102082 Pedagogy for Positive Learning Environments – Assignment 1

The findings of interviewees and researchers’ point of view provide an opportunity to process

what is suitable for students’ learning to apply it in my teaching practice. In regards to what I

have become aware of through the findings, having a disengaging content reinforces

misbehaviours of students and decreases their class focus level. In this way, the learning

activities and tasks require effectiveness and engaging elements to prevent “active

inappropriate behaviours” (De Nobile, 2017, p.17) that disturbs the teacher and class. Such

aspect can be improved through recognising what type of activities that students highly

engage in. Here, this focuses on the strengths of students’ competences, but also builds a

positive teacher-student relationship. The reinforcement of students’ area of strength is

achieved through including “opportunities for students to engage in their favourite activities”

(Musti-Rao & Haydon, 2011, p.93). This reinforces a beneficial pedagogical way of tackling

class disconnection and increasing positive learning to implement in my teaching practice.

Furthermore, I have noticed that ‘talking out of turn’ is a common misbehaviour of students,

causing distraction. The emphasis on this problem reinforces the fact that students form class

disruption through non-subject related discussions. Here, the distraction from such behaviour

can be managed through the teacher’s “guidance of finding and choosing distraction” (De

Nobile, 2017, p.196). For instance, cooperative learning can replace meaningless distractions

with useful activities that challenge learning skills. Here, through inculcation, the teachers’

guidance and help in cooperative activities can form and initiate learning values in students

(De Nobile, 2017, p.274). This strategy can form active and engaged participants in

classwork and promotes a positive connection with the students, which I would use in my

teaching practice. This improvement can encourage “positive interdependence” (Sutherland,

2003, p.13), where students’ collaboration reflects on working as a team to achieve the task

and confines misbehaviour. In this way, cooperative learning can allow me to learn about the
students’ nature by sitting down with each group and communicating with them. Here,

students’ misbehaviour becomes inactive, as they have “many opportunities” (Panitz,1999,

p.60) to articulate their opinions and ideas through team interaction strategies.