Foundation of Teaching and Learning

According to Hattie (2003) there are six factors which impact student learning and include

principals, teachers, schools, home, peers and students. The most influential factors out of

these six are students then teachers. Therefore, teachers must utilise suitable pedagogical

approaches when implementing and preparing lesson plans. Students differing in abilities

and ages may learn at different rates and different ways. Teachers must recognise this and

explore differentiated programming, planning and specified delivery of content supporting

student learning. A successful teacher in my opinion must have certain qualities which

enable them to create a positive environment. These qualities include being friendly,

approachable, professional, an effective communicator, engaging, enthusiastic about their

work, value wellbeing (of themselves and students) and positively passionate about

education and the learning journey.

Teachers can work with the students to create and modify activities to suit their needs,

therefore creating an engaging positive environment. As Abdi (2014) noted “teachers should

make concentrated efforts to teach in a multi-style fashion that both reaches the greatest

extent of students in a given class and challenges all students to grow as learners”.

According to the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth

Affairs (2011) a safe schooling environment is considered “a safe and supportive school, the

risk from all types of harm is minimised, diversity is valued and all members of the school

community feel respected and included and can be confident that they will receive support

in the face of any threats to their safety or wellbeing”.

Before commencing this subject, I had little to no knowledge regarding pedagogy for

positive learning environments. As a teacher in training, I gained a considerable amount of

knowledge throughout the semester taking notes on current behaviour management and

teacher effectiveness, research in application of practical skill development for beginning

teachers, building positive learning environments, examining school based policies,

principles and practices, responsibilities involved with student welfare and discipline. I also

developed skills and knowledge in responding effectively to a range of student behaviours

and enhancing student mental health and wellbeing.

Before starting the unit however, I had previously learnt that reflection is a valuable tool in

teaching as it gives the opportunity for teachers to look at what they can do to improve

whether it be in student management, curriculum and/or the type of learning style/model

used. More specifically teachers must determine why, in a situation, their pedagogical

knowledge is not producing the expected results and what can be done about this issue.

Utilising a range of reflective devices such as a philosophy log, shadow teachers and

research – teachers can improve their performance in creating a positive learning

environment.

In coaching tennis as a part time job, I found that the two obstacles of ‘assumptions’ and

‘mental set’ were the two biggest issues when considering a personal model to create

positive environments and manage challenging students. Assumptions about students can

be easily made and people often make assumptions about the constraints and obstacles

that prevent certain solutions. Mental set is something that I recognised I always do when

coaching tennis which is the tendency people have, to only use solutions that have worked

in the past rather than looking for alternative ideas. A mental set can often work as a

heuristic, making it a useful problem-solving tool. However, mental sets can also lead to

inflexibility, making it more difficult to find effective solutions. Throughout this semester I

have learnt to change this and created extra strategies to use.

A significant amount of time has been placed on theories in my undergraduate Health

Science degree however, the application into classroom management is another concept

which is new to me. The one theory which I believe has had the most profound effect on my

learning throughout this semester is Choice Theory by William Glasser. The basis of choice

theory includes five basic needs which are needed to satisfy an individual; survival, love and

belonging, power, freedom and fun. In setting a positive class environment, students should

have an active role in how and what they are taught. The teacher should structure the

lesson around what internally drives and motivates the student to learn. Discussions and

class meetings should be regularly implemented so the teacher can base their activities and

content around the students’ needs.

With classroom management there are several guided questions which can be asked and

used to effectively manage a student’s behaviour. First question is to ask him/her what they

are doing, how and is their behaviour helping the class and ask how can this behaviour

change to help the class. Consequences should be made if the student negatively responds

to the question.

There are many factors and facets of classroom management and pedagogy for positive

learning environments that I need to learn. These include personal experiences and/or

observations of certain theories and management strategies in place (utilised in a

classroom).

In future I plan to research and speak to fellow neighbours (school teachers both primary

and secondary) and schools about positive behaviour intervention and support (PBIS) and

social and emotional learning (SEL). Although I have learnt a substantial amount about

classroom management strategies, I believe that I still have a much to learn and recognise,

and agree with Prozesky (2000), that a teacher should never stop learning.
References
Abdi, A. (2014). The effect of inquiry-based learning method on students’ academic
achievement in science course, Universal Journal of Educational Research. 2(1): 37-
41, 2014 DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2014.020104.

Hattie, J.A.C. (2003). Teachers make a difference: What is the research evidence? Paper
presented at the building teacher quality: What does the research tell us. ACER
Research Conference, Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved from
http://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference_2003/4/

Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development And Youth Affairs (2011).
National safe schools framework: All Australian schools are safe, supportive and
respectful teaching and learning communities that promote student wellbeing.
Retrieved from
https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/national_safe_schools_frame
work.pdf

Prozesky, D. R. (2000). Teaching and Learning. Community Eye Health, 13(34), 30–31.