Meaningful Involvement of Learners in my Classroom!

An effective way to facilitate the relationship between a teacher and his/her learners would be to establish a set of mutual boundaries and a code of conduct applicable to the classroom. In this way, learners are able to voice their expectations of the class, as well as any worries or concerns. This creates an environment of open communication, which Shannon Foley argues to be an effective practice of student well-being. Foley further argues that it is important to understand the learners’ circumstances and promote “pro-social bonding”. Meditating on the meaningful involvement of learners in my future classroom, I would incorporate activities that enable learners to share their background and culture with the class, thus informing and familiarizing the learners with their peers. I would also incorporate Foley’s idea of a birthday calendar, where learners will be given the opportunity to fill in their birth dates and have it displayed in the classroom, thus personalizing their classroom environment.

After reading the material by Abby Willis, the inevitability dawned on me that all of us PGCE students are bound to receive a restless and distracted class, be it due to the time of day or an inconvenient lesson slot. I found the Willis article incorporated participation, creativity, reflection and cooperation in a rather simplistic way. By trusting one’s learners with a fair amount of responsibility and resisting the urge to take full control, learners are given the opportunity to become actively involved and focus on the task at hand. Therefore, the ability to shift responsibility can become a tool in facilitating a positive outcome in the classroom.

As Foley states in “Effective pedagogy- teaching the whole child”, effective teaching involves the academic, behavioural and social elements that create and encourage a positive classroom environment. Should any obstacles be encountered regarding the above three elements, I as a teacher would like to present myself as approachable, available and accessible to students in need of assistance.

Resources are highly stimulating in the classroom and are defined by Foley as “materials and aids that support the delivery of a lesson or unit.” Resources further allow for the meaningful involvement of learners: assessments can be in the form of posters or models, which will be placed in the classroom and used as a learning tool during the course of a lesson. Lastly, a physical activity can be useful in attaining concentration, structure and cooperation in the classroom, as proven by Willis. I would therefore consider implementing a simple 5 minute physical task at the start of each lesson, in order to stimulate the necessary atmosphere needed for effective learning to take place.