Towards Creating a Classroom Culture

Everything in this life is a journey. To prepare for thisjourney you need to identify where you are, your destination, the stations ormilestones you’ll come across, the equipment and tools you’ll need and themeans of transport you’ll take. If you have a chance to select all the crew orthe passengers, that’ll be great, but you know that is farfetched. To decidethe course of the journey you may need a guide to help you along with theothers on board to draw a roadmap showing all the alternative routes to yourintended destination, or to be more exact series of destinations, because it isnever one destination; it’s rather one destination leading to another. During the journey, you are prepared for the predictable;meanwhile you have to be ready to deal with the unpredictable as well. Thisinteraction between the predictable and unpredictable, though rather hectic andtroublesome at times, is what gives the remarkable sweet taste of the journey.If the weather forecast says the weather will be fine, this does not mean excludingthe fact that the weather may turn completely different. What is a journey withoutits ups and downs? After reaching each destination or station, you need totake a little time to take a deep breath and look back to learn your lessons; tomake sure you are better equipped for the next trip. Even during the journey itself,you may take some time to turn things over. It’s an ongoing process; it neverstops. Since learning and teaching are a journey, you as ateacher need to get prepared for this journey, the means of which is bycreating a classroom culture. Creating a classroom culture requires a number ofthings. First, you as a teacher must KNOW YOURSELF: your thoughts, feelings,abilities, limitations and above all your mission as a teacher. Next, you needto KNOW YOUR STUDENTS. I don’t mean to know their names only , but to knowtheir interests, needs and ambitions as well. Knowing yourself and yourstudents can be of great value in selecting the appropriate tools andstrategies to initiate interactive classrooms where everyone is engaged andeveryone is respected for whoever they are. Just like any other culture , in a classroom culture thereshould be learners who share experiences, habits , values and goals. Increating such culture the overall goal is to help learners reach their HIGHESTpotential with the most possible means. Nevertheless, anyone’s potential is anunfathomable well that is nurtured by the springs of passion, perseverance and will,each of which knows no limits. Thus the highest potential is actually limitlessin its very essence, yet we try to help the students dig as deep as possiblewithin the constraints of time , place and available tools. In addition to the abovementioned, you as a teacher needto create a secure and safe environment for the students, who need to live in atension-free atmosphere, hence a further step towards building rapport betweenthe teacher and the students on the one hand , and between the studentsthemselves on the other. Imagine a class where the students are afraid all thetime, or where the students are foreign to one another! To build and maintainsuch rapport, the students need to know and feel that they affiliate with theother ones in the class. This can be attained when you initiate activities thatrequire students’ cooperation, given the fact that each student has a set ofprior experiences that are both common and unique at the same time. The first classroom periods are extremely crucial insetting the scene for creating a culture of successful learners. This initialstage may require reaching an agreement on a code of ethics that governs all,students and teachers alike. This code of ethics should be based on a number ofvalues that are agreed upon; such values may include respect, honesty,cleanliness and hard work. Part of such code may also contain encouragingstudents to take risks and never be afraid to make mistakes. Besides, in theculture building process, students are supposed to be familiar with thehabitual classroom practices which start with the activation stage , movingthrough the other stages of presentation , practice and production. Thesepredictable practices will necessarily comprise unpredictable ones, just tomaintain greater variety , hence higher students’ motivation and increasingopportunities to stir their creativity. The main purpose of setting a classroom culture is to helpstudents identify their expectations and accordingly the desired behaviours andattitudes inside the classroom and out. Moreover, the classroom culture is neverdevoid of the school culture, the country's culture or even the global culture.As a result, the links between these overlapping cultures should always come tothe surface to maintain the authenticity and relevance of everything thathappens. When the students with the help of the teacher agree on the groundrules, desired performances are encouraged and rewarded , while undesired onesare taken care of. The teacher should be compassionate yet firm at the sametime. To strike a balance between these two extremes is extremely crucial tomaintain a successful classroom management. For example, when homework is set ,students know in advance what the teacher will do for those who do it and thosewho don't . If one of the students does not do his/her homework for the secondor third time, then what happens? This should be declared and committed to. Creating a classroom culture necessitates effective collaborativeplanning, implementation and evaluation. This means each stage of culturebuilding should be accompanied by continuous feedback to identify the pointsof strengths and weaknesses , which ,when taken care of, will hopefully lead to more effective learning . Who said teaching is easy ? It's NOT. Well, it is ratherhectic and increasingly demanding; just like any other journey in this life.But what makes the difference is how to transform this journey into andadventure where the predictable and the unpredictable blend to createunforgettable sweet delicious moments that are engraved into one's memory;moments that transcend the turbulences of the present towards a higherincomprehensible power ………..What is this power ?!!!! When you reach there, you’ll know ! Bassam Saleh Dec 29, 2011