You are now in Unit 2. Classroom culture. Introduction
A. The intention of this Unit is to..
- explore three aspects of the Teachers’ Palette framework – Relating, Talking and Celebrating and their impact on classroom culture.
- deepen your understanding of the 4 key learning behaviours – Perseverance, Questioning, Collaboration, Revising . .
This content builds on what you discovered about your students’ learning characteristics in Unit 1 and suggests interventions tailored to particular levels of learner development.
B. The best way of tackling this Unit is to..
Read sections 2A, 2B and 2C to gain an overview of the Teachers’ Palette and the 3 aspects – Relating, Talking and Celebrating. As you read, consider which of these aspects of classroom culture are already in evidence in your classroom.
Then explore the interactive navigation grid in section 2D. Start with the dark green ‘Discovering’ cells, before homing in on the suggestions for your own students’ levels of learning development (this is informed by your research in finding your students’ learning characteristics in Unit 1, section 1E, Finding Learning Characteristics).
As you read, try to pick out several little shifts your classroom culture might benefit from. Plan to put one into action every couple of weeks and note the positives or negatives of making such a change.
Timing. While reading and exploring sections 2A, 2B and 2C may take an hour or two, the bigger task is to begin to integrate some ideas into your everyday practice. It’s worth taking a term or three months over this ‘integrating’ phase, as you trial ideas, undertake small enquiries, evaluate impact, talk with colleagues, and slowly begin to make your classroom increasingly learning-friendly. Remember – culture shift takes time!
Unit 2, Team Meeting 1. (One month after starting unit 2)
Unit 2, Team Meeting 2. (Two months after starting unit 2)
C. As a result it should have the following impact.
Your classroom will be well on the way to being able to cultivate learning behaviours – it is about readying your classroom culture for intentionally blending content with learning behaviours, which we tackle in Unit 3.
You are now in Unit 2 Introduction
Use the Unit Navigation Bar to move from unit to unit.
| Overview: Playing the Learning Power Game | Unit 1: Understanding Learning and Cultures | Unit 2: Classroom Cultures | Unit 3: Constructing Learning | Unit 4: Broadening the range |
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Building a learning-friendly classroom culture
Using your students’ learning profiles
Recently you used the progression charts and discovered lots of interesting, and previously unknown, details about your students as learners; the warp of learning. You are starting this work on classroom culture from the privileged and unusual position of knowing quite a lot about your students’ starting points.
Armed with this unique information you can now turn your attention to the weft of Learning Power; how best to craft your classroom culture and learning activities to strengthen and grow students’ learning habits.
Enabling classroom cultures
The Teachers’ Palette
If we want our children to become better learners we first need to offer them more opportunities to use and cultivate their learning behaviours. This involves shifting the culture of your classroom so that it systematically cultivates the positive learning habits and attitudes of your students. ‘Culture’ is about all the little habits, routines and practices that implicitly convey ‘what we believe and value round here’; where, hour by hour, day by day, term by term students experience the values and practices that are embodied in the school.
While there are four aspects of the teachers’ palette, this section deals with three; relating, talking and celebrating. These aspects of classroom culture can apply to any classroom. [The fourth aspect of classroom culture, constructing (lesson design) is dealt with in detail in Unit 3.]
- Section 2A explores Relating for Learning
- Section 2B explores Talking for Learning
- Section 2C explores Celebrating Learning
- And section 2D, the substantial part of Unit 2, offers a catalogue of teaching ideas to trial in your classroom.
You are now in Unit 2 Introduction
Use the Section Navigation Bar below to find your way around the sections of unit 2.
| Return to Unit 2: Classroom Cultures | Section 2A: Relating for Learning | Section 2B: Talking for Learning | Section 2C: Celebrating Learning | Section 2D: Readying your classroom culture |
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