The Importance of
Creating a Climate of Caring and Concern:
Teacher student bonding is essential for effective and
efficient instruction. As a matter of fact, students respond better to teachers
with whom they share cultures, interests, goals and experiences. These students
tend to be better behaved and more academically engaged in classroom
discussions, assignments and different topics. As I mentioned in the previous
activities, teachers must engage in classroom discussions with their students
more often and especially at the begining of the year. Teachers can have a
little sharing activity where each student speaks about their hobbies and
interests. The teacher can kick off the activity by introducing themselves and
sharing their hobbies and interests as well.
In addition, it is essential that teachers show that they care about
their students because the students can tell when the teacher is motivated and
involved. Little things count such as greeting them in the morning with a smile
and saying their names. Also taking the time to pronounce their names
correctly. Furthermore, students must
feel that they belong in the class and that they are equally valued. This can
be done through numerous ways.
To begin, classroom environment and decoration plays a massive
role in creating a climate of caring and concern. The set up and decorations
should be student centered, meaning that they should be reflective of the
students’ backgrounds, hobbies and cultures. The teacher can ask students to
make personal posters that include information about their names,
nationalities, hobbies, and favorite foods then display it on the windows of
the classroom so that other students and the whole community can see them.
Things like this make students feel loved and valued.
Seating arrangements and the general set up of the classroom
should also be taken into consideration as they play a vital role in creating a
climate of caring and concern. Classroom
set up should be done in a way to encourage participation and communication amongst
the students and the teacher. This way,
students get to interact more with each other, learn to work in groups and
practice eye contact. Students again, will feel that they belong to a group or
environment. Classrooms can be set up in tables of 4 students in a form of a
square. This method is better than the old conventional methods of “U” seating
arrangements that tend to hamper communication and participation.
Developing classroom
climate with students that have different backgrounds and cultures than that of
the teacher:
Working with children from different cultural backgrounds
can be very challenging, as one must know what different signs or gestures mean
in each area of the world. For instance
in American culture, placing your hand on a student’s head is a way to get
their attention and also a gesture that represents fondness. However in Asian
Buddhist cultures, the top of the head
is where the spirit lives and thus patting or touching that area is
considered as to be invasive. So if a
teacher has a culturally diverse classroom they must educate and sensitize
themselves on that culture to make them better prepared to interact with the
student. When I was in school I had friends from many cultures and I remember the teacher doing this cool activity. Each month a student from a different culture had to do a little presentation on a type of food that represented their culture and then their parents brought it in the classroom for us to taste. We would also help decorate that classroom with symbols or objects such as flags or clothing that represented that particular countries’ culture. I think this was a great way for the teacher to give value to each culture, which made us students feel special and important.
So I will definitely be using
this method. Also when the teacher is
making their lesson plans, they should take into consideration cultural
diversity and how each student can be treated fairly and equally. This way the
teacher is putting the students needs first which will pay off in the long run.
Finally the teacher must learn to communicate with parents, they must be a
culturally competent communicators . This
is essential because no body know the students better than their parents. They
can provide lots of feedback on what their students thinks about the class
environment, assignments and their general perception of the class.
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