Research on the importance of creating a supportive classroom environment is indisputable, and I strive to create an environment where all students feel safe, respected, and important. A positive and supportive learning environment will help students become more effective learners as research indicates that stable and positive emotions compete less for processing capacity, resulting in greater long-term recall and overall learning (Boekaerts, 2010). Therefore, I hope to assist students with their social and emotional regulation to help them become more aware of their emotional states, and be better able to manage them in effective ways. Ultimately, I want the learning environment in my classroom to foster positive relationships, community development, a sense of belonging, and an understanding of diversity within the classroom. I believe this is possible through co-constructing values, modelling meaningful relationships, and promoting student autonomy.
I believe an essential part of creating a positive and supportive classroom environment is the development of a community within the class. Key features of building classroom community involve giving the students a common goal to work towards, ensuring that each student is important and valuable towards the success of that goal, and having an inherent risk of failure (Linsin, 2009). If students have a sense of community in the class, they will develop a greater sense of intrinsic motivation to be kind, respectful, and supportive of each other and the learning environment (Noddings, 2006). I believe that a supportive learning community begins with the co-construction of student/teacher roles and classroom values and expectations, as well as active construction of what those roles, values and expectations look like. The values and expectations are achieved through collaboration of all members of the community. By addressing challenges related to these expectations and values through weekly meetings and talking circles, the class can enhance dialogue between community members, and promote restitution and reconciliation through restorative practices that provide strong foundations of trust, forgiveness, belonging and respect within the community.
Positive peer to peer relationships are essential in a student’s sense of belonging within the classroom community, and beneficial in promoting support and embracing diversity among peers. I believe the development of these relationships requires teachers to model caring behaviour through the use of mediation strategies instead of punitive discipline, increasing time spent with students, and actively listening to students when they are speaking (Hamre & Pianta, 2006). Engaging in meaningful and deep dialogue with students is an extremely important part of the process, and builds a foundation of trust and respect between the teacher and student. This can be especially important because sometimes the teacher is the only adult the students talk to all day (Noddings, 2006).
Meaningful student-teacher relationships are the gateway to personalizing learning for students. By engaging in dialogue with students about their learning, especially through ongoing formative feedback, teachers can develop lessons that take student strengths and abilities into consideration, which is associated with optimal social and emotional classroom climates and desired student outcomes (Jennings & Greenberg, 2008). Personalization also fosters the idea that learning is a unique journey for every student. This can reduce comparisons and competitiveness, and allow students to feel more comfortable with their own journey and safe within the classroom. In this environment, I believe students will be more willing to take risks, ask questions, explore solutions, and embrace struggle as a natural and important part of the learning experience.
Furthermore, student autonomy plays a crucial role in creating a positive and supportive classroom environment. When students are given choice, they feel more ownership over the task, the environment, and ultimately, their learning. This is in line with aspects of personalization of learning and the development of self-regulated learners. Additionally, meta-cognition and meta-motivation play significant roles in the development of self-regulated learners. This awareness of one’s self can be disrupted by cognitive overload caused by negative emotions such as anxiety. As such, mindfulness is an important part of promoting a classroom environment with reduced stress. Mindfulness in the classroom is particularly important for both students and teachers. Teachers with reduced anxiety and the ability to regulate their own emotions create better student-teacher relationships (Jennings & Greenberg, 2008), while students with reduced anxiety “consistently score higher on tests requiring the use of the brain’s executive functions” (Scholastic, 2011).
Ultimately, I believe that creating a positive classroom environment will not only help students become more effective learners, but will also help them learn to “interact in socially skilled and respectful ways; practice positive, safe, and healthy behaviours; contribute ethically and responsibly to their peer group, family, school, and community; and possess basic competencies, work habits, and values as a foundation for meaningful employment and engaged citizenship” (Jennings & Greenberg, 2008).
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