4.

1 TEAMWORK #1

SCHOOL CULTURE AND LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Within every learning environment there is a prevailing

culture that influences all the other components. In most
learning environments, culture is often taken for granted or
may be even beyond the consciousness of learners or even
teachers. The faculties, instructors and teachers should pay
special attention to cultural factors, so that they can make
conscious decisions about how the different components of a
learning environment are implemented. Although the concept
of culture may seem a little abstract at this stage, and how
critical it is for designing an effective online learning
environment.
The choice of content, the skills and attitudes that are
promoted, the relationship between instructors and students,
and many other aspects of a learning environment, will all be
deeply influenced by the prevailing culture of an institution or
class. In a learning environment, every one of the components
are described and influenced by the dominant culture.
For example, the parents tend to place their children in
schools that reflect their own values and beliefs, and so the
characteristics of learners in that school will also often be
influenced by the culture not only of their parents but also of
their school. This is one of the many ways that culture can be
self-reinforcing.
According to Jennifer Nais an article writer of the Primary
Teaching as a Cultural Care, said that every teacher will be able
to recall individuals whose personal characteristics they found
disagreeable or offensive or whose behavior was insupportable
(the current debate about exclusion suggests), and classes with
whom a comfortable relationship was established only after
repeated negotiation. Nevertheless, she also added that the
feeling positive towards children is the more or less universal
backdrop to work in any schools. Nais also added that some
teachers are moved beyond liking into a much deeper
relationship with individual students or the whole class,
although the extent of their involvement is normally masked by
their assumed calm and their professional pleasantness.
Culture is a critical component of any learning
environment. It is important to be aware of the influence of
culture within any particular learning context, and to try and
shape that culture as much as possible towards supporting the
kind of learning environment that you believe will be most
effective.
However, changing a pre-existing, dominant culture is very
difficult. Nevertheless, new technologies enable new learning
environments to be developed, and thus provide an
opportunity to develop the kind of culture within that learning
environment that will best serve your learners.