Transcript Environment and Classroom Culture

Who cares about a few
pencils on the Floor?
A look at environment and
its impact on Learning
Summer Term 2013
Taking Stock!
Hay McBer
• Teaching Skills and
Professional
Characteristics
(input measures)
• Classroom Climate
(Output measures)
Teachers drive Climate
Teachers need to
determine what they can
“input” into their daily
teaching and classroom
practice that will deliver
effect “output” scores in
terms of classroom
climate.
Power of Environment
The environment is the
foundation block for
establishing a clear
learning culture and
everything else builds
upon it. It sends out
powerful hidden messages
about what is valued and the
wider ethos of the school
Visiting two schools
Excellence and Enjoyment
Excellence and Enjoyment
(2003)
“The physical environment
has a significant influence
on learning. It gives children
clear messages about how
we value them and how we
value learning” (Part 3 p 56)
Sea View
Why does a
sea view room
in a hotel
command a
premium price
if environment
has no impact?
Britain in Bloom
Power of Displays
“Educational psychologists have found that
environment can have a large impact on
children's learning. There are classrooms that
alienate children and those that engage them,
and much research shows that children who feel
engaged in their classroom are more receptive.”
(www.Teachernet “Classroom Displays”)
Impact of Environment
“Research demonstrates that the learning
environment affects the engagement,
motivation, self-esteem, attendance,
wellbeing and achievement of students”
(Understanding and managing classroom space
Jane McGregor)
Hay McBer
“Pupil progress data from the primary
classes in the classroom climate study
correlated strongly with overall classroom
climate This suggests that a pleasant
physical environment is particularly
important for academic progress in
primary schools.”
(Teacher Effectiveness p30)
Peter Barratt’s Research
“A full 73 percent of the variation in pupil
performance driven at the class level can be
explained by the
building environment
factors.“
Peter Barrett
Salford University
Peter Barratt’s Research
“All other things being equal, a child in the best
environment could be expected to make two
SATs sub-levels more progress during a school
year than an equivalent child in the "poorest"
classroom environment. That equates to a whole
year's average improvement for a child in
reading, writing and maths”
(quote from The Guardian 25th April 2013)
All other things being equal
The “Broken Window Theory”.
In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
makes reference to the
“Broken Window
Theory”.
Philip Zimbardo (1969)
professor at Stanford
“The Two cars and
the Broken Windows”
The Essence of the theory
“it is not so much the actual broken
window that is important, but rather the
message the people receive from the
broken window.”
(Wikipedia – Broken
Windows Theory)
New York Transit company
In 1980 George Kelling
was hired by the New
York Transit company
• The blitz on graffiti
New York Transit company
In 1980 George Kelling
was hired by the New
York Transit company
• The blitz on graffiti
• The Fare dodgers
– 1 in 7 had an outstanding warrant for arrest
– 1 in 20 had a weapon
Result
As Galdwell points out; “after a while the bad
guys wised up, and
began to leave their
weapons at home
and pay their fares.”
All started by a
lick of paint!!
Broken Windows theory
“Broken Windows theory is based upon the
premise that an epidemic can be reversed, can
be tipped, by tinkering with the smallest details
of the immediate
environment”
(Gladwell, 2000, p. 146).
The Link into schools
“When secondary school children were asked
how they knew which teacher to play up in class
one of the key factors
that determined their
behaviour was
the state of the
teacher’s desk”
The Bookcase test
They say if you want to find out what a
man believes look at his bookcase and see
what he reads
The School in Bath
Quote
“Those schools that have books falling off the
shelves, with books laid on top of other books,
some with ripped covers, others with pages
falling out, give the
visitor a clear
impression of the
school, and the
culture”
“… write neatly in their books”
Effective learning does not occur
in arenas of dissonance
Quality produces quality
“Get rid of everything which is broken, has
pieces missing, or is worn and looks tatty.
Although this may seem ruthless, remember it is
impossible to create an ethos of respect for
resources if they are in a poor state of repair and
appear ‘unloved’
(High-quality environments for learning Pat
Brunton and Linda Thornton 2007)
OCD or Good Teaching?
“to ignore one piece of trash on the floor. . .one
shirt improperly tucked in, one fight between
kids, one bit of foul language, would send a
disastrous no-one-cares message”
(No Excuses,
Thernstrom, 2003)
The Reality is…
“We set standards by the environment we offer
to children” (Dean, 2001, p.197)
Power of the Cultural Message
A well cared for and attractive
environment sends powerful
messages about expectations,
and is“a potent influence on
how well students achieve
a range of desired
educational outcomes”
(Fraser, 1986, p.182).
Educational Warehouses
The First day of term
Visual Displays
“Using visual displays in classrooms breeds
success because 'students are provided
with specific examples of how success is
obtained”
(The effect of the physical
environment on teaching
and learning
Culp, B 2006:14).
Broken Window Theory
“Fixing broken windows and attending to the
physical appearance of a school cannot alone
guarantee productive teaching and learning,
ignoring them greatly increases the chances of a
troubling downward spiral.”
(An Application of the Broken Windows Theory, S
Plank, 2009)
Working Walls
What message do
they send out?
Working Walls
‘It gives the students a real sense of ownership
of the classroom in which they are taught, and
this being so, they will be more likely to respect
not just the school fabric, but also the learning
that takes place in the room they have
ownership over.’
Emotional ownership – Dr Who
Back to the Bookcase
The bookcase is “our” bookcase not only for us
to use this year but it is a bookcase that others
will use in the years after us, so why would we
not wish to look after the books upon it?
Care for the global environment
Care for the presentation of work
The power of “This is what we do around here”
Returning to Classroom Culture
“We are a tribal animal, which leads us to have
a deep need to belong to a group of some sort.
Conforming to group norms is a signal to the
other group
members that ‘
I am like you.”
David Straker
Solomon Asch (1950’s)
Solomon Asch (1950’s)
75% of the participants gave an incorrect answer
to at least one of the questions
Only 25% were willing to “go it alone”
Solomon Asch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F17JGDZDV
Us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player
_embedded&v=uuvGh_n3I_M
Cultural Messages
98.5% of
drivers drove
below 30 mph
in this zone
last month
Lady in the Burning Building
The Power of Display
“Displays are not just creating an aesthetic base
for the children to work in. They are delivering a
very powerful cultural message to the children
that “this is the way we do things around here”
They are laying down social markers that will
underpin what the class comes to believe and
accept as their cultural norm”
Cultural Expectations
We cannot expect children to put pencils back in
pencil pots if we leave coffee mugs on a
classroom display.
Cultural Expectations
We cannot ask children to clear away at the end
of the lesson, if some of the artefacts from
yesterday’s lesson
remained piled up
by the door waiting
to be returned to
the dungeon
Environment and Culture
The environment is a powerful driver; as it sets
the tone and is the visual backdrop for all the
learning that is undertaken in the class
A Final Quote
Malaguzzi, founder of the Regio Emilia schools,
wrote;
‘Education must come to be recognised as the
product of complex interactions, many of which
can be realised when the environment is a fully
participating element.’
(Malaguzzi, L, 1998 ‘History, Ideas and Basic
Philosophy’)