Dr. R. Makoni-Creating a Positive Learning Environment.ppt
- 1. CREATING A POSITIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT BY DR. R. MAKONI, AFRICA UNIVERSITY, ZIMBABWE ―TEACHERS OPEN THE DOOR; YOU ENTER BY YOURSELF- CHINESE PROVERB
- 2. INTRODUCTION • Learning environments affect student learning • The learning context or environment shapes input, processing, and output • Learning environments have to motivate the learners by means of provoking expectations that initiate reflective thinking about the objects to be learned • learning environments have to provide an appropriate context for active learning to happen • A teacher needs to create a classroom atmosphere which encourages learning • A teacher needs to create an environment where all learners feel comfortable and safe
- 3. DEFINING A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT • A classroom environment includes the socio-ecological setting of the classroom • a flexible environment that allows learners to pursue educational requirements and interests in depth and with a minimum of time limitations. • an environment where each student is considered a unique individual • a supportive environment where learners can express their thoughts and pursue their interests • A caring environment
- 4. DEFINING A POSITIVE OR RESPONSIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT • A positive learning environment means that a student feels comfortable, has a sense of rapport with their teacher and peers, and believes they can be successful (Barkley, 2010). • a positive learning environment facilitates the building of a sense of community in the classroom • On the other hand, a negative environment where students feel anxious, and disrespected by their teacher and peers does not promote effective learning. • According to McFarland (2012:137), a positive learning environment “is when the students feels that they are supported and valued in whatever
- 5. •According to McFarland (2012:137), a positive learning environment “is when the students feels that they are supported and valued in whatever they are doing and learning is mastered easily.”
- 6. DEFINING A POSITIVE OR RESPONSIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT • An environment includes the conditions or influences through which a person operates • A learning environment includes the physical space occupied by a group or individuals • The learning environment influences how students interact, their behaviour and performance • The learning environment can inhibit or inspire the learners • Teachers need to create a positive learning environment to facilitate effective learning and promote a culture of thinking and creativity
- 7. CHARACTERISTICS OF A POSITIVE OR RESPONSIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT • A positive or responsive learning environment should: • be learner-centered rather than teacher- or content-centered • focus on independence rather than emphasizing dependence • be open rather than closed to new ideas, innovations, and exploration • focus on complexity rather than simplicity • provide for a variety and not a one size fits all • be flexible rather than having a rigid structure • Be well organized not chaotic
- 8. WHAT DO LEARNERS NEED TO SUCCEED? • For students to succeed, they need to believe that they can learn and that what they are learning is useful, relevant, and meaningful for them. • They need to know that they belong in the classroom and that they are responsible for their own learning and behavior. • Effective teachers believe that all students can learn and be successful. • Effective teachers consciously create a climate in which all students feel included. • Effective teachers believe that there is potential in each learner and commit to finding the key that will unlock that potential.
- 9. HOW DO I CREATE A POSITIVE LEARNING ATMOSPHERE? • Guiding questions • What kinds of thinking are important for students to learn in this subject? • How will I promote Critical thinking, in which students analyze and evaluate? • How will I facilitate Creative thinking, in which students imagine and create? • How will I promote Practical thinking, in which students solve problems and make decisions? • What important skills do students need to learn in this subject? • How can I create a safe learning environment?
- 10. HOW DO I CREATE A POSITIVE LEARNING ATMOSPHERE? • Establish good rapport- “It is the teacher’s responsibility to value each and every one of the students in their class, so that each student feels special and important.” (Groundwater-Smith et al, 1998:95) • Encourage all students to participate in class sessions • Monitor your behaviour when responding to students • Encourage all students to be inquisitive • Learning students’ names quickly and calling on students by their first name • Greeting students daily and getting to know them as individuals •
- 11. HOW DO I CREATE A POSITIVE LEARNING ATMOSPHERE? • Greet students personally • Negotiate rules and routines with students • Acknowledge positive behaviours • Use positive language • Interact with students outside the classroom • Avoid embarrassment • Use humour
- 12. SUMMARY • The teaching-learning environment in which students functions affects their attitudes and moods; their behaviour and performance • A positive teaching-learning environment increases positive outcomes for students • Establish good rapport- Rapport is built and a positive classroom climate is developed when teachers and students co-construct a learning environment that encourages active student participation • a positive teaching environment makes the students feel wanted and valued • creating a positive learning environment stimulates student learning.
- 13. SUMMARY • The teacher needs to maintain an environment conducive to learning • Teacher needs to Evaluate the current arrangement of the classroom. -Is it safe? Is it practical? Is it arranged so that students can function to the best of their abilities? Is there room for all needed equipment? Is it neat and attractive?
- 15. ENGAGING AND MOTIVATING LEARNERS What is student Engagement? the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show when they are learning or being taught Research shows that student engagement constitutes a crucial precondition for optimal and deep-level learning Great teachers engage students- promote student involvement in all classroom activities
- 16. What can teachers do to improve student engagement? • Teacher should have high expectations • The teacher has to use differentiation appropriately to challenge all learners in the class • Teacher needs to vary motivational strategies for different individuals • Teacher needs to provide opportunities for learners to take responsibility for their own learning • allow learners to engage in critical thinking
- 17. What can teachers do to improve student engagement? • teachers need to establish classrooms that invite students to learn actively and think critically • create an atmosphere of inquiry and openness • The arrangement of the teaching and learning space makes it easy and natural for the students to work together and talk to each other.
- 18. What can teachers do to improve student engagement? • Placing the learner at the centre of all pedagogical approaches • The teacher understands how students learn and develop, and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal development • In order to make engaged participation the expectation, call on students regardless of whether they have raised their hands. • there are distinct relations between motivating teaching behaviours and student engagement • student engagement is associated with students’ motivation to learn
- 19. What can teachers do to improve student engagement? • Teachers need to actively engage students in the learning process • Teachers need to employ strategies which take students out of the passive role and place them in an active, thinking mode. • The teacher can go a long way towards fostering that feeling of responsibility, by genuinely engaging the students
- 20. TECHNIQUES FOR BUILDING STUDENT CONFIDENCE • What is confidence? Who has it? Who hasn’t? • Teachers need to develop student confidence • Student fear of failure • Let the students know your expectations • Teachers need to promote positive interpersonal relationships in the classroom
- 21. HOW TO STIMULATE SUSTAINED STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION • Engagement is likely to be sustained in a class in which there are a variety of exciting activities. • Use dialogue- teaching and learning should be dialogic • Employ the Socratic question and answer method- promote a conversational approach • Ask the right questions- higher order questions must be used to promote critical thinking • Respond frequently to each student • Show students that you listen and that you care
- 22. HOW TO STIMULATE SUSTAINED STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION • Group work can be helpful • Role playing is another useful strategy • Debates can be employed • Use guest teachers
- 23. ENCOURAGING STUDENT MOTIVATION What is motivation? motivation refers to the personal investment that an individual has in reaching a desired state or outcome In the context of learning, motivation influences the direction, intensity, persistence, and quality of the learning behaviors in which students engage Students ’ motivation generates, directs, and sustains what they do to learn.
- 24. What is motivation? Motivation ‘consists of internal processes and external incentives which spur us on to satisfy some need’(Child,1997). Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic Research has shown that intrinsic motivation is generally more motivating than extrinsic motivation It follows that teachers have to encouraged to promote intrinsic motivation in learning.
- 25. How can teachers encourage intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation? • showing your enthusiasm for a topic, subject or teaching • good teaching (providing useful and timely feedback, clear explanations, making the subject interesting and understanding students); • clear goals and standards (clear aims, objectives and expectations regarding standard of work); • appropriate assessment- provide clear and accurate feedback
- 26. How can teachers encourage intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation? • appropriate tasks for learners-teachers need to design tasks that offer opportunities to be successful but also challenge students • Provide stimulating and interesting tasks, activities, and materials, including variety in tasks and activities. • providing quick feedback by marking work promptly • rewarding appropriate behaviour
- 27. How can teachers encourage intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation? • Provide content material and tasks that are personally meaningful and interesting to students. • Provide tasks, materials, and activities that are relevant and useful to students, allowing for some personal identification with learning • Build supportive and caring personal relationships • treating each learner as an individual (no one-size-fits all)
- 28. What Factors Motivate Students to Learn?
- 29. The language of praise in the classroom Research findings show that learners generally respond more positively to praise and positive comments about their work or behaviour than to criticism and negative comments the use of praise makes learners feel appreciated and relatively well-liked, Research has also shown that teachers give relatively little praise- Some teachers use very few different words to praise learners
- 30. ENCOURAGING STUDENT MOTIVATION What motivates learners? Achievement- (e.g. completing a piece of work which has taken a lot of effort) Pleasure – e.g. getting a good mark or praise from a teacher for a piece of work) satisfaction (e.g. feeling that you are making progress) success (e.g. doing well in a test). What do we really mean when we say ‘the learners are motivated?’
- 31. FINAL REFLECTIONS: THE NEED FOR A POSITIVE OR RESPONSIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT • A positive or responsive learning environment is one of the key areas of the teaching process that must be developed to optimize learning • In a supportive environment, students will be able to build trust in others and themselves, build self-confidence • Effective learning environments promote engagement through student- centered activities • Learning requires an environment that is safe and peaceful and nourishes a love of learning.
- 32. ZIKOMO KWAMBILI, MANGWIRA NJITO, ASANTE SANA
- 33. THANK YOU, SIYABONGA, TWALUMBA, TATENDA