Creating Conducive Classroom Climate

Classroom climate can be defined as the mood or atmosphere created by a teacher in his or her classroom, the way the teacher interacts with students, and the way the physical environment is set out. The classroom climate influences the student achievement, their self-esteem and participation in the lesson. The most important aspect of classroom climate is the relationship between teacher and students. There must be elements of caring, trust and respect in the interpersonal relationships between teachers and students. An effective classroom climate is one in which the teachers’ authority to organize and manage the learning activities is accepted by the students, there is mutual respect and good rapport, and the atmosphere is one of purposefulness and confidence in learning. A key consideration is the extent to which the teacher is able to foster favorable perceptions towards learning among students, by establishing in students self-respect and self-esteem regarding themselves as learners.

Teachers who are concerned with students’ emotional, social and academic needs have been found to encourage more student involvement in lessons. A very important aspect of the classroom climate derives from the choice of words a teacher uses in his or her communication with students. Another aspect in creating good classroom relations is the use of student names by the teacher. The teacher who knows and uses a student’s name has more influence over that student than, he has over unknown students. The students must feel that the teacher is interested in them as individuals as well as students. Hence it is better to address students by names as often as possible. Another important component of classroom climate is the enthusiasm shown by the teacher. Teachers who enjoy teaching and their subject, and teach with enthusiasm are more likely to motivate their students. There is a positive relationship between teacher enthusiasm and student involvement during lessons. Therefore, even if the teacher is not feeling that enthusiastic on a particular day or topic, he or she should avoid communicating negative feelings about the subject, lesson or curriculum to students.

There are two aspects of an effective classroom climate: the organizational environment, meaning the physical or visual arrangement of the classroom, and the social environment, meaning interaction patterns the teacher promotes in the classroom.

The Organizational Environment

This refers to the physical arrangement of the classroom. A classroom should be attractive, well lighted, comfortable and colorful. Clean and tidy classrooms, hall- ways and toilets can create a better atmosphere across the school. The physical aspects such as temperature, noise, and the time of the day that affect our ability to concentrate and maintain attention are also influence classroom climate. How the internal features of a classroom (desks, chairs, tables) are arranged is also important. Although teachers have no control of the size of their classrooms, they can control the seating arrangement within the classroom. The seating arrangement should accommodate the learning activity. Rigid one-size-fits all physical facilities will not meet the needs of many learners and may impede their learning. For example inside the classroom there should be ample space to make alternate seating arrangements and lighting intensities. The excellent classroom climate in terms of physical space exists in that classroom where the space has been maximally adjusted to meet learner diversity and where space arrangement promotes interactivity, active learning and positive interaction. It must also permit all students to see instructional presentations and allow the teacher to be close to all students. It has been found that when the environmental conditions are appropriate for learning, the likelihood of disruptive behavior is minimized. Teachers should observe the impact of the space on students as they engage in learning activities and on student performance and take feedback since that will help them adjust the learning environment. Classroom climate can also be improved by displaying student’s own work on the wall, as this can encourage students to take pride in their work and can motivate them. However, care should be taken to see that all students get chance to have their work displayed.

The Social Environment

Classroom climate is also affected by the type of leadership exhibited by a teacher (authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire). In an autocratic classroom, the teacher decides on and attempts to impose the goals of learning activities; the students do not participate in either the selection of learning activities or the goals of these activities. Hostile and aggressive behavior occurs more frequently under autocratic leadership than under democratic leadership. Under autocratic leadership, the students are often frustrated, and they resolve their frustration by aggressive acts of one kind or another. It has been found that an aggressive, hostile, punitive leader stimulates aggressive, punitive, and hostile behavior in students. If the students cannot express their hostility to the teacher, they may direct it toward impersonal objects or their companions. In a democratic leadership, all policies are a matter of group discussion and decision, encouraged and assisted by the leader. Democratic leadership produces more task orientation and more socially acceptable behavior than does autocratic leadership. In a laissez-faire leadership, complete freedom is given to the group or individual decision, without any leader participation. Giving the students, authority in the classroom can improve classroom climate and encourage students to take responsibility for their environment.

For students to learn effectively, they must participate fully in the learning process. This means they must be encouraged to ask and answer questions, attempt new approaches, make mistakes, and ask for assistance. Effective teaching requires that the teacher gives students plenty of opportunities to contribute and elaborate their own ideas, and that he or she genuinely listens to what students say and attempts to consider this from students’ perspective. To some extent this means that the teacher needs to accept the value of each student’s contribution and the relevance of student’s experience. It is important that students know there is safety and comfort in the classrooms and that they will be treated humanely when they do contribute. Wrong answers should not provoke negative reactions on the part of the teacher, but need to be perceived as part of student’s learning process. An effective classroom climate is one that provides continual support and encouragement so that failure, when it does occur, does not undermine students’ self-esteem regarding their learning.

Generally speaking, the most effective classrooms appear to be those in which the atmosphere is task oriented but where at the same time the social and emotional needs of the students are met by establishing mutual respect and good rapport. Development of favorable attitudes in the classroom depends on the ability of the teacher to satisfy the social and psychological needs of the students. This may be carried out by the teacher in such activities as listening to the learners, responding to their suggestions, accepting their feelings, involving them in teaching and learning processes and encouraging their efforts. This in turn will create a warm, supportive and positive emotional climate in the classroom. Such a climate enhances emotional security, encourage students to contribute constructively to the lesson and leads to a high standard of achievement. Some of the components of human relationships which exist in a classroom are open channels of communication, participatory decision making, integrity, friendliness, student leadership, flexibility of syllabus, ’we ’feeling in groups etc.

Borich (1996) identified three types of classroom climate that the teacher can use in different situations: competitive, co-operative and individualistic. In competitive classrooms, students are encouraged to compete with one another. These classrooms are usually teacher led with little autonomy for students. Competition can be motivating to students, while teacher-led class- rooms have been found to enhance achievement. In co-operative classrooms the emphasis is on students co-operating, with the teacher intervening to steer students towards learning goals. Co-operative classrooms are effective at developing important co-operative learning skills, which can enhance student achievement. In individual classrooms, the emphasis on individual work with a minimum of teacher intervention. This type of classrooms can help in development of independent learning skills. However, an effective teacher varies classroom climate according to intended goals.

The tone of the psychological environment in which the teaching and learning process takes place is referred as ‘general academic climate of the classroom. By removing and replacing ‘the threat of failure’ by ‘a friendly, cooperative social community in which cooperation as opposed to competition’, we can make the classroom a ‘busy, happy place to be in’. This should be the psychological tone of the classroom for effective teaching –learning to occur. What academic climate is usually exists in classrooms? It is often passive and non-engaging! In such classrooms some of the students remain unchallenged while others may over excited. Classroom climate is judged as excellent in terms of the tone of the psychological environment when the tone is flexible and meets diverse needs of learners, when cooperation is stressed without loss of healthy competition and when active learning is emphasized. A teacher who is aware of this can continually monitor and adjust it to support teaching and learning to the maximum possible extend. This aspect of classroom climate is in accordance with today’s most dominant learning theory, i.e. the constructivist learning theory, which advocates a learner-centered approach in teaching-learning process.

In order to provide the atmosphere for optimum learning, the teacher must have the class well organized or disciplined. When classrooms are characterized by disruptive behavior, the teaching and learning environment is adversely affected. Classroom guidelines are needed for routine activities and for general classroom behaviors. A well disciplined class is one in which students are working towards specific goals under the leadership and guidance of the teacher. Students who perceive themselves as trouble makers make trouble. Those who perceive themselves as good students are obliged to live up to this image. Hence the teacher should avoid saying and doing things that tend to downgrade students. When students like their teachers, they are more likely to behave appropriately and are more motivated to learn. Further, excellent instructional competence on the part of the teacher can maximize the learning potential in the classroom, and prevent misbehavior caused by poor instructional methods. Patnakar et.al. (2007) found that unsuitable physical environment and teacher’s personality characteristics leads to student indiscipline in classrooms. They also added that students are disciplined when teachers understand student problems and the physical arrangements of the classroom is so arranged to accommodate the learning activities. This is a clear evidence for how the classroom climate is affected by the social and organizational environments.