However, when creating the
rules, I would involve the class in their formulation, asking them in groups to determine a list of
class rules. The rules from different groups would then be collated, and I would ensure that the
rules I hoped to see there were there, or would add them. I would take this approach in order
that the students would also see the importance of following the rules, and so that when
enforcing them, I would be enforcing rules that the students themselves had created (Roache &
Lewis, 2011, p.246). I would also revisit the rules if after a few weeks, students began to forget
them.

In addition to these strategies, I will make deliberate use of formative assessment to enable
students to reflect on and take ownership of their learning, as well as highlight areas of
weakness in my teaching. In order to make the greatest use of formative assessment, I will
begin lessons by stating the learning goals for the lesson. This will enable students to know
what to work towards, providing a roadmap of the learning to be done. Clearly setting these
goals will then facilitate student reflection on their learning, developing their ability to
self-regulate and improving general classroom behaviour (Lyons, et.al., 2014, p.76). In addition
to this, I will use instruments such as a KWL chart (Keeley, & Tobey, 2011, p.116) and other
self-reflection tools to enable students to develop the ability to set goals in their learning. Finally,
I will ensure that there are formative assessments regularly in my lessons which give timely
feedback to me on student learning, enabling me to adapt my pedagogy and revisit concepts
which students are struggling with. In addition to enabling me to know that students have learnt
what I expect, this will also help students to feel valued and to know that I value their learning
(Cohen, 2006, p.204).This will play a key role in developing a positive classroom environment.

However, it is not enough to simply plan ways of creating a positive learning environment, but
thought must also be put to what intervention strategies would be used when intervention is
needed. If a student consistently does not respond to attempts to engage them in classroom
learning, I would begin by taking a goal-centered approach (Lyons, et.al., 2014, p.130) a nd
attempt to identify the needs which they are attempting to meet. I would then try to meet these
needs in productive ways in my teaching. If this did not work, I would have a one-on-one
discussion with the student where I may introduce tools such as the emotional-temperature
chart which is based on cognitive-behaviour theory ((Lyons, et.al., 2014, p.142) o r create a plan
with them concerning behaviour improvement. I would ensure that I followed school procedures
in relation to various school rules and discipline. If I continued to have difficulty with the student,
I would discuss this with other teachers of that student to find tips in approaching the situation.
Finally, if I could not come to a conclusion, I would talk to my Head of Faculty for advice on how
to proceed.

Through the study of this course, and my experiences on PP1, I have come to understand the
importance of creating a positive classroom environment. Some strategies which I will take to
ensure that this is done are to build healthy relationships with students, set and enforce
classroom rules and teach students skills to self-regulate their learning as well as embracing a
reflective teaching pedagogy myself. Finally, if these strategies are not enough to create a
positive classroom environment, I would follow interventions informed by goal-centered and
cognitive-behavioural theories.
 References
Cohen, J. (2006). Social, emotional, ethical, and academic education: Creating a climate for
learning, participation in democracy, and well-being. Harvard Educational Review, 76(2),
201-237, 285.

Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The Prosocial classroom: Teacher social and
emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational
Research, 79(1), 491525.

Keeley, P. D., & Tobey, C. R. (2011). Mathematics formative assessment: 75 practical

strategies for linking assessment, instruction, and learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Slee, J. (Eds.). (2014). Classroom management: Creating positive
learning environments (4th ed.). South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning.

Roache, J. E., & Lewis, R. (2011). The carrot, the stick, or the relationship: What are the
uropean Journal of Teacher Education, 34(2), 233-248.
effective disciplinary strategies? E