POSITIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENTS: THREE MOST CRUCIAL AREAS

FOR A NEW TEACHER TO MASTER

Febe Theodora

There has been many types of research that emphasize how impactful it is to create

a positive classroom environments to improve and enhance the learning quality and

students’ social development. Different approaches and backgrounds have resulted in

different conclusions on what are the most important things to be implemented in the

classroom. Classroom management is the utilization of rules, procedures, and teaching

strategies that are applied to achieve a positive learning environment. Teachers’ ability to

organize the classroom and apply treatments to respond to students’ behavior is very

important to determine the climate of the classroom. This is something to keep in mind,

especially for new teachers. Ingersoll and Smith stated that there are a number of researches

that classroom and behavior management skills are carrying weight on the persistence

of the teaching careers of the new teachers (2003). They also believe that disruptive

classroom behavior is a major reason why teachers leave the profession. Usually, new

teacher raises their concerns about the difficulty to find effective strategies to handle the

disruptive behavior in the classroom (Browers & Tomic, 2000). Therefore, this discussion

will look at the most crucial areas of teacher’s responsibility in classroom management.

According to Cini (2017), there are 7 areas of responsibility:

1. Classroom Design
2. Rules
3. Discipline
4. Scheduling
5. Organization
6. Instructional Technique
7. Communication
 According to Cini, communication is the most important aspect out of the 7. It is

crucial to have positive, consistent, and effective communication will every member of

educational activities. Without a positive communication line, a teacher would risk respect

from colleagues, students’ attention, and parent’s cooperation. Teachers are expected to

be responsive to accommodate various needs in the teaching and learning process.

Communication is a significant factor in the best pedagogical practices and both

communications and pedagogy are actually intertwined (Petrie, 2011). Petrie later

explained that the students and teachers relationship actually is the foundation on which
definite communication is made. This relationship is what leads to effective

communication, and the communication leads to learning eagerness. So, the most

important aspect is communication. Through communication, teachers are going

to establish a positive classroom environment by setting the 2 other most crucial areas of

classroom management: instructional technique and organization.

Instructional techniques. New teachers must be able to determine the effective

instructional and learning strategies that can be used to adjust to the grade levels and

subject areas. New teachers, knowing their field and cases should be able to accommodate

a range of student differences from different backgrounds in different needs. This process

requires consistent and perceiving communication. However, instructional strategies,

techniques, or teaching methods, depend on some factors such as the developmental level

of students, intent, and objectives of the teacher, materials, and environment including

time, physical setting, and resources (which are covered in the other 5 areas of

responsibility according to Cini (2017)). Therefore, one technique, one method cannot

accommodate all the cases at once According to Stephen Petrina (2007), there are four or

five general models of instructional strategies or teaching methods.

- direct teaching: verbal, usually in the form of a lecture or presentation

 - modeling: visual, usually in the form of demonstration and practice

- interactive teaching: facilitation, individual or group management

- indirect interactive teaching: Socratic technique of dialogue

Petrina stated that having spent years in schools, teachers will recognize the strategy one

by one and will have a stronger tendency towards one or two models. So, new teachers

need to explore, research, implement, and reflect!

Organization. “Stay organized inside and out.” (Cini, 2017). When we hear the

word “organized” we might come up with other words such as: tidy, neat, clear, clean, and

structured. Nonetheless, organization contributes significantly to classroom management.

Organization is more than just putting stuff in the right place, and maintaining the positions

of tables and chairs. Classroom physical setting is the first thing a student experiences

using their senses when they enter the room. Organization determines so much more. It is

important to keep a tidy classroom, utilize the space. It is important to put the students'

essential in an appropriate accessible place. Classroom organization determines students’

organization. Organization in the classroom is one of the most significant teaching

practices for teaching and learning success (Wannarka, 2015).

Applying these three most crucial aspects of classroom management will open the

door for new teachers to achieve the other 5 aspects that are no less important!
REFERENCES
Browers, A., & Tomic, W. (2000). A longitudinal study of teacher burnout and perceived

self-efficacy in classroom management. Teaching and Teacher Education 16(2),

239-253.

Cini, S. (2021, 6 24). Seven Key Elements for Effective Classroom Management.

Retrieved from Classroom: https://classroom.synonym.com/seven-elements-

effective-classroom-management-6562940.html

Ingersoll, M., & Smith, M. (2003). The wrong solution to the teacher

shortage. Educational Leadership 60(8), 30-33.

Petrie, P. (2011). Communication skills for working with children and young People:

introducing social pedagogy (3rd ed.). London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Petrina, S. (2007). Curriculum and instruction for technology teachers.

Wannarka, O. (2015). Organization in the classroom. Journal on Best Teaching

Practices, 2(1), 5-6.