How can a healthy and safe space for both students and teachers be created? Read on to find out
Prerna Shivpuri
On a Monday morning in the most attention-deficient, multi-tasking hour of the week, as his classmates scurried into their. Grade 4 classroom, his eyes met those of his teacher who was standing at the door. The curious gleam in his eyes softened; his anxiety gave way to a sigh of release as his teacher gave him a reassuring smile, the look that meant ‘I know…’, ‘I get it…’. The eyes that saw him for who he is and what he might have been weighing upon him somehow communicated that it would be fine, all is welcome here.
What you just read might not be the common experience of most of the children and teachers in our country and yet it is in our collective knowing that it is in such moments that great teaching comes alive. It is this connection for which children come to their classrooms every morning. They are seeking adults who will believe in them, appreciate them for who they are, recognise their potential and never give up on them.
In my experience, no profession can be as dynamic as teaching and no boardroom can come even close to the delicate mediation and decision making that goes on in a classroom. The relations in such a space therefore become one of the most critical factors in its success. The quality of relationships held in a classroom community define the quality
of learning that takes place. I am sharing below my learnings from some of the most beautiful and effective classrooms and educators I have witnessed and my own experiments in creating such a community.
From Authority to Authenticity
When teachers enter their classrooms, they often instantaneously assume an authoritative position, wanting to be in control of everything. They see themselves as someone who is responsible for dispensing knowledge to students and feel that the responsibility of students’ learning rests completely on their shoulders. They need to recognise that learning is as much a responsibility of the student as it is the teacher’s and they are in this together as co-creators of knowledge, skills and attitudes.
The other thing they need to realise is that mistakes and vulnerability need to be celebrated. A healthy and effective classroom climate is one where everyone, students and teachers included, feels safe to make mistakes and sees them as opportunities to learn. They need to be at their authentic best, seeing each other as work in progress, reflecting on their strengths and challenges supporting each other to work on them.
From Benchmarking to Believing in diverse potential
The system of benchmarking and examinations has conditioned us to label students. We judge them by their ability to memorise and reproduce one kind of content in the same way, not understanding that each child learns differently and expresses differently. While it is imperative that we are intentional about learning and persevere towards goals, it does not have to mean that we do one kind of benchmarking for all students. The moment we shift our thinking and believe in their individual potential, the way we work around content will become more relevant and effective. We need to recognise the learning needs and styles of students and design our lessons in a way that they cater to a range of abilities and
interests and not have a one-size-fits-all approach.
From Criticality to Curiosity
The other thing to reflect upon as an educator is to see where we generally tend to operate from. When we are confronted with everyday challenges in the classroom, what is our first reaction? When a student forgets to do his homework, or another is just not getting along with others, or a parent is not cooperating, what happens inside our mind? Do we immediately jump to conclusions or do we become curious?
Our brains are conditioned to judge, to constantly think in terms of right or wrong. We need to learn to pause and build the muscle of curiosity. We can see such situations as opportunities of learning and become curious to know more. The moment we encounter a challenge or a new situation, if we meet it with curiosity and not criticality, we will stop
reacting and start responding. We will be able to come up with creative ways of addressing and handling conflicts and working with all stakeholders, students, parents and colleagues.
Inquiry Question
Think of a child in your classroom who has been posing a lot of challenges – chances are you have tried a few things or many things to help him/ her. You might have also almost accurately identified the problem or the root cause of his/ her behaviour. Can you dig a layer deeper and think and reflect what could be his/ her need that is giving rise to the problem? For instance, a child who hits other children or distracts them might have
a huge need for inclusion. He /she might want to be included in the peer group but does not necessarily know how to approach them. Try to identify the need/ emotion behind the actions and think of ways in which you can support the need of this child rather than working on the problem directly.
Try a Tip
Take a few days at the beginning of the academic year to create a class constitution and norms or agreements with your students. These can be social as well as academic agreements. Formulating these norms along with students gives them a sense of ownership so they tend to stick to it better. You will be surprised by the ideas they will contribute towards these norms. Keep revisiting them throughout the year and be open to changing and editing with students as you go along. If you do this as a practice throughout the school, it create a culture of upholding norms together as a community.
Prerna Shivpuri is Academic Head, I Am A Teacher, Mumbai. IAAT, a not-for-profit organisation, is founded by the alumni of Harvard University and founders of HXLS in collaboration with Boston Teacher Residency, USA. It aims to build a critical mass of educators who can lead change in and through classrooms.
