Creating A Positive Classroom Culture: Reflective Piece for Teachers.

“For schools to achieve the objective of shaping people into functional members of society, teaching and learning processes must reflect a culture that is consistent with the culture of a functional society” - Priscilla B. Appiah

We all have come to accept and define culture as a way of life; the way we do things; talk, dress etc. By this definition of culture, we are able to trace the origin of people and identify which social group they belong to. Culture can be learned, and students should be taught to learn how to be students as much as teachers how to be teachers. It is the blend of these two that creates classroom culture. After weeks of observation and enquiry, it was found particularly in Ghanaian schools that classroom culture centres on a disciplinary system of reward and punishment where learners are given rules and regulations to guide behaviour and interaction within the classroom and school system. This classroom culture if translated into society will produce members who find right or wrong behaviour transactional; where the absence of punishment for wrong behaviour makes it acceptable.

In talking about classroom culture, the focus is on multiple systems of behaviour and interaction within a classroom environment that inform how learners conduct themselves and the reasoning behind such conduct, how they interact with each other and the teacher, how they feel about learning and school engagement, the way they question their own thinking and the thinking of others, the way they engage with resources within the classroom space, how they perceive themselves within the learning space and how they perceive others. It is important to note, that the teaching and learning experiences we give to students is as important as what is being taught and learnt. Teachers need to ask themselves these critical questions to objectively assess classroom culture.

• Do my students feel safe (physically and emotionally) to walk into and remain in this classroom?
• Do they feel seen, cared for and respected as individuals?
• Can they ask questions freely with assurance they will be given fair hearing and not judgement?
• Do my students feel they are part of something great just by being in this classroom?Whatever the answers to these questions are, there is help and room for improvement. Here are a few approaches to creating a positive classroom culture.
• Set Rules and Affirmations Together with Students: Whilst rules serve as governing principles of conduct, affirmations are pronouncements in the form of sentences aimed at affecting the conscious and subconscious mind, thinking pattern, habits, behaviour and environment. Teachers must be willing to ask students what rules they want to hold themselves by and further explore learning and behavioural goals with students to deduce affirmations that keep them motivated, focused and energetic. When teachers set rules and affirmations together with students, they communicate to students that the classroom belongs not to the teacher but all, they communicate that they respect the student enough to seek their views and learn what they want for themselves, they communicate to each individual their significance in the classroom community and this is how communal living should be.
• Have Chit Chat Time with Every Student: This may sound impossible especially for large class sizes when teachers think of chat as a lengthy conversation. Nonetheless, a simple ‘how are you doing' asked with genuine interest, a smile and body contact can make a lasting positive impact on a student feeling cared for while giving the teacher an opportunity to know how the student is feeling at that particular time to offer help if necessary.
• Share and Rotate Tasks Among Students: To make all learners active participants and not passive recipients, it is important to distribute tasks to all students in the classroom. Even for large class sizes, tasks can be assigned in groups. Giving students responsibilities in the classroom not only makes them part of the day-to-day running of the classroom but it generally helps to boost their self-esteem knowing they are part of something great. These tasks can be distributing books or handouts, having subject prefects, a tidiness team, etc. Tasks can be changed every week to give every student an opportunity to try every task and learn for themselves what their strengths and weaknesses are.
• Employ Dialogue and Shared Enquiry in Delivering Lesson Plan: Dialogue is more than a conversation and is different from a debate. Dialogue requires openness to new ideas and collective learning. Teachers in delivering their lesson plan must find creative ways to reward active listening and commend learners who present their ideas in humility knowing others may hold different views and have the right to hold such. This will gradually develop the skills necessary for respectful dialogue and shared enquiry among learners.

Adjusting sitting arrangements to allow for interaction and diversity is also essential for positive classroom culture.

Author: EDUCATION 360

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