Critical reflection

Creating a positive learning environment

I feel that creating a positive learning environment is key to being a successful educator. It is
important for a student to feel that they are learning in the class and improving their knowledge
both with the subject and with themselves. As a teacher I feel that it is our responsibility to create an
environment where the students can feel comfortable and safe but also an environment where the
student is learning and feel like they are being cared about.

I think the key to having a positive learning environment is the student teacher relationship,
something that is talked about so much in collage and even with my peer educators. As a newly
established educator who is still studying and improving every lesson I am still working on my
teacher student relationship, I feel this is something that can take a long time to get right it is
important to have clear boundaries when developing a relationship with the students, this is to
ensure that the students do not think that they are going to get away with misbehaving. I believe as
an educator that it is important to have a small sense of humour and be able to be somewhat
friendly with the students in certain circumstances. “As positive Teacher student relationships
motivate students to become more engaged in the classroom, learning should consequently
improve.” (Olsen, Christi, & Li, 2022). It is also important when a student makes a mistake not to
criticise the student but rather give some constructive criticism, if you give out to the student too
much, they can be reluctant to ask for help again.

Something that I am focusing more on this year is going to be including students in the learning
environment, I feel that active learning strategies and student led strategies are a huge advantage in
the classroom and really improves the atmosphere in the classroom. I feel that a student will be
more engaged when they are watching a student led demonstration compared to a teacher led
demonstration. “I observed many positive effects upon changing to student-performed
demonstrations. Two of the most obvious, the increase in retention and the improvement in attitude
toward their subject” (Laughner, 2006) I also feel that in a positive learning environment all the
students must feel included, and no student can feel they are being left out, this is very important
with students who may have special needs or from different cultural backgrounds.

I also think a positive learning environment depends a lot on what you are covering in the lesson and
the way in which the lesson is taught. It also depends a lot on the room and the student’s
surroundings, something I have noticed as a problem can be a dirty room if the room is dirty the
student can be easily distracted playing with pieces of timber or playing with dust or so on. This is
one of the reasons I feel that it is very important to keep the room tidy. Something I studied last year
was Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This theory outlines the significance of addressing students' basic
needs before academic ones. This is why I feel that the students need a clean and safe environment
to feel comfortable before they can fully focus on their academic needs. (Maslow, 1943)
References
Laughner, J. W. (2006, November). Student-Led Demonstrations: How and Why. Journal of Virginia
Science Education.

Maslow, A. (1943). A theory of human motivation. APA Physc net.

Olsen, A. A., C. B., & Li, X. (2022, February ). Positive teacher-student relationships may lead to
better teaching . Elsevier Ltd.