Feeling "Safe" in the Classroom

Feeling "Safe " in the Classroom

Some people can learn just anywhere. However, there are others who are highly affected by the setting. These are the people who pay a lot of attention to the place where they are supposed to be doing something.
Classroom surrondings have a powerful influence on how some of our students learn. Ideally, school should be a place in which the environment promotes learning by reducing stress and increasing positive brain chemistry.
These are some of the aspects to be taken into account as regards the physical setting where learning takes place:

· Good ventilation
· If possible, natural light
· Comfortable chairs
· Enough room for movement
· Plants, flowers
· Reliable equipment
· Music if appropriate
· Multi-sensory stimulation

Can you add more to this list?

Even though the physical setting is very important, we should also consider the classroom atmosphere we help to create which can either be conducive to learning or hinder it. We teachers are now quite familiar with the notion of emotional intelligence and how feelings affect the learning process.

The way a classroom feels is not as tangible as the physical setting, however, these emotional aspects can sometimes be more important than the physical surroundings. For most students to learn, the classroom must feel "safe". Students need a climate which is reliable, stimulating and enjoyable. If they feel threatened or bored they switch off and start to pay attention to internal images or sensations, engage in conversation with their mates, or create their own stimulation by being disruptive.
How do we create the best classroom atmosphere for students to profit from our classes? According to Christine Ward, author of "Teaching to Learn", classroom climate is the result of a complex equation where the variables are: over-all school philosophy and environment, classroom requirements and the charachteristics of the class groups. Class teachers rarely experience these in an ideal mix. She goes on to say that we may encounter unhelpful administrators, uncomfortable classrooms and unwilling students. So, what can we do to reduce the negative effects of these factors?

In schools where a lot of importance is given to the intangible factors as the most influential, teachers are trained, supported and encouraged to become the leaders in this movement towards the improvement of teaching and learning conditions. Teachers can and it is desirable that they learn how to create a helpful emotional atmosphere for their own students. It is important that teachers learn how to reorganise their curricula and materials so they know how to cater for all learning styles and their students feel safe and well-nurtured. Negative elements that cause stress should be avoided. Even though perception of threat, criticism and failure varies from student to student, great care should be taken to produce positive feelings all the time.
Some practical ideas to create a "safe" atmosphere

· Make students know and feel they are valued
· Make students know and feel you appreciate their efforts
· Devote time to team-building activities (group bonding)
· Offer variety and choice so students feel more involved
· Do your best to create a helpful and friendly atmosphere
· Treat each lesson as a unique opportunity for students to create strong and helpful memories

Having shared with you some of our thoughts and experience about ways to create a safe classroom both physically and emotionally, we have a question:

Are we teachers prepared to face all the challenges our jobs involve?

Sometimes we are, sometimes we are not. From the point of view of academic knowledge, most of us have had thorough training. Of course we can always learn more, the point is that most of our preparation consisted in, precisely, that: accumulation of information.
What we didn't get at University or Teacher Training College is the awareness, the intuition, the development of our interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. We didn't learn how to solve conflicts that might arise in our teaching situations, we were not trained to take care of ourselves and be emotionally and spiritually strong to be able to support our students when they need our help. In that respect, we are left to do our best with what we can, and very few schools have an organised structure to give a hand to teachers who do not know how to go about certain difficult situations which are beyond the teaching of their subjects.
It is important that we, teachers, provide a safe environment for our students. However, it is also important that we learn ways to make the classroom a safe environment for us as well. To be kind to ourselves, to make sure we enjoy our jobs, to exercise the value of self-respect we must learn how to nurture our own souls. We can only give good things to others when we are so full ourselves that our positive energy radiates in such a way that our mere presence is a good model to follow.

Laura Szmuch 2005