How to Provide an Excellent Education for All Students in a Safe Environment
Many students come from tumultuous home environments and the classroom is one of their few safe havens. This makes fostering emotional health just as important for educators as academic learning.
Education leaders must provide teachers and staff with the tools they need to promote student well-being. This means training and resources in social emotional learning, trauma sensitivity and more.
Creating a Safe Learning Environment
A safe learning environment is not only a physically secure place but also an emotionally nurturing one. Students who feel psychologically safe in the classroom are more engaged academically and are better able to handle life’s stresses and setbacks. Many students come from tumultuous home environments and see school as their only escape, making it critical to provide them with the safe, supportive space they need in order to thrive.
Students need to be able to discuss their feelings, explore values and attitudes, express opinions and consider those of others without fear of negative feedback or repercussions. This can only happen in a classroom where the students and teacher are comfortable discussing such sensitive topics. Teachers can encourage more open discussion by using a question box or a "what do you think?" format during class.
To create such an environment, the classroom should be free of all forms of violence, including bullying and digital harassment. Staff should be well versed in trauma sensitivity, and students should have access to mental health services. Teachers should be willing to use a variety of educational methods, such as experiential learning and behavior modeling, to foster social-emotional growth.
Creating a safe environment requires more than just an awareness of how to respond to certain situations, it must include establishing clear boundaries and expectations. This can be done by encouraging intrinsic motivation, such as the desire to learn and do good in the world, and using extrinsic motivators, such as praise, recognition and rewards for exceptional behavior.
Another important factor in a safe classroom is making sure students understand the importance of being empathetic and respectful to their peers. This can be accomplished by having a class-wide agreement on what constitutes respect and empathy and demonstrating those behaviors during discussions and activities. It may also be beneficial to include a class-wide rubric for respect and empathy that all students can refer back to when navigating the complexities of interpersonal relationships.
For Synergy Magnet K-12, ensuring a safe classroom is just as much of a priority as promoting student achievement and high standards. Completing an advanced education in the field of educational leadership can give professionals the skills they need to ensure that their students are not only physically safe but emotionally healthy as well.
Building Positive Relationships with Students
If you think about teachers who have made a difference in your learning, they are likely to be remembered for how they treated you rather than what they actually taught. In fact, research shows that student-teacher relationships are one of the most important factors influencing classroom achievement. The best way to create a positive learning environment is to build a strong relationship with each of your students. This can be challenging, but it is possible with some simple strategies.
Oftentimes, students who act up in class have an underlying issue that needs to be addressed. Some of these issues include low self-esteem, chronic stress or trauma, mental health struggles, and more. To build trust and rapport, you need to invest in the student, listen to them, and be supportive of their goals and needs.
This will help them feel that you are on their side and they have a safe person to talk with about things going on in their lives. In turn, they will be more receptive to your lessons. For example, if you notice a student acting out in your class, you can invite them to come see you outside of the classroom to discuss their concerns and get a better understanding of what’s going on in their life.
Some teachers find that it’s easier to build a connection with some students than others, but they should work to connect with all of their pupils. This can be done through daily interactions such as greeting each student by name, making time to check-in with students, and engaging in family outreach strategies that address the whole child.
In addition to connecting with students, teachers should also work to build trust through fair discipline and consistent expectations. This can be done by clearly communicating the consequences of poor behavior and guarding against racial bias in disciplinary action.
In addition, teachers should work to foster connections with their students through informal socializing, regular check-ins, and limiting evening emails. All of these activities can make it easier for students to trust teachers, which leads to more engagement in the classroom and better academic outcomes.
Monitoring for Bullying
Bullying is the most severe form of peer aggression and has become a major focus of educational policy in recent decades (Olweus 1993). Educators understand that students must be safe to learn. They know that victims suffer in multiple ways: they have lower achievement and mental health problems, they are at increased risk of physical fights and suicide, they seek refuge from school in unsafe homes and neighborhoods, and they are often excluded by peers from activities that involve group learning. In addition, they are less likely to report that their schools provide a safe environment and have poorer standardized test scores than schools with effective bullying prevention programs.
To reduce bullying, teachers need to be alert and act immediately when they see evidence of it. They should be particularly vigilant in places where it most frequently occurs—in bathrooms, playgrounds, stairwells, hallways and cafeterias, as well as on buses and when students are traveling to or from school on their own. They should enlist the help of other school staff members, such as bus drivers, lunchroom workers, office personnel and librarians, who also can monitor student behavior and interact with kids.
In addition to monitoring for bullying, teachers should try to increase student reporting of it. This can be accomplished by explaining that bullying is not heroic and should be reported to a teacher or other trusted adult. Schools that set up a “bully hot line” and encourage students to write notes to the school if they see problem behavior can increase the number of reports.
Using diagnostic tools that combine information on both victimization and bullying can help educators identify socially vulnerable students, such as those who do not have many friends or are not accepted by their peers. Such students can be targeted by bullies, as they are easy targets for manipulation and because defending them would threaten the bully’s own status in the peer group (Karna et al. 2011).
These types of diagnostic tools can also reveal the motivations of bullying. Students who bully as a way to gain popularity or power have a high drive for social dominance and are more sensitive to disapproval from their peers than to rejection by victims or their defenders (Sijtsema et al. 2011). They also exhibit greater aggression and display a different socio-cognitive profile than pure bullies do.
Creating a Positive Learning Environment
How you work and learn depends on your environment. Everything from your desk chair to your favorite Spotify playlist influences you and helps to set you up for success. That same principle is true for students. They can only focus on learning if the environment around them supports their needs, encourages creativity, and promotes positive well-being. Teachers should work closely with their students to brainstorm the parameters of a supportive educational environment and then ensure that it is in place each day.
Creating a classroom or school community that promotes positivity takes more than just posting positive quotes on the walls, although that is an important step. It also requires building positive relationships with your students, and ensuring that the classroom or school is a place where they feel safe, encouraged, and valued.
For example, if two students are in a heated argument, your demeanor as the teacher will help to defuse the situation and prevent others from becoming upset or overwhelmed. Your attitude and approach to the conflict will set the tone for the rest of the class.
Another key component of a positive learning environment is teaching your students to see the good in each other. This is an essential part of a healthy school climate because it allows learners to understand that their peers have unique strengths, and can be used as a tool to achieve success.
When learners can find something positive about everyone in their learning community, they are more likely to be open to new ideas and willing to take risks to reach their full potential.
Finally, it’s important to involve parents and caregivers in the classroom as much as possible, by communicating regularly, offering opportunities for volunteering or mentorship, and providing information about how they can support their student outside of the classroom. This will not only allow students to feel supported and cared for, but will also help them maintain a positive mindset at home and outside of the classroom.
Creating a positive learning environment isn’t easy, but it is vital for the mental health and academic achievement of all students. By implementing these simple strategies, you can create an atmosphere where learning can be maximized, and students are happy to come to school each day.
Many students come from tumultuous home environments and the classroom is one of their few safe havens. This makes fostering emotional health just as important for educators as academic learning. Education leaders must provide teachers and staff with the tools they need to promote student well-being. This means training and resources in social emotional learning,…