UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

FIELD STUDY 1
 
SUBJECT CODE: FS1

TOPIC OR LESSON: MODULE 4: Learner Diversity: The Community and Home Environment
WEEK: 4
OVERVIEW:
This is the first experiential course, which will immerse a future teacher to actual classroom situation
and learning environment where direct observation of teaching and learning episodes that focuses on the
application of educational theories learned in content and pedagogy courses will be made. Observations on
learner’s behavior, motivation, teacher’s strategies of teaching, classroom management, assessment in learning
among others shall be given emphasis.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1. Explain the influencing factors in the home environment that affect the learning of a learner
2. Put into action the effective strategies/ methodologies on how teachers can work together with the
family
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Describe the influencing factors in the home environment that affect the learning of a learner
2. Identify effective strategies/ methodologies on how teachers can work together with the family

ENGAGE:
The students will answer the following questions:
1. How important your family is?
2. What are the learnings you have acquired from your family that you carry with you up to this
time?

EXPLORE:
The students are asked to watch the clip and be ready to answer some questions after.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVogokHJSUM

EXPLAIN:
The teacher discusses the lesson through lecture discussion. A video lesson can help enhance the
discussion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ErWSida-7g

What Makes a Good Learning Environment

Today’s learners seek a learning environment that is not as obsolete as traditional classrooms but that
is specifically engineered to support thinking. They prefer the learning environment that pushes their learning
capacity with altering strategies and teaching practices. They want to be a part of an impactful learning setting
that provides a sense of achievement while they can be adaptive and interactive with fellow learners as well as
instructors. In brief, they want to be active and engaged players throughout the learning course. How to cover
those needs?
A learning environment is a diverse platform where users engage and interact to learn new skills.
While learners can learn in an array of settings, the term refers to the more preferred and accurate alternative to
the traditional classroom. The term does not pass on a traditional or limited connotation such as a room full of
desks and a chalkboard.
Components and Importance of an Effective Learning Environment
Developing an engaging and positive learning environment for learners, especially in a particular
course, is one of the most creative aspects of teaching. Typically, the focus is either on the physical learning
environments (institutional) like lecture theaters, classrooms, or labs; or on different technologies that are used
to develop online learning environments.
However, the learning environment is an expression that is a lot broader than these components. The
term comprises of:
 Learners’ characteristics;
 Learning and teaching goals;
 Activities that support learning;
 Assessment strategies that drive and measure learning;
 A culture that directly infuses a learning environment.
Typically, social, physical, psychological or cultural factors involved in a learning environment deeply
affect the learners’ learning capabilities. If the learning atmosphere is not conducive to gaining new knowledge
or skills, it will be hard for learners to remain engrossed or interested. 
For example, stress significantly affect the cognitive functioning. When you combine stress with
learning processes, the negative thoughts outweighs the positive ones. Such learners find the learning
environment more like a threat to their self-esteem than a platform to improve or learn new skills. To
overcome this, the instructors hold the responsibility to incorporate an arsenal of strategies that would
inoculate learners against the negative attitude by providing enough positive experiences.
This integration of strategies in the learning/teaching approach will counteract the negative and help
students in getting out of the negative spiral. When a learner feels appreciated, accepted and see him/her as an
important and contributing part of a learning environment only then he/she can improve, learn with an open
mind, accept and appreciate viewpoints and solve problems earnestly.
Nevertheless, a learning environment is a great attribute to the success of the learner. It offers a
positive ambiance to feel motivated and engaged.  An ideal learning setting encourages the interaction with
learners/instructors and eventually establishes a sense of support.
What Are The Factors That Make A Positive Learning Environment?
Following are the prime factors that contribute to establishing an effective and positive learning
environment. Let’s discuss some of the most important factors.
1. Establish a supportive learning culture. Each member of the learning community should have the feeling
of connectedness. They must feel that they are contributing to the overall environment while being a bigger
and important part of a supportive learning culture.  
 For this, a proper support system or mentorship program should be developed that would provide them
the required assistance whenever needed. The idea can also be supported by creating online discussion forums
or online platforms where learners can gather and discuss various topics.
Learners can use these platforms to provide support to fellow members, to address concerns, and to
express their ideas and opinions about some topic. Nevertheless, the modern learning platforms offer online
training course and ongoing education through resources that can be accessed and used by the learners on their
own time.
2. Address Learners’ Needs. Just like adults, learners also have some psychological needs for order and
security, love and belonging, competence and personal power, novelty and freedom and even fun. It is
important to meet these needs at all times and to help learners progress and be taught with a positive attitude.
Any learning environment, where instructors accommodate these intrinsic needs, learners tend to be happier
and more engaging. There are less behavioral incidences than otherwise and this fulfilling learning atmosphere
help learners in developing the right learning attitude while establishing positive relationships with peers.
3. Keep it Positive. Learners respond far better to praise than punitive measures. Appreciation is the key
to motivation, unlike humiliation, that is highly discouraging. Learners appreciate the freedom to express their
opinions; similarly, the opinions of their peers also play a crucial role in defining their learning attitude.
That is exactly why actions like harassment or teasing are the number one cause for learners to drop out from
the course rather than labeled as ‘dull’ or ‘stupid’ in front of others. While it is important to express opinions,
it is also vital to remain positive rather than assault.
However, the best way to cut down this negative behavior, in a professional learning environment, is to start
correcting the behavior without highlighting the names of the ones making mistakes.
4. Provide Feedback. Feedback is the great way to connect with learners and to set their learning efforts
in the right direction. Feedback is vital for learners as it helps them in tracking their progress and in changing
their learning strategy accordingly. It helps them recognize their weak areas while improving the developed
skills.
A feedback informs the learners where they are missing the mark and what is needed to be done. A feedback is
not only a key to motivate the learner but this timely and consistent feedback ensures an interactive learning
environment. It keeps learners involved and allows them to keep going while mounting a feeling of purpose
and belonging.
5. Celebrate Success. In addition to feedback and appreciation, another way to establish a positive and
effective learning environment is to celebrate the learners’ success. This could be anything from a shout out to
a big reward. When learners’ achievements are recognized and shared by the instructors with other learners, it
creates a sense of achievement and fosters healthy learning behavior.
Instructors can easily take out some time on a weekly basis to recognize each student for any of the specific
accomplishment.  This could also be done in the form of group activities or collective assignments or projects.
In addition to the celebration, it is also important to discuss the processes or strategies used by the learner to
achieve the objective. This will also act as a guide for others to use the same learning strategy and to improve
their performance in the same manner.
6. Safety. A good learning environment offers a safe platform for learners. Before you can expect
learners to succeed academically, they should also feel safe both mentally and physically. While most of the
schools take physical safety measures, not many learning platforms consider the mental safety of the learners.
Safety in a learning environment goes beyond physical well-being. In order to maintain a safe learning
environment, learners must feel supported, welcomed, and respected.
But many learning platforms and their codes of conduct don’t always consider or support the positive climate.
For instance, strict disciplinary practices like suspensions negatively impact the morale of the learners and
hamper their performance or likelihood of improvement.
Hence, building a positive learning environment is more about maintaining a healthy culture where the
expectations are well communicated and learners are fully aware of the code of conduct.

7. Employ Interactive Games and Activities. An effective learning platform is the one that establishes
strong interactions and promotes collaborative learning culture. This means that it is imperative for instructors
to maintain positive relationships with the learners while also ensuring healthy association among the learners.
This can be done by using the best way of encouraging group activities. Introduction of non-competitive games
and activities break down the cliques within a learning environment. This also assists the new and shy students
to have a sense of belonging.
Such activities promote communication and collaborative working environment and establish cooperative
learning structures.
There are hundreds of proven group activities and games that can be introduced as classroom activities. These
fun activities make learners interested in attending the class and help them learn and progress in a friendlier
environment.
Remember:
 When you establish a learning environment, keeping these important factors in mind, it helps in
developing a thriving learning culture. A positive learning environment is the one where learners feel
involved and responsible for their learning while being comfortable enough to fully participate in
group and individual activities.
 Needless to say, when educators foster positive learning culture, learners are more likely to have the
higher motivation that leads to better and more promising learning outcomes.
Creating a Culture of Collaboration

Key Points
• Family involvement is important throughout the lifecycle of children with disabilities, especially in the
early years (UNICEF, 2012).
• Involving parents and the community is an important principle of quality, inclusive education, both in and
out of the classroom.
• A positive connection between parents and schools influences children’s attitudes and achievements in
education.
• Families and civil-society organizations can also play an important role in the process of advancing a legal
and policy framework for inclusive education.
• Children with disabilities are not the only ones that benefit: there are also advantages for parents,
classmates, educators and schools.

Involving parents and the community is an important principle of quality, both in and out of the classroom.
It is even more relevant in the case of inclusive education, which is much broader than formal education and
should not only take place within the four walls of a classroom.
Parents’ collaboration is not only of benefit for children: there are also possible gains for all parties, for
instance:
 • Parents increase interaction with their children, become more responsive and sensitive to their needs
and more confident in their parenting skills.
• Educators acquire a better understanding of families’ culture and diversity, feel more comfortable at
work and improve their morale.
• Schools, by involving parents and the community, tend to establish better reputations in the
community.
However, the recognition that family engagement in education benefits children does not make clear how the
involvement becomes a positive force.
The first step for families to become involved in a collaborative way with schools is to promote a social and
educational atmosphere where parents and partners feel welcomed, respected, trusted, heard and
needed.
Cultural factors and traditions strongly influence the relationship between schools and the community.
In many places throughout the globe, schools are the center of community life and are used to encourage and
achieve social participation. Such cultural environments will ease the process: parents, schools and community
leaders know how to work together and find creative solutions for improving learning, responding to economic
crisis and disease outbreaks, or assisting populations affected by disasters caused by natural hazards.

How Can I Help? Understanding Different Levels of Collaboration and Partnerships

Key Points
• In order to truly address current needs and opportunities, the relationship between families, schools and
the community should be seen as a participatory, multi-centric experience.
• Expert agencies and disability organizations encourage specific actions to engage families and promote
community collaboration for inclusive education.
• Providing support and regular training to parents and creating a friendly institutional environment appear
among the most frequent recommendations to engage parents and the community

The levels of family involvement in children’s education might vary in accordance with the participation
opportunities that the education system makes available to them. In the case of children with disabilities, the
willingness of a family to engage in collaboration might be influenced by the type of disability, as well as the
family’s socio-economic status and the nature of the parent-child (or guardian-child) relationship.
A number of scales have been used to evaluate the different types and degrees of collaboration between
schools, families and communities. It is useful to distinguish between the different types and purposes of
collaboration. While variances in approaches, dynamics and subsequent effectiveness and sustainability have
been studied by numerous researchers, the value of understanding such distinctions is not merely academic. On
the contrary: they have made it possible to systematize and analyze the different ways or levels of
involvement, which is useful to understanding the dynamics amongst participants and helps in making
collaboration a meaningful and sustained experience that is valued and appreciated by all.
Providing support and regular training to parents, facilitating regular access to information and consultation
and creating a friendly institutional environment appear among the most frequent recommendations for
implementing good policies to engage parents and the community with inclusive education.
In its well-known Open File on Inclusive Education, UNESCO8 introduces a detailed list of possible ‘parent
engagement’ options aimed at making the experience a two-way-street type of relationship:
• Families as activists: Frequently, families – particularly those organized into networks or
associations – play a lead role in moving education systems towards more inclusive approaches and
 policies. Some of the actions in which parent groups can have an impact are identifying schools that
are willing to move forward, establishing links and partnerships with education authorities in support
of inclusive education, organizing seminars and workshops to introduce new thinking and new
practice, and supporting teacher development.
• Families as contributors to inclusive education: Under this option, the role of parents is emphasized
in supporting inclusion in the family and children’s learning and development at home. The main idea
is that families and communities should reinforce inclusive and learning experiences.
• Schools, families and the community as partners: There are many opportunities for partnerships
and collaboration, from exchanging information to family members supporting learning at home.
• Families supporting other families: This is particularly advised in the case of parents of children
with disabilities who live in poverty, isolated communities, or have culturally or linguistically diverse
backgrounds. In this case the support of parents of children with disabilities who are in a better social
or educational position can be extremely valuable.
• Family and community involvement in school governance and management: Includes the
participation of families in decision making and in supporting aspects of daily management of
activities.
Remember:
 Recent research shows that empowering families and enabling them to participate in decision making
is an effective contribution to the process of change in the context of education.
 Instead of ‘involving’ families, or proposing specific tasks or set roles for parents, the idea of
‘engagement’ seeks the active participation of parents within the process of improving education for
all.
 Collaboration must be both constructive and efficient and this is more likely to happen when all parties
feel comfortable in the process, the different roles are agreed and understood, and information is
provided regularly in an open and democratic way.
 Bear in mind also the need to provide regular opportunities for all participants to clarify their
expectations, understand the complexities of the process (accomplishments as well as disappointments
and drawbacks) and discuss how to improve the quality of the collaborative process.

EVALUATION:
Advertisement. The students are to make a 1–2-minute video advertisement on the positive effects of
family and environment to one’s learning capabilities.
The students work will be graded according to the following rubrics:
Content- 30%
Organization of Thoughts- 25%
Persuasive Alignment- 25%
Visual Appeal- 20%

REFERENCES:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvogokHJSUM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ErWSida-7g
http://www.inclusive-education.org/sites/default/files/uploads/booklets/IE_Webinar_Booklet_13.pdf

https://raccoongang.com/blog/what-makes-good-learning-environment/