Standard 4: Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
Standard descriptor 4.1.1: Identify strategies to support inclusive student participation and engagement in classroom activities.
Alongside pedagogical practices and content knowledge, the delivery of the lesson is key in making students feel safe, supported and valued within the classroom (Foreman, 2011). Feeling safe and supportive results in “increased learning”, positive “psychological wellbeing” and an increase in “academic interest” (Whitton, Barker, Nosworthy, Humphries & Sinclair, 2016). Communication is a central aspect in teaching. Studies have shown that words account for 7% of the communication, the way you speak is 38% and body language accounts for 55% of communication (Phutela, 2015). Throughout my teaching practice, I have created an inclusive classroom using a range of communication methods as noted by my Tertiary Supervising Teacher in an observation lesson.
The lesson was a mathematics lesson based on rotations following a Literacy lesson on editing. It was commended that I have a positive attitude when teaching and was reinforced through my use of voice. It was aurally noted that at different moments of my teaching I began to use a whisper voice which set the classroom noise level and was an effective classroom management strategy.
Another commendation I received to support student psychological wellbeing was pointing out the error in the Mathematics learning intention. I asked students to find the two errors in the learning intention which, not only
Tertiary Supervising Teacher Feedback
consolidated their editing skills from the previous literacy lesson but also showed to students that teachers also make mistakes and part of learning is to make mistakes.
In my teaching career, supportive environments are important in order to foster learning and build positive relationships. The use of different voice levels allows the classroom environment to be peaceful, warm and welcoming creating a safe haven for students (Churchill et al., 2015). This could also be further supported by including meditation to calm the students after the breaks. Lastly, the identification of mistakes in the teachers’ work allows students to feel comfortable about making mistakes and I will continue to use both methods in order to make a safe and supportive learning environment resulting in student learning.
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