ED 213: SPECIAL TOPICS 3

Project Forth (PF) 3: This unit will orient pre-service students with principles in developing
an individual approach to building an inclusive, responsive, productive, and well-
structured learning environment in challenged areas. It will introduce effective
strategies in managing classrooms in challenging contexts.

Lesson 2: THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IN CHALLENGED AREAS

Classroom management is a strategic, on-going process consisting of key

actions that teachers must address to create an environment for learning. It aims to
develop an environment conducive to academic and social-emotional learning
(Garrett, 2014)
Classroom management is consistently identified as an important factor in
student learning. Yet most teachers, often struggle with creating and maintaining a
well-managed classroom where students can learn.
Schools from challenged areas where resources (structural and human) are
lacking and the population of students is usually at-risk tend to be common places for
struggles with classroom management. This is often understandable considering that
the learners’ challenging situations may have an impact on how they learn and
behave in school as pointed out in the previous lesson.
Haberman (1995) stated, “Whatever the reasons for children’s behavior—
whether poverty, personality, a handicapping condition, a dysfunctional home, or an
abusive environment - classroom teachers are responsible for managing children,
seeing that they work together in a confined space for long periods, and ensuring that
they learn”. Haberman’s statement summarizes the realization that student learning is
contingent on teachers’ ability to create and sustain optimal learning environments.
In order to create an environment conducive to academic and social-emotional
learning, it is necessary to develop an understanding of what effective classroom
management entails. According to Garrett (2014), strategically and purposefully
addressing the following areas that include the physical environment and
psychological climate helps teachers create an inviting and workable learning climate.
These will be explained considering the context of learners in the challenged areas.

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 The first component is the physical design of the classroom.
One of the main factors determining how much time teachers spend
organizing and directing students and dealing with inappropriate and disruptive
behavior is the physical arrangement of the classroom. Decisions about how to
arrange the furniture, set up work areas or centers, store everyday classroom
supplies and materials, and decorate the classroom are just some examples of
the tasks related to the physical design of the classroom, which contribute to a
teacher’s ability to establish an environment conducive to social-emotional and
academic learning.
Students need adequate space in which to learn, individually and
collaboratively. They need enough desk space and areas to put their personal
belongings so that they do not feel cramped. The teacher can increase
students’ involvement in lessons by making sure students have enough space
among them to be able to focus on the lesson. The teacher can arrange the
furniture in ways that allow them to circulate and interact with all students,
especially those who are seated in the back and on the perimeter.
These are the basic elements of the physical environment of a typical
classroom. However, in the case of schools in challenged areas there is more
than what the eyes can see.
Gehl (2019) said that “many marginalized students share a similar
experience entering a new classroom; they walk in, scan their surroundings,
cautiously interact with new people, and assess if the teacher and the room are
a safe space.” Hence, the physical design of the classroom must convey a
welcoming atmosphere and promote a sense of belonging. For children coming
from areas with armed conflicts or victims of trauma, the physical environment
should address their need for safety and security.
In the case of marginalized students for example, one of the easiest and
most technical approaches according to Gehl (2019) in creating a structure of
acceptance in the learning space is to fill the area with imagery and messaging
supportive of their identities. The teacher may showcase student diversity in
decorating the classroom to make students feel accepted and appreciated.
The teacher can display a community map in the center of a bulletin board and
hang pictures of students around the perimeter. Have each student staple a
piece of string or ribbon linking the student’s picture and his or her home of
origin.
Students develop their first impression as they look around the classroom
and wait for the teacher to begin the class. Before the teacher even have a
chance to speak to the class, students are internalizing the messaging in the
classroom. So, help their first impression be a supportive one by hanging posters

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 and graphics that affirm their identity and send the right message. Students can
connect with images of local heroes, subject matter, historical images, or posters
and slogans that contain motivational quotes. Scan the room and ask, can each
of my students connect personally with something in this room? What messages
do the images in my room send and to whom?

The second component of effective classroom management includes rules and

routines.
Any potential for change or cause of disequilibrium can be difficult for
children and youth, which can even be more challenging for individuals who
have experienced systemic inequity and marginalization and those who live in
communities where there is unrest due to armed conflicts. Given the stressors
associated with all these, rules and routines help establish a certain level of
safety and order in the perturbed lives of these learners.
The teachers classified as effective classroom managers have clear rules
for general conduct and procedures or routines for carrying out specific tasks
and spend time the first few days of school teaching these rules and routines.
Rules and routines both communicate an expectation about behavior.
Classroom rules, though, are generally about overall conduct, whereas routines
are much more specific to certain tasks and usually provide some direction
about how these tasks should be accomplished, rather than seeking to prevent
a particular type of behavior. Examples of classroom rules are:
o Follow directions the first time they are given.
o Come to class prepared and on time.
o Respect others and their property.
o Use appropriate language.
o Do not leave the room without permission.
Examples of routines are:
o Movement Routines: These routines provide students with explicit steps for
entering, exiting, and moving about the classroom. For example, teachers
can establish a routine by which students may leave the room to get a
drink of water by following these steps: request permission, take a hall
pass, return within 2 minutes, and return the hall pass.
o Lesson-Running Routines: These are routines designed to facilitate tasks
that occur regularly during instructional lessons, such as passing back
homework and taking tests. When teachers ask students to write their

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 name, the class period, and the date in the upper-right corner of every
paper they hand in, they are teaching a lesson routine for how to identify
themselves on their written work.
o General Procedures: These routines include all other routines that teachers
and students must complete to keep the class running smoothly. For
example, taking attendance is a routine that is not part of a lesson and
does not involve moving around the classroom, but is something that must
be carried out every day.
By practice, teachers establish class rules and routines to keep the class activities
running smoothly with as little disruption and loss of time as possible.

The third component, and which I personally believe is the heart of classroom
management, is building relationships.
Secure attachments and stable environments, so vitally important to
young children’s healthy social and emotional development, are often severely
lacking in low-income homes. Poverty stunts the formation of healthy
relationships. Overworked, overstressed, and undereducated low-income
parents are more inclined to demonstrate a lack of interest in and neglect or
negativity toward their children. Not getting the opportunity to form solid
attachments initiates a stream of long-term physiological, psychological, and
sociological consequences for children (Jensen, 2009).
One of the strong relational forces that students bring in school according
to Harris (in Jensen, 2009) is the drive for reliable relationships. Students want the
security of a primary safe and reliable relationship. The relationships that teachers
build with students form the single strongest access to student goals,
socialization, motivation, and academic performance. For students to foster high
achievement, they will need a reliable partner or mentor.
Strong, secure relationships help stabilize children’s behavior and provide
the core guidance needed to build lifelong social skills. Children who grow up
with such relationships learn healthy, appropriate emotional responses to
everyday situations. But children raised in poor households often fail to learn
these responses, to the detriment of their school performance. They may get so
easily frustrated that they give up on a task when success was just moments
away. This social dysfunction may inhibit students’ ability to work well in
cooperative groups, quite possibly leading to their exclusion by group members
who believe they aren’t “doing their part” or “pulling their share of the load.”
Some teachers may interpret students’ emotional and social deficits as a
lack of respect or manners, but it is more accurate and helpful to understand

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 that the students come to school with a narrower range of appropriate
emotional responses than we expect. The truth is that many children simply don’t
have the repertoire of necessary responses. It is as though their brains’
“emotional keyboards” play only a few notes. The proper way to deal with such
a deficit is first to understand students’ behavior and then to lay out clear
behavioral expectations without sarcasm.
Effective classroom managers develop caring, supportive relationships
with students and parents and promote supportive relations among students. So
how and why is the task of developing caring relationships important in a
teacher’s overall classroom management plan?
All learning takes risks. Whether a teacher asks a student to write an
answer on the board, shoot a basketball into the ring, or spell a word in front of
the class, there is an element of risk involved. The degree of risk will depend on
the individual student’s personality; an extroverted student will be more likely to
take a risk more quickly than an introverted student. Students will not take risks if
they do not feel safe and cared for by their teacher and their classmates.
Research supports the idea that the quality of relationships that exist within
a classroom setting has a direct impact on a teacher’s ability to develop an
environment conducive to learning (Newman, 2000; Pianta, 2006). More
specifically, this research consistently affirms that students who perceive their
teachers to be caring and respectful are more likely to cooperate, adhere to
classroom rules and routines, and engage in academic activities (Osterman,
2000; Wentzel, 1997, 1998). In light of this, it is a teacher’s responsibility to develop
caring relationships with his or her students and among the students in the class.

Engaging and motivating instruction:

The fourth component of classroom management is engaging instruction,
which involves using instructional techniques that increase students’ motivation
and interest in learning. It is imperative that teachers understand that there is a
reciprocal relationship between engaging, motivating instruction and effective
classroom management. This means that, on the one hand, the more engaging
the instruction is, the fewer behavioral issues will arise, because students are
actively engaged, interested, and motivated in the lesson (Savage & Savage,
2010; Weinstein & Romano, 2014). Effective managers develop instruction that
engages learners, and they carefully plan their instruction so that each learning
activity is well organized and runs smoothly. You will learn this in Unit 4.

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 Discipline:
The fifth component of effective classroom management is discipline. The
final component is unique in the classroom management model in that it
includes both preventive teaching strategies (strategies designed to keep
misbehavior from happening in the first place) and responsive teaching
strategies (strategies that respond to misbehaviors after they occur). The four
components of classroom management - physical design, rules and routines,
relationships, and engaging instruction - are all designed to prevent misbehavior.
Discipline revolves around teacher actions focused on preventing and
responding to students’ misbehavior. Discipline does not only mean punishment,
nor does it only mean the actions that teachers take after misbehavior occurs.
Discipline also includes teacher actions that prevent misbehavior.

Thus, it is crucial for teachers to understand that most of their management

activities are directed at preventing misbehavior, rather than responding to it. The more
skilled a teacher is at preventing behavior problems (implementing the prevention
components), the fewer problems will arise. Classroom management, then is a
strategic, ongoing process consisting of key actions that teachers must address to
create an environment for learning.
Academic achievement numbers are low for the children of families who
struggle to meet their basic needs. Any student who feels “less than” cognitively is likely
not only to struggle academically, but also to be susceptible to such secondary issues
as acting out, getting bullied or becoming a bully, having lower self-esteem, or having
feelings of depression or helplessness. In order to address these issues and help children
overcome adversities, it is important that teachers build supportive relationships,
provide positive guidance, foster hope and optimism, and take time for affirmation and
celebration (Jensen, 2009).

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 In our country, the Department of Education enshrined the use of positive
discipline in the Department Order No. 40, s. 2012 otherwise known as DepEd Child
Protection Policy. Positive Discipline is an approach to teaching that aimed at helping
learners succeed, giving them the information they need to learn, and supporting their
development. It respects children’s rights to healthy development, protection from
violence, and active participation in their learning. It is based on sound pedagogical
principles and practice which are as follows:

Holistic
It recognizes the links between individual development, learning,
behavior, academic achievement, family relationships and community health. It
applies not only to students’ behavior, but to all aspects of their learning and
social interactions;

Strength-based
This principle takes children’s developmental stage into account. It
identifies and builds on the students’ strengths. Mistakes are opportunities to learn
and improve.
Individuals in poverty often have internalized their poverty as a personal
deficiency. They see no hope for anything but an insufficient welfare or disability
check, or underground activities that barely pay enough to keep food on the
table and often result in incarceration. Poverty affects education success,
health, relationships, and most of all it affects the ability for humans to develop to
their full potential. The following self-defeating messages are common to them
(Communication Across Barriers, 2012):
o Everyone seems smarter.
o People who are making it must be better than me.
o We don’t have what we need to break out of poverty.
o There is no one to help.
Through this strength-based approach, teachers will be guided to build on
children’s abilities, efforts and improvements so they get to overcome self-
defeating statements that have marred their self-esteem.

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 Constructive
A childhood spent in poverty often sets the stage for a lifetime of
setbacks. Secure attachments and stable environments, so vitally important to
the social and emotional development of young children, are often denied to
our neediest kids. These children experience more stress due to loneliness,
aggression, isolation, and deviance in their peer relationships, and they are more
likely to describe feeling deprived, embarrassed, picked on, or bullied.
Understand that children raised in poverty are more likely to display
o “Acting-out” behaviors.
o Impatience and impulsivity.
o Gaps in politeness and social graces.
o A more limited range of behavioral responses.
o Inappropriate emotional responses.
o Less empathy for others’ misfortunes.
These behaviors will likely puzzle, frustrate, or irritate teachers who have less
experience teaching students raised in poverty (Jensen, 2009). On the other
hand, constructive teachers explain, demonstrate and model the concepts and
behaviors to be learned, rather than punish misbehavior or mistakes. They aim at
strengthening students’ self-esteem and confidence.

Inclusive
According to Communication Across Barriers (2012), people living in
poverty often experience education as “stress” and see it as a place they do not
belong. Students and their families living in the crisis of poverty receive messages
from society that no one cares, that something is wrong with them, and people
like them don’t get educated.
Inclusivity as a principle of positive discipline, considers children’s
individual needs, strengths, social skills and learning styles within an integrated
classroom. It recognizes and respects the diversity of all students.
The teacher can be be inclusive by creating a familial atmosphere and
using affiliative language. For example, always refer to the school as “our school”
and the class as “our class”; avoid using a me-and-you model that reinforces
power structures. Acknowledge students who make it to class even if they are
late. This will make students who need to attend to household chores and
responsibilities first before going to school feel less guilty.

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 Thank them for small things. Celebrate effort as well as achievement;
praise students for reaching milestones as well as for fulfilling end goals. These will
boost their self-esteem, help them focus less on self-deficits, and focus more on
their strengths and capabilities.

Pro-active
Proactive teachers help children succeed in the long-term. The focus is on
understanding the root of the problem and putting in place strategies that will
help to address them. It identifies the roots of behavioral and learning difficulties
and implements strategies to promote success.
We have expectations of all kids, but sometimes we expect too little -
especially of children raised in poverty. We assume that low-SES students will
have less access to resources, be more stressed, be sick more often, and have
less emotional support and intellectual stimulation at home. However, the likely
conclusion—the one that says that children of poverty will necessarily do poorly
in school—should not be automatic.
Although it has statistical support, it does not have to be true. Why?
Because teacher beliefs and assumptions play a big part in the outcome,
especially for students subjected to low expectations. These students have
experienced enough negatives in their lives and often feel hopeless and see no
viable future for themselves. More than any other school population, they need
a megadose of hope. Hope changes brain chemistry, which influences the
decisions we make and the actions we take. Hopefulness must be pervasive,
and every single student should be able to feel it, see it, and hear it daily.
(Jensen, 2009)
A researcher, Dante Dixson, have found out that hope, or having
something to look forward to and tangibly work toward, is associated with better
engagement and curiosity in the classroom, higher academic achievement,
greater happiness, and a lower risk of death (Nerenberg, 2019). According to
him “If you can get students to hope beyond what is typical of those around
them—see it, feel it, sense it - then that gets them to take action”
As students move to act and take more responsibility for their learning and
behavior, teachers spend less time correcting misbehavior. Less attention to
discipline concerns translates into more time for teaching and learning.

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 Participatory
The positive discipline approach can play a key role in creating safer and
accepting learning spaces, where children feel that their rights and dignity are
respected. This kind of environment can empower learners to step up, make
decisions, find solutions to problems, and achieve their full potential.
Exposure to chronic or acute stress like poverty and trauma is debilitating.
Students from low-income families who experience disruptive or traumatic events
or who lack a measure of connectedness to family, to the community, or to a
religious affiliation demonstrate increased hopelessness over time (Bolland, Lian,
& Formichella, 2005, in Jensen, 2009). Low-SES students are more likely to give up
or become passive and uninterested in school. This giving-up process is known as
learned helplessness which is an adaptive response to life conditions. Many
children with learned helplessness become fatalistic about their lives and are
more likely to drop out of school or become pregnant while in their teens.
The positive discipline approach focuses on guiding children’s behavior.
The teacher plays the role of mentor and guide. Rather than force and control,
the teacher seeks out learners’ opinions and perspectives. Thereby, involving
them in creating a classroom environment that supports learning and promotes
the development of cognitive skills such as problem-solving, and critical-thinking.
Also, positive discipline engages students in the learning process and in
the school community. In so doing the approach not only supports children’s full
development, but also improves the school environment by eliminating fear,
teaching children self-discipline, as well as encouraging greater pleasure and
engagement in learning.

Indeed, effective teachers are classroom managers who create positive physical
and emotional environments. They establish routines, lessons, and disciplinary strategies
that teach students the necessary academic, social, and emotional skills that will help
them thrive in their relationships, their education, and life in general. As students take
more responsibility for their learning and behavior, teachers spend less time correcting
misbehavior. Less attention to discipline concerns translates into more time for teaching
and learning.

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References:

Garrett, T. (2014). Effective Classroom Management: The Essentials. Teachers College Press:
Columbia University. Retrieved from https://1lib.ph/book/2573266/f6ea8f.

Department of Education, E-Net Philippines, & Save the Children (2015). Positive Discipline in
Everyday Teaching: A Primer for Filipino Teachers. Retrieved from
https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/sites/default/files/documents/4802.pdf.

Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention and the Department of Basic Education, South Africa
(2012). Positive Discipline and Classroom Management. Retrieved from …

Gehl, N. (2019). How to Better Support Your Marginalized Students. Retrieved from
https://theartofeducation.edu/2019/09/02/how-to-better-support-your-marginalized-
students/?fbclid=IwAR150qs8c5AzjHz0aJBrUlunHYHDOY3rbLRC8gW9SRuDWM5Obvo93VM2iVM

Communication Across Barriers (2012). Educating Students Who Live in Poverty. Retrieved from
https://www2.ed.gov/programs/slcp/2012thematicmtg/studentpovty.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3_dO3aid
T3FG8KqIPVfl4cRZNIeYifwovt1HxpOM6ab6bFAoba2Tp3v5Y

Nerenberg, J. (2019). Why Marginalized Students Need Hope to Succeed. Retrieved from
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_marginalized_students_need_hope_to_succ
eed?fbclid=IwAR3RyZk6iA3c0xr_qGifldSe4FgyijmQjB9yYXC_yIm7X1ZXU5G9qspd6L0

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