CHAPTER 8 TEACHING AND LEADERSHIP
6.3 CLASSROOM CLIMATE
179 Despite the fact that overt signs of servant leadership were not specifically apparent, the meeting of needs embraces a sense of service. Furthermore, such issues as realistic self- assessment, awareness of leadership principles, courage, dependability, generosity, foresight, systems thinking, and understanding personality types. These are hallmarks that may reasonably be expected to not appear during only twelve hours of observation. The teachers may well possess these hallmarks but they are hallmarks that do not necessarily find opportunity to be displayed in every lesson. (See Appendix D for a list of all the hallmarks and the number of times each was exhibited.)
Leadership occurs within a context and it is relational in that it involves those directly concerned. The importance of context for leadership studies has been noted by Duke (1998, p.
166), who writes:
Separating leadership from context is analogous to identifying the food one wants for dinner while ignoring where it is to be consumed.
Whether one chooses to eat a salad at a fast-food restaurant or a country inn can have a great bearing on the quality of the experience.
The significance of paying attention to classroom climate is considered next, as it is thought to be an important contributor to how leadership occurs in the teaching-and-learning process.
180 The importance of a learning-and-teaching environment was documented by Plato, who recognised that a problem of education was to learn how to provide each individual pupil with the most suitable kind of environment for learning (Curtis and Boultwood, 1953).
Climate, in an organisational sense, is governed by an organisation’s rules of conduct. It helps when everyone understands what to do and what not to do; “organisational culture is also descriptive, telling of the organisation’s uniqueness and identity” (Kets de Vries, 2006a, p.
159).
In the context of the classroom and teaching, Glasser (1998b, p. 18) comments as follows on the importance of a warm and supportive environment to classroom climate:
Quality schoolwork, and the quality life that results from it, can only be achieved in a warm supportive classroom environment. It cannot exist if there is an adversarial relationship between those who teach and those who are asked to learn.
In the teaching-and-learning situations that I observed, there was a positive classroom climate in that the classrooms were bright, warm and inviting. They were also well lit, child friendly, child-centred, colourful and conducive to positive pupil interaction. They were places that allowed room for mistakes and encouraged risk-taking. They also allowed room for challenging tasks that will extend the ability of the pupils to think and solve problems. There was, furthermore, expectancy with regard to the pupils’ abilities that was both positive and optimistic.
It was apparent in the notes I made about the classrooms of the four teachers observed for this study that all these teachers had given considerable and ongoing attention to the elements that have an impact upon the climate of one’s classroom:
Topaz 1’s classroom: A busy, noisy atmosphere prevails; children talk freely and enjoy the activity, but are positively occupied.
Sapphire 1’s classroom: Classroom is well decorated with pupils’
work. A sign in the front of the class reads: “I am, I can, I will.” […].
Teacher smiles a lot as she goes about the lesson.
181 All four of the observed teachers maintained an active pace to their lessons, thereby holding the attention and interest of their pupils. They spiced up their lessons with interesting comments and with humour, and they continuously provided the pupils with directions with regard to the desired outcomes of the lesson.
An extract of the transcript of a lesson taught by Ruby 1, together with notes and comments, is set out as Appendix L. This transcript describes a climate that has been deliberately contrived so as to be inviting (an airy, well-lit classroom, the teacher greets children), cheerful (teacher greets children cheerfully, teacher jokes with the class, smiles, constantly jokes), structured (formal greeting, “we are doing practicals today”), organised (teacher distributes notes, question and answer about previous work), controlled (“don’t shout out”) and focused on the pupils (teacher affirms positive answers, clear demonstration and explanation). These are factors designed to contribute to a climate that will be conducive to growth and learning.
Comments that were made by the various respondents either in the interviews or after the observed lessons helped amplify and supplement my observations. Three examples follow to illustrate this point:
I try to make my lessons as lively and as vibrant as possible so [the children] don’t get bored. (Topaz 1)
I like to think of my class as an environment, and I aim to help the children reach their full potential. (Opal 8)
If you can do that [i.e. create a positive environment], all the other forms and goals of leadership have to fall into place. (Diamond 1)
Issues that impact on the development of a positive classroom climate include: classroom ecology, making learning fun, the teacher’s expectations, the relationship factor, and emotional intelligence. I will now examine each of these in turn.
182 6.3.1 Classroom ecology
Ecology involves the study of relationships as they occur between an environment and its organisms (Handy, 1976, p. 133). All human activity takes place in some type of environment, albeit a physical, psychological or sociological one. The environments in which both leadership and teaching occur affect personal attitudes and behaviours. To organise, manipulate or in any way change an environment is in itself an act of influence and leadership. Paying attention to the way things are done in an organisation (ecology) is a positive and powerful method to draw out desirable behaviours and attitudes (Handy, 1976). Leadership that creates an environment for cooperation and joint effort has, in a positive sense, been cited as “control by ecology”
(Handy, 1976, p. 248).
By paying attention to classroom ecology, one can provide opportunities that promote individual and collaborative efforts. Such oppor tunities can be cultivated when one offers appropriate rewards and also makes an effort to affirm, confirm and recognise others’
successes. It was noted how, in Diamond 1’s classes, classroom rules, understandings and agreements provided the boys with a sense of security, thus contributing to a more positive classroom environment:
I have seen with boys, more so than with girls, they want their boundaries up front. They want to know why we are doing it, how we are going to do it, how we are going to end it. They want predicability in their lives. (Diamond 1)
Sapphire 1, for example, spoke to her pupils during one of the observed lessons about the parameters that needed to be set in place in order for them all to deal with a forthcoming period of disruptive irregularity. She spoke to them as follows:
Teacher: “Over the next few weeks there will be a lot of going to the hall and coming back to class. We must know where to draw the line.
When we come back to class we must have time to do the class work […]. We need to leave all our excitement at the door; do you think you will be able to handle that over the next three weeks?”
183 The importance of providing such positive ecology was recognised by all of the teachers with whom I had individual interviews. Ruby 1 described her experience of fostering a positive ecology as such:
You have got to have your environment set up so that you can, not control, but have the ability to get done what you have to have done.
Practical things like make them line up, come in this way – hands up if you want to speak, that type of thing… once they have got that established they learn to laugh and joke.
Topaz 3 discusses below the inter-connected nature of classroom ecology and speaks of how certain aspects of leadership (i.e. communication, inspiration, values and vision) work together to produce positive outcomes:
The teacher has to walk into that classroom and develop a specific dynamic for that group of people to make it successful. The relations between them, the parameters between them, the way that you communicate, that whole thing has to work like a unit – so there is inspiration, there’s communication, there’s values, there’s organisation, there’s vision – then that whole thing can work together.
Respondents from the film-stimulus focus group noted Jamie Escalante’s unusual yet effective way of dealing with classroom ecology in the film Stand and Deliver as follows:
He was not going to raise his voice, he was not going to throw things at them, he was not going to retaliate physically; but he would state a parameter when he felt it was necessary. It was not starting with a list of do’s and don’ts – he was meeting them where they were at.
(Amethyst 2)
The whole approach is very calm. (Amethyst 3)
Ecology covers a wide range of factors that influence environment and consequently behaviour and performance, and is thus of importance to understanding the leader’s role. Those factors
184 that can contribute to a positive classroom environment include: safety, security, comfort, noise, light, air, attractive room decoration, class size, seating patterns, segregation and communication opportunities, control, variety, interaction, participation, a sense of both responsibility and autonomy, a system of recognition and reward, the design and delivery of the curriculum, and the curriculum itself. Notes from the lesson observation transcripts that were made for this study included the following commentaries, which illustrate that attention has been paid by these teachers to their classroom ecology in order that they might be comfortable for the pupils to use:
Diamond1’s classroom: Well-resourced classroom, smart board.
Large, airy and well lit.
Ruby 1’s classroom: Very hot day, afternoon period – fans in the classroom are on, and windows open.
It is often practical to simply remove any factors that may have a detrimental effect on the ecology of a classroom. For example, open the windows in an airless room. Another example, as can be seen below, shows how one respondent changed the class positions for the sake of a child who needed to be nearer to the front so as to see the board more clearly:
Teacher [to child who is reading from the smart board]: “Come closer if you can’t see clearly. Don’t worry; I also have to read from close up.” (Topaz 1)
Topaz 1 also illustrated a willingness to alter the pattern of a lesson presentation so as to encourage greater participation on the part of the pupils:
Pupil [reading]: “Without the cerebellum you would not be able to stand and balance on one foot.”
Teacher [interjecting]: “Stand up!” [All pupils stand quickly.] “Okay, as I count to ten all must balance on one foot – one, two […] ten.
Okay, what part of the brain were you using?”
185 According to this same teacher, proactive teachers are those teachers who will ensure that they create any positive factors that do not exist or exist insufficiently and that are necessary if one is to maximise the potential for teaching and learning. She spoke as follows on this subject:
Teachers need to create the learning environment that children can learn from. A teacher can go through all the motions, but unless the environment is right, the children will not learn.
All of the observed respondents demonstrated their recognition of the importance of a positive classroom environment through the attention each has paid to their classroom’s ecology.
Although the importance of classroom environment was discussed in the one-on-one interviews, individual issues (such as class size, comfort, the lighting, the room’s airiness, the lack of disturbing noises, safety and security) received only a few comments. In practice, however, all the classes that were observed operate under optimum conditions. The following three examples come from the limited store of comments that reveal the respondents’
awareness of these individual issues:
You have got to have a positive atmosphere in here and the girls [pupils] must know. It starts with how I greet them, and they greet me and I usually smile at them. I don’t just go to my desk and say, “Sit down”. They know from how I behave that I do respect them and I care about them. (Ruby 1)
A teacher can go through all the motions, but unless the environment is right, the children will not learn, I am big on creating a warm environment – so the children will want to come to school, because they feel confident, they feel secure. (Topaz 1)
She [i.e. the teacher in the film that was viewed as part of a film- stimulus focus group] creates a safe, warm, caring, loving, learning environment in which each student’s opinion counts; each one has a voice, and has much value. (Ruby 5)
In commenting on the classroom depicted in the film Freedom Writers, focus group respondents noted the security that the pupils clearly felt in the classroom depicted. The teacher
186 in the film treated them with warm respect, supported them and offered them freedom from fear, each of which is also a feature of security. The respondents discussed this aspect of classroom ecology as follows:
The kids said, “This is our home.” They want to feel safe, to feel there is somewhere you feel care and secure – and she provided those. (Diamond 5)
The security too is not about burglar guards, it is about walking into a classroom and knowing there is going to be honesty, there is going to be support. That is the safety and security the kids need and want, and I can’t see why that can’t be re-created in different forms from classroom to classroom …. That teacher created a safe environment for those youngsters. (Diamond 2)
People do want to express themselves, and are often too scared to express themselves. So when you are in a classroom environment it is important that they can ask questions without being shot down and they can express themselves – kids want to know things but they will not ask if it is not safe. (Diamond 5)
Coetzee and Jansen (2007, p. 1) describe the environment in which children learn as “a critically important means for providing the conditions and experiences required for learners to perform at a higher intellectual level.” The responses recorded above indicate how teacher leadership in the classroom contributes towards the creation of such an environment. The second aspect of classroom climate that will be considered is the enjoyment of learning.
6.3.2 Learning can be fun
The word ‘school’ is derived from the Greek word schole, which means ‘leisure’ (Collins Westminster Dictionary, 1969) and as such suggests freedom from work and business and having unhurried, free time. “The classroom should be a place for light hearts, as well as serious minds.” (Banner and Cannon, 1997, p. 121) A powerful instinct that exists in all mankind is “the love of play […], if you can get [sic] a class of thirty youngsters […] a reason