module 3 the learning environment - UNRWA

Newly Appointed Teacher (NAT) Programme

module 3the learning environment

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NAT qualifying programme - module 3

AcknowledgementsUNRWA HQA would like to thank writers in the Five Fields for their valuable input, LFO for their continuous support and UNICEF for their generous funding, all three of which allowed for the successful development of the NAT programme.

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Contents

Introduction to module 3....................................................................................................................1

Unit 1: Building strong communication to support deeper learning............................. 3

Learning outcomes........................................................................................................................3Talk and learning.............................................................................................................................4Developing speaking and listening skills for learning.....................................................9

Summary......................................................................................................................................16

Unit 2: Developing a positive classroom environment and ethos..................................17

Learning outcomes.....................................................................................................................17The use of displays for a positive classroom environment...........................................18Working in more challenging situations..............................................................................24

Summary..........................................................................................................................................30

Unit 3: Managing behaviour............................................................................................................31

Learning outcomes.....................................................................................................................32Developing clear expectations ...............................................................................................37Inclusive language and teaching..........................................................................................42Working with other personnel.................................................................................................46Summary.......................................................................................................................................48

Unit 4: Using the local environment............................................................................................49Learning outcomes.....................................................................................................................49Extending the classroom experience...................................................................................49The extended classroom – bringing the outside in.........................................................51Health and safety when using the local environment..............................................55The extended classroom – taking students into the community...............................55Inviting visitors into the school...............................................................................................61Summary......................................................................................................................................64

Module 3 assessment tasks..............................................................................................................65Content task...................................................................................................................................65Practical task..................................................................................................................................65

icontents


ii NAT qualifying programme - module 3


Introduction to module 3

Welcome to Module 3, which looks more closely at the supportive and dynamic learning environment you are trying to achieve in the classroom.

It is easy to detect a vibrant and effective classroom when you walk into one, because you can see and hear the talk, animation and action that is happening in front of you. But discerning what factors have contributed to such a positive environment is not always easy, although you can make intelligent guesses about some aspects. For ex-ample, there must have been some good planning beforehand. Ensuring that all the equipment, personnel and resources are in the right place at the right time is crucial to success. But good organization alone does not make for a successful classroom, activity or lesson. There are many dynamics at work that can have a significant impact on the ethos and atmosphere of any classroom. These can be grouped into the following areas:

• organization• planning• teaching and learning strategies• management• monitoring and evaluation• ethos and relationships

You have already examined a number of issues related to each of these headings, in-cluding ways to enhance the physical layout of the classroom, some classroom routines and strategies to make the learning experience more interactive for the students and ways to reflect on what has been successful.

The Units of Module 3 all consider ways of developing the classroom environment and ethos. By ‘classroom ethos’, we mean the way everything that takes place within the classroom works together to provide an environment that supports the best learning possible.

By the end of this Module, you should have developed your: • ability to build and support good communication skills • ability to work with the students to build and develop a positive and supportive

classroom ethos• skills in managing behavior in ways that support all the students and help them

achieve• understanding of ways to use the local environment to enhance learning

1introduction


Developing effective communication is key to developing a good positive atmosphere in the classroom. Unit 1 starts by looking at how interactive working relies on students being able to talk, listen and communicate with each other sensitively. It examines ways to use talk to support deeper learning that can help both you, the teacher, and the students.

Unit 2 will introduce more ideas and suggestions to develop the physical aspects of the classroom by involving students in the discussion, rationale, design and educational value of, among other things, display.

Unit 3 will explore positive ways of managing students’ behaviour in ways that en-able students to develop their inner locus of control for their own actions. By planning well-structured lessons that are based on students’ needs, interest and abilities, you will engage students in the lessons and so reduce the potential for them to act inappropri-ately during lessons by becoming restless and ‘off task’.

Unit 4 reaches out beyond the physical boundaries of the classroom to explore ways of using the local environment, by either taking the students out or bringing in experts from the local community to share their knowledge.

As always, through Case Studies and Activities, you will have the opportunity to widen your repertoire of ways of working, and strategies that involve working in the wider community will extend your students’ learning and development as citizens.

2 NAT qualifying programme - module 3


3

Unit 1: Building strong communication to support deeper learning

The kind of classroom ethos you want to develop for the students, and yourself, is something that you began to think about from the very start of this programme. This first Unit in Module 3 explores different ways of working to help students develop their speaking and listening skills so that they are more able to explore ideas and build up their understanding.

Students are the most important people to involve in developing and supporting a good classroom ethos. Students are perceptive, can easily sense what is going on in the classroom and can respond to the values and interactions that pervade it. Keeping these interactions positive – with the use of praise, celebrating achievements and en-couraging students to talk and help each other – will contribute to a positive classroom ethos.

Learning outcomes By the end of this Unit, you should have developed your:

• understanding of the importance of effective communication in the classroom• ability to help the students develop skills in speaking and listening • own skills in speaking and listening sensitively to your students and using the

information to aid their learning

When you walk into a classroom, it is often easy to gauge whether the students are interested and involved in what they are doing. This can be, not least, because their faces show this – even if they are just sitting and listening to someone speaking about a topic. Alternatively, students and teacher may be asking and responding to questions with enthusiasm or talking earnestly to each other about their work. How do you think such an atmosphere, where the students are able to interact and speak so effectively, can be developed? What is it you think that enabled this outcome?

Given what is known about how students learn and the need to stimulate the brain in many ways, it is important to consider how each dimension of the classroom and its people interact – and interact for the better – to enhance student learning. It is often a blend of many things. Having been teaching and studying on the NAT programme for some time now, you will have become more aware of what is happening in the classroom. You will know the students better, some more than others, and have begun to develop an understanding of their abilities, interests and needs, and their skills in communicating their ideas clearly to you and their classmates. You will have tried some strategies to engage the students more actively in their learning and seen the effect on them – and maybe on yourself – in terms of response, interest and achievement.

unit 1


Talk and learning A key dynamic for you, as a teacher participating in the NAT programme, is the place of talk in your work. Talking with your peers and with more experienced colleagues will stimulate your thinking about what you want and do not want the classroom environ-ment to be like or what kind of teacher you want to be. The importance of dialogue cannot be overemphasized, in both your learning journey and that of each of the stu-dents you teach.

So far, the programme has focused on the strategies that facilitate talk by allowing stu-dents to work together, in pairs and groups. It has examined ways of using question-ing to stimulate thinking, but has yet to explore how to help students develop their speaking and listening skills so that they can participate better in dialogues that enable deeper exploration of their and others’ ideas and understanding.

The first Activity in this Module asks you to reflect on the way that your students inter-act and talk with each other, and whether this has improved over the last few weeks.

Activity 1: How do my students communicate in the classroom?Firstly, pause for a few minutes and think what your classroom is like most days. Is it a vibrant and engaging place to be? If so, what strategies or other factors contribute to this? Think beyond your own planning, even though this is a crucial factor, to identify other elements that you think can impact strongly on the quality of the lesson and its outcomes. How do your students respond and interact with each other, especially when you have tried using pair and group work?

Secondly, list in your course notebook the strengths that your students have when it comes to talking and sharing ideas with each other. What areas do you think could be developed further to help them become more competent at expressing their ideas and listening more actively to their peers?

Thirdly, think about any aspects of your organization, planning of lessons and teaching that you would like to work on to help the students improve their communication skills. Does the way you organize the class and resources within the lesson impact on how they are able – or not – to talk coherently about topics? Do the kinds of questions you or the students ask, or the different ways of working that you use impact on their talk in lessons? If so, how? Are there other factors that can make a difference as to whether any talk contributes more or less to a lesson’s success? If so, what are these? Write your thoughts down and any suggestions about how you might help the students improve their communication skills.



CommentAt the beginning, when you taught your first few lessons, your focus would have been on yourself. You would have made sure that you had a plan, that each plan had enough things for you and the students to do, that you were able to speak to the class with confidence and able to manage behaviour. It is likely that encouraging the students to talk would not have been to the fore at the beginning, as you may well have thought that risking too much talk would mean you lost control. This is only natural at this early stage of your career as a teacher. It is hoped that the anxiety has reduced as you have seen what has worked and you have become more confident about your role. So now you should be able to look at the wider impact of what you do and its impact on the students.

When you talk with other teachers participating in the NAT programme or with your more experienced colleagues, you will find they each had similar worries to you about different aspects of their work when they started teaching. They may even share how they resolved some of their problems and from whom they sought help. Sharing ideas and talking about ways to refine what you do will help you greatly in gaining confi-dence and ideas about how to develop your classroom and teaching.

The first few months of teaching are very much about confidence: your confidence and building up the students’ confidence in you as a teacher and themselves as learn-ers. Talking and sharing ideas and concerns with your peers and colleagues highlights how important such discussion and exchange of ideas are. They help you to think more deeply about what you are doing in the classroom and why. Building up your own con-fidence and the kind of presence you want to have in the classroom will help you widen your thinking about what you want to be like as a teacher. And the kind of classroom atmosphere you want to establish for the students’ needs to help students think about what they are learning and think about themselves as learners. So, asking yourself how important talk is to your learning will show how important it will be to all of the stu-dents you teach.

Before you try Activity 2, read Case study 1, in which Ahmed decided he needed to ob-serve his class at work and listen to them speaking in class, in pairs and groups. As you read, note how he identifies what the problems are and then involves his students in finding solutions to the problems.

5unit 1


Case study 1: Evaluating students’ confidence in speaking in groups

Ahmed is an Arabic teacher of Grade 5 students in Lebanon.

Ahmed had decided to reflect on the groups he had established in the first week of his teaching as he was concerned that some of his students were not as confident when asked to work and talk in groups and he wanted to try and find out why. He had set these groups up on the ad-vice of a more experienced peer and was very grateful because they had worked well in many ways. However, he had noticed that some of the students seemed to move reluctantly into groups and that once in the groups they were not participating in the discussions with confi-dence.

As he moved around the class observing and listening, Ahmed noticed that some of the reluctant students were not encouraged or in some cases ‘allowed’ to speak in their groups. Ahmed was not sure if this was deliberate, but over time he realized that the stronger members of the group dominated any talk and often ignored or rejected other students’ offerings, not thinking that their contribution might help the group task.

Ahmed decided that first he should remind the whole class about the accepted ways of working in groups and to encourage them to work at these. Over the next week or two, he continued to watch and listen carefully.

After two weeks, Ahmed asked the students what they thought were the best parts of the group work and also to name any problems. He explained that he wanted them to be honest and that no one would get into trouble for saying what was not working. He asked them to think on their own whether the groups were working well and if they all felt able to speak and be heard when they had something they wanted to say. If they thought the groups did not work well, he asked that they considered why and what could be done to help so that everyone could share ideas more easily and comfortably.

He gave the students time to do the task and then collected in their ideas, saying he would speak to them about the outcomes in the next lesson.

The next day, having read and analysed their comments, Ahmed gave each student a copy of a sheet that summarized his analysis. It showed that many students thought that one or two people sometimes dominated the conversations and did not let others finish what was being said before they spoke over them.



Most students were better at speaking than listening, except for the quiet members of the class who were not given a chance to speak at all. Many students, it was said, thought that most of their classmates were only interested in what they wanted to say.

Ahmed then asked the class to think individually about the list and what could be done quickly to improve these interactions. After a few minutes, he asked them to talk with the person sitting next to them and share their ideas. He asked them to listen carefully to each other and agree which two or three ideas could be addressed first and would make the most difference in improving their discussions. Ahmed then facilitated the feedback, stressing to the students that they listen carefully to each idea suggested, which he listed on the board. He allowed them to comment on these ideas, but explained they had to be sensitive and constructive in how they did this. Finally, he asked the class to vote on which three suggestions they would work on first. They agreed on:

• helping each other to listen more carefully and sensitively to each other • encouraging the quieter students to participate• taking turns when talking

Ahmed liked their list and promised that he would plan some of their ideas into the next few lessons, perhaps using games to help practise various techniques. He also promised that after a few weeks they would review the impact of the changes made to see if they had made things better.

CommentBringing about useful changes in ways of working and extending students’ skills is not necessarily a quick process, especially if you want to take the students along with you. However, involving them in the process of change is crucial. Ahmed’s approach made life in the classroom easier for both him and the students, and both parties had own-ership of the changes. Over the next few weeks, he noticed the games he introduced improved their communication skills in their group work. But what he had also noticed was how much more supportive the students were of each other and would even give praise and encouragement to those who were normally quieter. Ahmed was delighted to see the students grow in confidence as they took on the responsibility of supporting each other and he also saw new friendships developing. What pleased him most of all was how much more the students seemed to understand from their discussions.

7unit 1


8

Involving students in changes to the way the classroom works can make a real difference.

Now try Activity 2, which asks you to think how you might plan and implement ways to help the students you teach develop their skills of working and communicating in groups.

Activity 2: Planning and implementing ways to improve classroom communicationUsing your responses from Activity 1, choose the areas you would like to develop with your students. Select one or two strategies that you think might help the students to develop their speaking and listening skills and think, as Ahmed did, if you could include the students in the process. Think about the following questions:

• How do you want to do this? Is it a short or long process?• Will you involve the students? If so, how? Will you involve them in the planning as

well as in the implementation?• How will you introduce the idea of developing their skills? • How will you monitor the success or not?



9unit 1

Developing speaking and listening skills for learning Spoken language skills do not develop just because students are placed in situations, such as in pairs or groups, where they are expected to talk. These skills need to be taught and to be practised through active tasks. Guidance needs to be given on how to communicate effectively.

Simple instructions or systems that make students take turns or answer questions after listening to what is being said can encourage students to listen more attentively. For example, asking students to listen for specific responses when listening to an article being read out loud and then recalling these when asked encourages them to listen in a definite way to find the answers. Games that require students to take turns to achieve a collective outcome will also help them to refine their speaking and listening skills. The power of talk to stimulate and extend thinking has to be nurtured. This can also be done through simple activities, such as brainstorming. As you know, brainstorming (linking ideas and thoughts together in response to a word or a question) is an easy activity that necessitates students having to listen to each other and can encourage deeper thinking.

Educational games can help develop students’ language skills.

The next Case study describes how a NAT programme teacher tries to encourage her class to talk – not just for the sake of talking, but so they actively listen and respond appropriately and sensitively to each other.



Case study 2: Developing dialogue in the classroom

Maha is a NAT programme teacher who teach-es a Grade 8 class in Jordan.

Maha was keen to encourage her students to talk more to share their ideas and explore what they understood about an issue or topic. She had tried using group work when she asked them to debate a scenario where the Govern-ment should or should not build a port in either site A or B, but she found that the students all wanted to speak at once and so she had to stop them. She tried to encourage them to take turns and let them continue the task, and while this made it better for some groups, Maha could see there were others who found it easier to let others speak.

Maha stopped the class and changed the task from talking in groups to the students working on their own to make their own decision and then listing their reasons for choosing site A or B. She had already given a sheet to each student that provided infor-mation about the advantages and disadvantages of each site for the discussion, but now Maha asked the class to use the sheet to sort out their own ideas. This activity last-ed until the end of the lesson and Maha asked them to finish the task for homework if necessary. Maha said that in the next lesson they would share their own ideas with their group and then decide as a group where the best place to build the new port would be.

Before the next lesson, Maha thought carefully about how to help build her students’ skills at talking, listening, and challenging and accepting each other’s ideas. She decided to play a game with a ball; only when the ball was in their hand could a student speak.

At the start of the next lesson, Maha had the class sit in a circle. She gave the ball to one student and asked her to say what she liked doing best after school and why. This student then passed the ball to the student next to her, who had to respond to what had been said and also to say what she herself liked to do after school, before passing the ball to the next in line. The students realized that they had to listen to what the previous speaker had said so that they could respond before they made their own comment.

When everybody had had at least one turn, Maha stopped the game and highlighted how they had had to listen and respond before making their own comment when work-ing in their groups.

Next, Maha returned to the port topic and asked the groups to consider the advantages and disadvantages as they discussed their own ideas together. She asked each group to appoint a leader to ensure that each person who wanted to speak was listened to.


11

Another group member was appointed as the scribe who recorded the decision the group made and why.

Maha asked each group to report back briefly on their decision. She recorded on the board their decisions and their reasons. Having discussed the results with the class, she asked the group to talk together for a few minutes about whether their discussion today was better than in the previous lesson, and if so, how and why? It was interesting for Maha that the groups felt that the game they had played first and then having people taking responsibility for different aspects of the group’s work helped them to be more cooperative, listen more attentively and speak in turn.

CommentMaha‘s initial planning to encourage her students to talk was only partially successful because, as she reflected, she had not realized how little experience they had had at talking about their work in lessons and sharing their own ideas. The result was noisy and disorganized and meant that although many students wanted to talk, they were doing so without waiting their turn or listening to what others were saying. At the same time, there were some students who failed to contribute at all.

To improve their skills, Maha started by using a simple game to familiarize them with the etiquette of talking in groups. It can take time for students to become comfortable with working in this way, but Maha felt the time invested was important. Of course, as schools become more interactive overall, from the youngest students to the eldest, this training will not be needed as much, as students will have acquired the necessary skills.

A game where students can only speak when holding a ball can teach them listening skills.

unit 1


Good communication skills are vital for students to be able to participate fully in their education and achieve their potential. It is also important that they can express their worries and concerns, whether these are related to their schoolwork or to wider issues such as unrest in the community or at home. You need to get to know the students you teach well, so that you can support their learning and also support them at other times of need.

Articulating feelings and ideas can be very hard for students if they have not been en-couraged to talk about their work or their feelings and fears either at home or at school. Talking and listening well are very important tools for learning, emotional develop-ment and general mental health. As a teacher, your focus in the first place is on the educational dimension, but by working to develop the students’ skills in speaking and listening, you will help all of them be able to express themselves more coherently in a range of areas and contexts. The next Activity asks you to think about and try ways to help students speak and listen better.

Activity 3:Enhancing speaking and listening skillsBegin by reading Resource 14: Strategies to develop speaking and listening skills in the classroom. Then, over the next day or two, spend some time observing and listening to all the students more closely as you move around the classroom. Do not change how you normally work – just listen and observe. As you observe, note down the things indi-vidual students do well, for example speaking clearly, being able to explain their ideas or responding sensitively to the ideas of others. Note down also any areas where you think some students need more opportunities to develop their speaking and listening skills.

Do not pick too many aspects to focus on at any one time. Identify the first area for de-velopment and look at the list of possible games or strategies you could use (or devise your own) to help the students learn to listen and speak more sensitively. Plan a time to do this in the next week. Plan what you will do and gather any resources you might need. Think how you will decide that the activity has been successful and the kind of evidence you will need to confirm a positive result.

As soon as you can after teaching the lesson, write a reflection. Use the questions below to help you evaluate the effectiveness of the lesson and the students’ outcomes.

• Did the students enjoy the activity?• Did they all participate in the activity? If not, who was not as engaged? Can you

think why this was? Could you have helped them to be more involved? If so how? • Did the activity achieve the outcome you wanted in terms of speaking and/or

listening skills? What evidence could you give to support your claims?



• Do the students need more exercises like this to extend their speaking and listen-ing skills?

• What other kinds of activities do you think will help? When will you try these and what will you do?

CommentWhatever you were trying to help the students with, whether it was how to take turns or how to listen more actively to each speaker, you will hopefully have seen some change in students’ understanding about what to do and why. Students respond more positive-ly to doing things if they can see clearly what they have to do and why it is important for their learning. This one lesson is likely to be the start of developing students’ expertise in this skill or technique. Helping students to see the value of working on refining their skills will take time and commitment. As you repeat certain activities, you need to use different resources and contexts to keep students interested, thinking and on task.

There is much research into how talk impacts on the classroom and this Unit has given you an introduction to the place and purpose of talk in developing the kind of class-room ethos and environment that encourages support, enquiry and learning at the highest possible level. But the crucial message is that students need help and support in developing their speaking and listening skills. As they become more confident in speaking in class and public, and in questioning what they are doing, they will think more deeply about themselves as learners and also about their understanding of the world around them. Their curiosity is nurtured by being encouraged to share their ideas with others, however partly formed these ideas are. Such discussions and deep dia-logue challenge their current thinking and help them accommodate new information.

The next Case study explores how one mathematics teacher encouraged his students to talk in pairs to become more confident in solving mathematical word problems.

13unit 1


Case study 3: Using pair work to solve word-based mathematical problems

Yahya, a newly appointed mathematics teach-er, talked to his colleague, Sahar, about how he had a number of students in Grade 5 who found solving word-based mathematical problems difficult. Sahar shared some of the strategies she sometimes used when helping her students analyse word problems in maths. This helped Yahya plan his next few lessons for this class.

Yahya decided to do a problem with the whole class first. He wrote a problem on the board before the lesson and noticed how some stu-dents read the problem as they came into class and began to talk about it with the per-son sitting next to them.

He started the lesson by asking the whole class a series of questions about what the problem was actually asking them to do and suggested they talk with the person next to them if it helped them answer his question. He wrote these questions on the board and also added some key words and facts from the problem. Then he worked through how to solve the problem with the whole class.

Next, Yahya asked the students to divide into pairs. He gave each pair a new problem and also gave them the following guidance to help them talk and plan how to solve it:

• Clarify what the problem wants you to find out.• Identify the relevant information about the problem.• How you can use the given information to reach a solution?• What is your solution to this problem?

As the students worked in their pairs, Yahya walked around the classroom, asking some pairs to explain what reasoning they had employed to isolate the key informa-tion. After the students had answered the question, he asked some pairs to share their thinking with the rest of the class to show the class that there are several ways to reach the same answer.

He then asked them whether they had found it easier to solve the problem because of talking together. Many students said that they did. He gave the students two more problems to solve in their pairs in the lesson and two to try individually for homework.

Yahya planned that in the next lesson the students would work in fours to discuss the answers to their homework problems and to talk through the strategies they used to solve them.



CommentWhile there are several ways that teachers can help students to solve mathematical problems successfully, the common component is trying to sift out the given infor-mation that is essential to solve the problem. Putting students in pairs or small groups can enable them to talk and think together, share ideas, support each other and agree on steps needed to solve a problem. In doing this, students gain confidence in their own abilities. They are building up both their understanding of the subject (in this case, mathematics) and also their knowledge of themselves as learners. Learning to talk and share ideas is such a stimulus to deeper thinking.

Another important factor about this Case study is that across the curriculum students need to develop their skills in being able to extract the important information from a text or problem for them to complete tasks. They need help in learning to plan and carry out investigations in a logical order that will provide the required result. Working and talking together allows them to learn from each other about ways of reaching the same conclusion or result.

Working and discussing in pairs can help students tackle problems in many subjects while training their communicative skills.

As you encourage the students to share ideas, you should do the same with your peers and more experienced colleagues. Interacting and sharing experience with colleagues in the same school or in different schools will help you to learn from each other, support each other and can even lead to joint initiatives, all of which will extend your skills and understanding of teaching and learning.

15unit 1


SummaryDeveloping and using discussion and talk are effective ways for students to share ideas and gain confidence, as well as explore different viewpoints on important educational, social and ethical issues related to the curriculum. During this Unit, you have been en-couraged to think about the importance of communication skills as you try to build up a vibrant and supportive learning environment for the students.



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Unit 2: Developing a positive classroomenvironment and ethos

The scenario above describes an interactive classroom working well. With 48 students, it is a large class, but this has not prevented the teacher from using an interactive ap-proach. All the different strategies and ways of working that are described both in the example above and in this Unit, and that you have met already through studying, can be used with little or no modification with all sizes of class and can add greatly to students’ participation and achievements. Having now worked for some time in your school, you will be aware what layouts, routines and strategies you use more regularly and what impact they have in the classroom.

This Unit builds on what you have already studied about making learning a more dy-namic and active process by exploring more ways to make the classroom stimulating so that students are engaged in their own learning and helped to become lifelong learn-ers who are curious about their world.

Learning outcomesBy the end of this Unit, you should have developed your:

• understanding of how the physical and interactive nature of the classroom, such as through displays, can impact student learning

• ability to work more effectively with different-sized classes, including large classes • ability to be open to change and flexible in response to changing situations in the

classroom and in the local area and the students’ needs• skills and knowledge regarding helping students to work together and support

each other, respecting and acknowledging diversity

unit 2

“In the classroom the students are busy talking in eight groups of six students. They are taking turns to speak and one person in each group is writing notes on a large sheet of paper to summarize their ideas for a storybook for young children that will explore the idea of helping each other. The groups have to discuss what kind of con-text they will use for their story and how they will illustrate it; one group, for exam-ple, has decided to write the story with animals as the main characters and one of the group members, a gifted artist, has drawn a series of simple pictures of some of the animals they might include. All eight groups are totally engaged in working on their own stories. There is a buzz of talk, but not too much as the students are talking quietly and listening to each other. There is not much space between the groups, but the teacher is able to move around and listen and interact with each group as and

when they need support.”


Having discussed the importance of talk and how to develop students’ speaking and listening skills in Unit 1, this Unit explores how other aspects of the classroom can sup-port the development of talk and thinking. Having a classroom that is interesting and stimulating and has an atmosphere that encourages communication and thinking will increase learning outcomes for the students and help to build a community of learners.

There are many ways to create a positive, engaging and supportive classroom environment.

The use of displays for a positive classroom environment An important part of developing an environment that supports learning involves mak-ing the classroom interesting and stimulating. There are many ways to achieve this, from using different layouts for furniture (some of which were discussed in Module 1), to different ways of working and interacting, to using displays to make the classroom feel more attractive and friendly and to support learning.

Having mounted a display in the classroom in the first few weeks of this programme, you will be aware of the work involved, but also of the potential impact on learning, which can be crucial. The first Activity in this Unit encourages you to reflect on the im-pact of display in the classroom and think about what you have learned since studying Module 1, Unit 3. Before you try the Activity, read Case study 4 to remind you of some of the reasons to use displays actively in your teaching.



Case study 4: Reviewing the use of displays for a positive classroom environment

Jamal is a Grade 7 teacher in Syria. He works hard to build his students’ confi-dence in their abilities and help them feel se-cure as learners at school. Jamal believes that giving students responsibilities and owner-ship of different aspects of the classroom en-vironment helps to build up their confidence, well-being and sense of belonging.

After attending an in-service day that dis-cussed how displays could motivate students and help them take ownership of their learn-ing and achievement, Jamal decided to review the use of displays and involve the students as much as possible in designing, making and using them. Jamal decided not to make too many large and extravagant displays, as the facilitator of the in-service training had said that research suggested too many displays in a classroom could overwhelm students and result in their not looking closely at the displays.

As the class was about to start a new history topic, Jamal made a small display to capture the students’ attention and interest in the topic about the Romans. He used pictures from magazines and some drawings he had done of various artefacts. Up until now, the classroom walls had been empty – usually just one or two posters that stayed up for a long time. Jamal placed this new display in the middle of the main wall where everyone could see it. He then waited for the students to enter and watched their reactions as they gradually noticed the display. Many made comments and some went over to have a look. Jamal did not stop their talk until everyone was in the room. Then he asked them to return to their seats, look at the display from where they were and chat in pairs about what they saw and what it was about. He asked them to consider the following questions:

• What is the display about? • What does it say to you? • Do you like it? What would you change in terms of the content and the way

it is displayed? Why? • How well, or not, can you see the display and read any text on it?

Jamal gave the class time to talk in pairs and then asked the pairs to join into a four and share their thoughts. After allowing several minutes for them to talk more, he asked them to list a maximum of five comments and appoint someone to be their speaker.

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As each group gave one comment, he listed their ideas on the board. He asked the students not to repeat any idea, but only speak if they had a new idea to add. When there were no more ideas, he asked them to look at the whole list on the board to pick out what their group thought were the four most important factors for an effective display that is a useful tool for learning. The most popular answers were that the dis-play had to:

• be colourful, eye-catching and interestingly presented using different materials• say something new, interesting, different or ask the students to do some-

thing (either on the display or as an activity)• have captions or other writing that was written clearly• make the class think about the topic more

Jamal then asked the students if they would like to have more displays like this in the classroom. They were very keen, so Jamal suggested that they should do the next dis-play together and it should be built up over several weeks as they worked through the new topic about the Romans in Syria. He said they could discuss that more in the next lesson, but today he wanted to use the display he had put up to introduce the topic of what the Romans did while in Syria and the evidence to support this. Jamal did this by using some of the pictures to tell the story of the arrival of the Romans as a means of introducing the class to the focus of the next lesson, which would be on the houses and other buildings the Romans constructed when they first came to Syria.

For the last task in the lesson, Jamal put the students into groups and gave each group two pictures of artefacts found in the Roman houses when they were excavated. He asked the students to think what they were and to list any questions they had about them. The students left the class still talking about what they had done and about what they knew about the Romans. Jamal was pleased with their response.

CommentThrough the introduction of a small but interesting display, Jamal opened the students’ minds to new ideas and to being more involved in shaping their classroom environ-ment and enhancing it through sharing their learning about the Romans. Key to the success of this approach is the openness that Jamal showed to the students and their ideas, listening with respect to them as thinking individuals who have all had a range of different experiences that already influence who they are and what they do and do not know.



A small display can have a big impact, especially if students are involved in designing and making – as well as using – it.

Look at Resource 15: Creating a positive learning environment – classroom design be-fore doing Activity 4.

Activity 4: What kind of classroom do I have?Since you did Activity 15 in Module 1, Unit 3, think about what, if any, other displays you have used in your classroom. How were these done? By yourself or by the students? How did the class respond to the first display and to later ones? Did the displays invite the students to participate in some way and so become more involved in the topic? Which displays do you think were most successful and why? It is always good to reflect on what went well and why, so you can replicate such successes in different contexts.

Make notes about these reflections before thinking more widely about all the class-room displays, routines, procedures and ways of working that you use regularly and consider what impact these are having. What evidence do you have that they are help-ing students to achieve their potential? If you work with a larger class, what are the additional, if any, implications for you? What if you have a smaller class – does this affect what you can do with your students or not?

Finally, consider what you should do next to move towards the kind of classroom you want to achieve. What strategies, routines and ways of working should you keep and what needs to be reviewed more closely and either modified or dropped?

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CommentStopping to reflect on what you are doing can be very insightful. Sometimes it is not until you stop and step outside the daily busy cycle of planning, teaching, assessing and planning again, that you begin to see where there is potential to improve the class-room environment or enhance student learning.

One teacher commented that it was not until she went on a day’s in-service training where they were asked to list what they thought were the essential tasks they had to do every day that she saw that some of her routines were not about making things easier and quicker, but in fact just used up valuable teaching time. She said that after this she stopped lining the students up outside her classroom and instead welcomed them as they arrived and told them what they needed for the lesson. The result was that by the time the last student arrived, most of the class were ready and they moved into the lesson much quicker. She had seen the lining up as a way of a calming them down and gaining control of the class, but in reality they were a sensible class and keen to not waste time. This teacher said she realized she had to respect her students more and give them personal responsibility for their actions. This did not mean there were not days when someone was out of sorts and did not settle well, but this was not a regular occurrence unless there had been an incident within the previous class or there was unrest outside the school complex. The teacher commented that it was the start of a gradual but fairly quick change with regards to her respect and trust in the students.

Having reflected on changes you would like to make in Activity 4, the next Activity asks you to make a detailed plan, devise a timescale and carry it out. The more that students are involved in developing the ethos of the classroom and the working environment, the more each student will take responsibility for their own behaviour, participation and achievement within the boundaries that they have helped develop.

If you have a large class, you may wish to read Resource 16: Working with large classes, Resource 17: Tips for organizing large classes and Resource 18: Making large classes feel small before going any further. These resources contain many hints that are useful for all classes, but particularly for big ones; it may be helpful to have some of these ideas in mind as you work with your students to develop the classroom.

Activity 5:Working to develop the classroom environment and ethosAs you plan what you want to change, think about how much you want to involve the students and at what point in the process you will do this. Remember that the students can be key, as they will have their own views about the classroom and its ethos and what can help it become more dynamic and inclusive.

Before you start working with the students, brainstorm (either by yourself or with a colleague) some of the possible ways you could resolve the issues you have identified. This is not to take the task away from the students, but it does help if you have thought about your ideas so that you can encourage the students to think more widely and an-ticipate some answers.



Next, plan how you are going to introduce the task of developing the classroom en-vironment to the students. Try to keep it positive by not referring to the negative ele-ments. Whatever your size of class, ask the students to discuss the issue in small groups and record their ideas in any way they wish. Share their ideas and ask groups to give more detail if necessary. After everyone is clear about the alternative ideas proposed, ask them to consider which they think are the most important and urgent for them. With a larger class, you may need to think of another way to collect their ideas. For ex-ample, you could ask the students to list in priority order four ideas for each group to display. Identify the four most common ideas and by show of hands ask the students to choose the area they wish to develop first.

Once an area is identified, devise an action plan, with a timescale for completion, and think of ways to evaluate the effectiveness of the change(s). Display the whole plan and begin working to implement the change(s). Review progress at intervals and agree next steps until everyone is satisfied with the actual outcome.

Spend time reviewing the impact yourself and also with the students. Notice too how the students are involved and if there has been any impact on some of the quieter students, or those who are normally shy at participating in lessons. Have they grown in confidence? If so, how do you know this?

Allowing students to actively express their opinions involves them better in a decisionmaking process.

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CommentEmbarking on such a development task, however big or small it is, can be quite intim-idating if you have not involved students in making suggestions and decisions about how to develop the classroom and its ways of working before. Most students will re-spond positively to being allowed to input into how the classroom functions and be realistic about the possibilities and limitations of their setting. Their inclusion in making decisions about the classroom will impact on their overall attitude to learning and to their involvement in their own and others’ learning. They will accept greater responsi-bility for their classroom and their actions within it will be much more positive. This will be true for all sizes of class, but particularly in a larger class where sometimes students feel they do not have as much involvement in matters like this. (See also Resources 16, 17 and 18 for more strategies and hints for working with big classes.)

A direct bonus of this way of working for the students is the growth in confidence of their own abilities and worth, which will help their self-confidence and willingness to participate more readily in class. New friendships may also be formed, which will add to the cohesion of the class.

The bonus for you is that you will have worked together with the students to generate in-teresting ideas to make the classroom a more stimulating and positive space for learning. This can take time, as some of the different ideas will take longer to develop and embed. It is important to remember to not do too much too quickly. Reflect on the effectiveness of each change as you go along and perhaps modify the next joint development.

Working in more challenging situationsWhen the climate is calm, then developing the classroom environment is easier to manage and pace, but when the situation surrounding the school is more challenging you need to look more closely at the students’ emotional and social needs before considering their ed-ucational needs and the physical classroom. This does not mean that you will not continue to plan lessons for them, but that you will assess the students’ basic needs – such as feeling safe and secure – before you begin to set up active teaching and learning sessions.

Here, UNRWA has provided a whole range of toolkits that will help you. There is the Psy-chosocial Support Recreational Activities Resource Guide, which provides a range of ac-tivities such as simple games that students could play to help them relax, stop worrying and enjoy being with their friends. In addition, the HRCRT Toolkit includes a selection of activities that are designed to help students explore and ponder their own feelings and realize that they are likely not alone if they feel frightened or scared. There are many specific activities that are designed to help students manage their feelings of anxiety about their families while they are at school. These activities could also be used within the classroom to help you build a feeling of trust between the students, regardless of the situation in the local area, because they will help to build a classroom ethos that encourages students to work together in their learning. But should a situation arise, such as an incident like an attack in the area near the school, the students will respond sensibly to any directions you give because you have built up trust in each other.



These psychosocial activities will also help students talk about issues that cause them concern and many of them could be used at any time in school – even when there is no concern outside the school – to help students explore some of the difficulties they have with their work and their study skills.

The HRCRT Toolkit involves practical activities aimed at creating a safe and inclusive classroom environment.

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Planning and using activities that enable students to talk about topics, issues or prob-lems outside school, like unrest in the neighbourhood, or related to their schoolwork, such as exams, will give them the chance to become confident in talking more openly about their own feelings, experiences and fears when facing different challenges. For example, this might include concern about whether their families are safe at home be-cause of disruption and fighting during the night. The thought of developing displays in such situations is not always foremost in your mind, but sometimes making the en-vironment look more comfortable and welcoming helps distract the students to think about other things for a time. A conducive classroom setting where the students’ work is celebrated through display will give them inner confidence and security and encour-age them to speak more openly.

The next Activity on page 28 asks you to plan a lesson where the students have the opportunity to think about ways that the classroom could support them more widely with their personal development. The building of a community that reaches beyond the educational dimension is crucial if students are to feel strong, safe and secure to cope with all that they have to face.



The Case study below tells how Ahmed, a teacher of Grade 8 students, used stories to help his students face up to their worries and anxieties about both their families and their schoolwork. He tells what happened in his own words.

Case study 5:Using comic stories to help students manage their feelings

“My Grade 8 students were becoming anxious about their upcoming end-of-year examina-tions and I was concerned that they needed to develop strategies to relax, calm themselves and not panic. At the same time, there was some tension in the local community because of political unrest prior to elections and this was also obviously affecting them. So I de-cided to help them work out ways to manage their feelings and concerns and to help them develop their study skills.

I looked at the psychosocial materials and other UNRWA publications such as the Educa-tion in Emergency materials to explore ways of managing such activities. I have alwaysliked comics myself and thought this would be a good medium to work in. Through the characters in the comic strip, the students could talk about their concerns slightly removed from the actual situation and without having to speak in front of others.

So I sketched three pictures that started to tell a story about a boy the same age as them who was trying his best to do well and make a difference to his family and to the local community. The story was not finished and it left the boy at the point where he had been so cross he had broken a chair in his room. He was cross with himself for doing this and also because it was his desk chair and so now he could not study as well as he used to because he had to sit on his bed to work. The last bubble of dialogue coming out of his head said, ‘Why can’t I control my anger? Now I can’t even study!’

I then asked the students to work in pairs to decide how they wanted to develop the story. I explained they should talk together about their ideas and could do as many drawings as they liked. As they talked about possible story lines, they often digressed into talking about their own experiences of keeping up their motivation and doing their work. This was good and I let them talk. It was obvious the medium of com-ics captured their interest and imagination. They seemed much more able to discuss their own ways of managing their anger and moods because it was from a story. I did not interact with them unless they invited me to, as it was important for them to share their feelings and to think about their own personal priorities.

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After some time, I checked that they had moved onto drawing and writing the di-alogue for each picture. Towards the end of the lesson, I asked them to finish their comic strips and display these on the wall. I gave them time to read each other’s work.

After the lesson, I made a list of their ideas about how to manage their feelings and ways to study effectively and I put this on the wall next to the comic strips. I was sur-prised by how often I saw small groups looking and talking about some of the strips and the list and how several said they had found it a really helpful exercise.”

CommentUsing a way of working that is once removed from the context in which your students find themselves can help them to explore a difficult idea, such as talking about how to handle emotions such as anger. Often the student can then start to see alternative ways to deal with an issue.

The idea of making a display of the comic strips also distanced the discussion from in-dividuals, but enabled small groups to chat among themselves about suggestions that they liked. Using display to share ideas about more difficult issues can be very powerful, as it is open and no one is identified as needing or using it personally; they can use it without being noticed.

This is one of the many ways that display can be used to enhance the classroom. The next Activity asks you to think about developing a display or notice board to encourage students to communicate and share ideas or feelings.

Activity 6: Enhancing the classroom for a range of purposes beyond educationAsk the class if they would like to introduce a news or message board or some other base where they could display or express their ideas, thoughts, and feelings, or just put up something that interests them. List all their ideas and ask those who suggested the items why they wanted it.

Ask the students to decide what they want to do and together plan how to do it and when. You may want to define a particular part of the wall for this or have separate ones for each class you teach. Involve the students in preparing labels for the display or board and ask two groups to decide what they would like to put up and give them time to write their contribution and start the ball rolling.

When the task is finished, watch how the students use and respond to the news board, or whatever is chosen, and after a few weeks review with them the effectiveness and impact. If it takes time to get going, you could maybe insert some interesting comment to respond to one of their entries and stimulate someone to reply.



CommentThe above Activity provides a context for the students to learn tolerance by seeing dif-ferent perspectives on an issue or on students’ different interests and expertise. Through such activities, students are able to think how to manage difference in a constructive and sensitive manner. Such activities emphasize that students are entitled to their own ideas, as long as they do not hurt or harm each other, either physically or emotionally.

A news or message board can be used to share students’ interests, ideas, thoughts or feelings.

It is important for you to remember that good teaching must respect each student and also needs to be modified and adapted to meet each student’s individual needs. This does not mean teaching each student individually, but it does mean getting to know the students’ needs, interests and abilities and grouping them in ways that enable their needs to be met. This includes understanding their wider feelings, as many outside fac-tors can and do affect how well students can or cannot participate fully in lessons.

Resource 19: Classroom organization – building empathy and resilience provides a good short visual understanding of the key ideas in organizing the classroom to build tolerance, respect and emotional resilience. Another benefit is that many of these strat-egies will also help manage student behaviour; this is the focus of the next Unit.

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SummaryThis Unit explored how the physical layout and especially display can affect the working relationships and therefore the environment and ethos within the classroom. It briefly mentioned how working with classes of different sizes sometimes needs different strat-egies and approaches to include all students. The involvement of students in helping to develop the classroom can have a marked impact on their future involvement in lessons. Another benefit of this approach is that the students get to know each other better and accept individual difference more.

Students may live and go to school in areas where there is conflict between opposing groups or authorities. All these children are likely to have worries and fears and many will have experienced the loss of loved ones. In these circumstances, naturally some students find it hard to focus on their work, especially as they become older and more aware. With examinations to be taken, there is a lot of pressure on these students in balancing their emotions and focusing on their studies. Spending time with the stu-dents on improving the classroom environment can impact positively on their partic-ipation and interest in their own learning, as well as on their confidence and emotion-al well-being. This can result in raised achievements by students. The important thing is that you are adaptable to the different classes you teach and their individual and changing needs.



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Unit 3: Managing behaviour

Good classroom management and effective teaching are built on good relationships with-in the classroom and beyond. ‘Catch them being good’ is a saying that is sometimes passed around when talking about managing behaviour. This simple statement – which effectively means focusing on or praising good behaviour rather than focusing on disruptive behaviour – emphasizes the positive approach that is seen as the best way of helping students deal with the many experiences and demands they will encounter through their school lives.

But this positive approach includes a wide range of possibilities of how to manage groups of children. At the beginning of this programme, it was stated that good teach-ing by its very nature is inclusive teaching, as you, the teacher, make sure that you do your best to meet each student’s needs, whether these are physical, emotional, intel-lectual or a combination. Being able to manage behaviour in a way that is based on positive and inclusive strategies (such as using differentiated activities to enable all the students to participate) is crucial.

Developing a school ethos that values and respects all those who work and study there is crucial. “A clear and positive school ethos can genuinely enhance teaching and learn-ing – but it has to be grown from within” as teacher and author Hannah Suggitt argues (accessed online March 28 2018). One way of achieving this is through the way people in-teract and speak with each other. The behaviour of staff towards each other and towards the students (and vice versa) should show sensitivity and model best practice. Students need to feel respected and secure if they are to become totally involved in their learning. This modelling of good practice when interacting with other staff and students must be perceived by the students to be genuine if it is to encourage them to engage with the school’s aims and their perception of their own self-worth within the school.

If a student does exhibit inappropriate behaviour, it is important to remember that it is the behaviour that is problematic and not the student. Trying to understand why the student has reacted in this way will help you understand the situation and help the student to understand what is acceptable. How a school manages inappropriate be-haviour should also correspond to their quest to build a positive school ethos. This Unit explores some aspects of how to do this.

Managing behaviour constructively is particularly important in the UNRWA context because of the situations in the different Fields that students and staff live in. At times, schools may be put under immense pressure because of the situation within the area, which could impact in different ways on the behaviour of both students and teachers.

While managing behaviour has been referred to intermittently in earlier Modules, this Unit focuses more directly on behaviour management, and different strategies are sug-gested to help you handle challenging situations with sensitivity and fairness. One of the best ways to prevent behaviour issues arising is to work at your planning so that each lesson is well matched to the students’ needs. Gaining the students’ interest and provid-ing stimulating and active learning experiences will most often engage all the students in their work and learning. This allows them to forget about other issues for a time.


Learning outcomes By the end of this Unit, you should have developed your:

• understanding of how to create a positive environment for the students and your-self by modelling good practice

• skills and knowledge regarding how to manage inappropriate behaviour in con-structive and inclusive ways

• ability to involve the students in devising acceptable ways of working• skills and knowledge regarding encouraging students to respect each other for

who they are and support each other when appropriate• ability to work with other colleagues and professionals to meet students’ needs

Building good relationships begins as soon as you enter the classroom. Simple things such as the way you say “Good morning” to the class can influence the way the day pro-gresses. Students are very astute at discerning your mood, by the tone of your voice, your body language and whether or not you show real interest and pleasure in seeing them again. The notion of using praise and ‘catching them being good’ can change the direction of lessons for individual students and even for the whole class. This might include comments, made either publically or personally, such as: “Good morning, Am-ani – good timekeeping, well done!” or “Rola, that was a really interesting story to read. Perhaps you might like to read it to the class.” or “Super, Rauf! You have behaved so well today. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” Even short exchanges like these make students feel good about themselves and their efforts, and the last one, for example, encourages the boy to come and try again in the next lesson. If students feel they are accepted as part of the class and treated with respect, they will be more motivated.



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Positive comments can make students feel good about themselves and their work.

Now try the first Activity in this Unit, which asks you to think about common positive phrases you could use in class.

Activity 7: Using positive languageMake a list of the common things you say to students to make them settle down, to gain their attention, to acknowledge their participation in class – or not – and any other things you say regularly to the whole class or to particular students.

Next, look at your list and tick any that could be seen as positive (or neutral) and then put a cross against any that are perhaps more negative.

Think how you could turn the negative comments around to make them more positive. Look at the examples in the table below and note how the positive comments state what you would like the student to do, not what you don’t want them to do. It is also crucial to remember that it is the behaviour – not the student – that is unacceptable, and that you should never use adjectives such as ‘lazy’ or ‘stupid’ that ridicule someone or put them down.


Negative comment Positive comment

Don’t shout. Please talk quietly among yourselves.

Stop that noise. Could we have a bit of quiet please, while people are still working?

Sit down, stupid child. We all need to sit down now to listen to the music.

You are lazy. The idea is good. Now you need to concentrate on bringing the story alive.

What you said is nasty. Can you think of a better way to say that?

Figure 1: Some examples of how to turn negative comments to positive comments

The third part of the Activity is to plan your lessons for the week with care, including using more positive and constructive comments that give the students something to strive for. Such an approach is very important in helping all students to feel included and that they are valued members of the class. New students, for example, take time to settle and become a part of the class; your example and encouragement will help them integrate into the lessons and so make better progress.

At the end of the week, evaluate what effect thinking more positively and interacting more positively with the students has had. Make notes in your course notebook about what was good and areas for continued development.

CommentWhen working with a wide range of students in different contexts and with many targets to achieve in terms of their education, it is easy to slip into set routines and to rely on the same strategies and language, without regularly reviewing their effectiveness. However, each class is different and each day and lesson will bring much variety and the unexpect-ed. It is easy to react strongly to some unexpected incidents with authority and negativity that includes both rough mannerisms and harsh language. But by working at being more positive, constructive and encouraging, then you will find that both you and the students will respond better. The Activity above – while simple – is key, as it is one of the main ways to underpin effective management of behaviour in the classroom. The negative state-ments in the table are very judgmental and can have devastating effects on a student. It is always important to remember when managing inappropriate behaviour that it is the behaviour that is unacceptable and not the individual. Therefore, addressing students positively models best practice, even when dealing with problematic situations.

The first Case study in this Unit illustrates how a teacher worked to help a new student become part of the class rather than be seen as an outsider. The behaviour of the stu-dent was challenging because he did not feel welcome.



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Case study 6: Encouraging positive behaviour

Majida is an English Language teacher of 32 Grade 4 students in South Lebanon. She tries very hard to use positive reinforce-ment to encourage the students, using phras-es such as: “Well done!” “That’s a good idea”, “What an interesting question!” and “Good listening”. Such language is appreciated by most of the class, but there was one student who did not respond as readily to any com-ments. He was a new student and found it hard to blend into the class.

Whenever there were lessons involving reading or writing, including homework, Fadi did not try very hard to complete any activity or participate in any discussion, except perhaps to disrupt the group. He often did not make any attempt to read; instead, he provoked and disturbed those around him. When asked why he was acting like that, he usually replied with comments such as: “It’s boring” or “I don’t want to do it”.

Majida decided to find out more about Fadi by asking some questions of all the class about their lives outside school, especially their interests. She asked each student to write five or six sentences in English about themselves. To help them, she listed some of the kinds of things on the board they might want to share. These included:

• favourite television programmes• music they like• outside-school interests (e.g. what they do at weekends or in school holidays)• where they like to go on holiday or where they would like to go • favourite foods• favourite activity/subject in school • ideas for a school/class trip• their family

She also listed some vocabulary to help them and added to this when asked by stu-dents for a word in English.

After several minutes, she asked the students to talk to the person next to them, in En-glish if they could, about their likes and interests. This was good practice for their En-glish, but also Majida noticed that it interested Fadi – as she hoped it would – and she watched and listened carefully. Fadi talked hesitantly to his partner, Amer, who was a good student and a kind and patient person. When Fadi said he liked drawing, Amer asked him what kind of drawings he did. Very shyly, Fadi took out his sketchbook from his bag and Amer seemed really impressed by the drawings Fadi had produced.


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Majida then asked the whole class if they had learned anything new and interesting about each other and would they share it with the class. The students were really in-terested to hear about some of the hobbies their classmates had, including running, ballet dancing, cooking and fencing. Amer said that he did not know before that Fadi liked drawing, but that Fadi had showed Amer a sketchbook that was full of amaz-ing drawings. Majida asked if Fadi would show some of his pictures to the class. He agreed, but was very shy about it, so Majida said she would do it for him, if he liked. Fadi’s drawings included some animals, cars and cartoon characters that were skilful-ly executed. The other students were so impressed they actually applauded and Fadi was embarrassed, but also smiled.

After the lesson, Majida decided to plan some group work that required more op-portunities for arts and creativity, where Fadi had a better chance of being engaged. When she carried out the group work, Majida used positive reinforcement and feed-back to encourage Fadi’s contribution. She also took the opportunity to reinforce the acceptable behaviour of all the students and provided constructive feedback about unacceptable or potentially disruptive behaviour.

CommentCreating a positive classroom ethos and good relationships is not easy to achieve, but Majida found that by getting to know more about all her class and their interests she was able to support individuals, groups and the whole class better. The class too be-came more friendly and supportive towards each other. Praise and positive reinforce-ment gradually helped Fadi grow in confidence and he began to let the other students into his world.



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Finding and praising the strengths of students displaying challenging behaviour can have positive outcomes.

Having clear expectations about behaviour is important and needs to be shared be-tween all parties, but it is crucial to be sensitive to each student and to find out as much as you can about them so you can respond appropriately to their needs.

Developing clear expectationsAs good classroom management is built on positive relationships and interesting and engaging lessons, it is important to have boundaries for what is acceptable behaviour within the classroom. In this way, everyone is clear about what is and what is not re-garded as responsible and safe in a particular context.

To help develop clear expectations, it may be useful to have class rules, which you and the students develop and agree on together. Rules should be written using positive lan-guage, for example: “Keep your hands and feet to yourself” instead of “No hitting”. It is also important to refer to the rules frequently. If a student breaks a classroom rule, they are asked to identify the rule and what the acceptable behaviour should be and – if the transgression is serious – what kind of sanction may be necessary.

It is very important that teachers model how to act responsibly and interact with col-leagues and students in appropriate ways. If a teacher shouts and uses negative lan-guage, it is not unlikely that students may react against the outburst. And, of course, there is zero tolerance in UNRWA towards teachers using physical punishment or other types of violence against students.

unit 3


The following Case study describes how one teacher changed his approach to man-aging behaviour as a result of attending a two-day course about positive behaviour management. Read this before doing the two Activities that follow. As you read, think about the teacher’s thoughts and relate these to your own experience and feelings, and evaluate what is effective for you and what could be improved.

Case study 7: Taher’s early experiences in managing behaviour

Taher had just begun working as a mathe-matics teacher in the West Bank teaching six different classes during the week. He was nervous when he first met the students and not confident at speaking to them and giv-ing instructions. He therefore worked hard at planning his lessons, seeking help from a more experienced colleague to make his plans clearer and more sequential. He asked several colleagues about how to introduce ideas and ways of talking to the students that would help him capture their interest. He tried out various strategies and he noticed how much better his class was when he had visual aids to help his introductions.

However, there were still two boys in his Grade 7 class who were often quite disruptive, usually by making silly remarks or talking while Taher or some students were talking or answering questions. These boys also tried to distract students who wanted to work and Taher realized that when he started shouting at the boys he had lost their respect. His colleagues tried to help with ideas and suggestions, but Taher felt he was not winning and wanted to do more. He realized that he did not have enough strategies to deal with the boys and he decided to look out for an in-service course that might help. Luckily a course on positive behaviour management, offered by an NGO, came up quite soon.

Taher found several aspects of the course very informative, but what he found most useful were the sessions on his responsibility as the teacher to model positive ways of behaving with both colleagues and students and to develop an overall inclusive at-mosphere in the classroom. The teachers on the course spent some time role-playing different scenarios, where they took turns in being either students or teacher. While it was fun, the impact for Taher was profound, as he recognized that at the start he had just wanted the students to like him and be his friend, and he was beginning to see that this was not possible in many ways. He realized he could, and should, build a positive working relationship with the students, first based on respect for each other and their roles and responsibilities. Any friendship would then develop within a more professional context and maintain their distinct roles.



As the in-service course provided opportunities for him to talk with other teachers about their difficulties, Taher found it very reassuring to discover that he was not the only new teacher experiencing such problems. It was also extremely useful as he picked up lots of good ideas from his peers.

Back at school, Taher felt he had gathered a range of strategies and ideas about how to rebuild the way he wanted his classes to be. He began by changing the seating plan for some classes, separating some students (including the two boys) and introducing some key rules. The class were quite taken aback at first, but Taher explained that he was determined that no one should interrupt or interfere with any other student’s right to education; even if they did not wish to participate. The lessons moved at a better pace because of fewer interruptions, and he also re-alized that being consistent about applying the rules and sanctions made a difference.

By the end of the first semester, Taher felt that things had really improved. The two boys re-sponded more in class if they sat in separate groups, so this became the norm for them. The routines and rules were helping to improve behaviour throughout the class, and, importantly, he tried to ensure he was always modelling good behaviour in the way he spoke to students and colleagues. Taher intended to be much more organized next semester by addressing the classroom expectations from the very beginning. He also decided that he would let the stu-dents contribute to the refinement of the rules and sanctions, as he felt sure this would have positive outcomes in terms of behaviour and on the atmosphere in the classroom.

CommentTaher, like many new teachers, thought it must be easy to talk to a class and to teach because he had seen good teachers when he was a student. He quickly learned that he had not realized how vital good preparation was, but also that he did not feel confident in terms of how to interact with the students, particularly when they were exhibiting disrup-tive behaviour. However, what is really important is that Taher realized that he was having some problems and acted to address them. As a result of asking his more experienced colleagues for advice and attending the in-service course, Taher learned that:

• good planning is crucial, not just in terms of learning but also with regard to man-aging behaviour

• he could not expect good behaviour from the students if he did not model it himself• respect is a two-way thing – he had to both command and give respect• he had to be consistent regarding expectations and behaviour• planning interesting, inclusive and appropriate lessons reduces the chances of

inappropriate behaviour occurring

The next two Activities ask you to devise some class rules to help manage behaviour, ideally involving the students in the process. As you work though the Activities, be thoughtful and plan the work so that all students are included in the experience and are able to be heard as they discuss both the rules and the sanctions. Make notes as you plan and carry out the Activities to remind you of the positive and negative aspects of the experience for you and the students.

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Activity 8: Devising or reviewing classroom rulesThink about the room(s) in which you teach and the class(es) you teach and reflect on the kind of behaviour that causes most problems in the classroom. List in your course notebook any behaviours that you feel may need some kind of rule or guidance state-ment that will steer how all of you should behave.

Plan a lesson where you ask the students what they think are the issues that affect their learning most in the classroom. Give them time to discuss this in pairs or groups and then collect their ideas together. Try to write out their suggestions in a positive way. For example, if the students say ‘too many students talk when others are speaking’, turn it round to something like ‘every student has the right to be listened to in a lesson’.

Only list around 8–10 items and then ask the groups to prioritize which five they think are the most important and put these in order of importance. Finally, ask them to look closely at this list of five and say whether they think anything is missing. If so, how could it be incorporated into the list?

Seek agreement from all the class about this list and ask them to write the five in their own workbooks. Select one group of students to write out the positive rules to be dis-played. Ask all students to think and talk with each other about what kind of action should be taken if inappropriate behaviour occurs over the next few days to discuss at the next lesson.

Class rules can make expectations clear and help manage behaviour.



CommentThe students may well surprise you with how much they understand about the dynam-ics of the classroom and what factors impinge on their success in lessons. Identifying the right guidance rules to support their learning is not easy, as the students will all want different factors considered, but sometimes several can be grouped together un-der one heading. For example, ‘moving around the classroom’ can cover a range of be-haviours that could limit or upset learning for others. Rules under the heading ‘moving around the classroom’ might include:

• Only move around when no one is talking to the whole class.• Move in an agreed order.• Have a set route for all to move round to the resource area/class library.• Be careful as you move and respectful to those busy working.

Students need to develop an awareness of others and sensitivity to others’ needs. As and when you begin to use the rules, the students will need time to absorb the ideas through your regular and gentle support. This should result in a much better atmo-sphere in the classroom, where all students understand the reasons for the guidance and the benefits it has for them and others. But there will be times when, for some reason, a student or students do not respond as you would expect and it is then that you need sanctions. The next Activity asks you to explore with the students what these might be. Read Resource 20: Behaviour and sanctions before you do this Activity to have some idea of the kinds of sanctions you could agree with the students and which fit in with the school policy on behaviour in school.

Activity 9: Managing inappropriate behaviour in relation to the class rulesAsk the students to share their ideas about how you or they should respond to students who are not following the agreed pattern of behaviour. Give them time to talk in their groups and to agree on a statement about how the students should be reprimanded or have sanctions imposed for each of the class rules.

Ask each group to feed back and list their suggestions. Before moving on to the next statement, agree what steps should be followed as the way of managing any trans-gressions. Add the agreed sanctions to the list of class rules. Decide when to begin the implementation, preferably immediately.

A cautionary note here: bear in mind that students can sometimes be much harsher about what kinds of sanctions might be imposed and so it may be that you need a slid-ing scale of sanctions about what will happen if an incident or behaviour is repeated or escalates in seriousness. Also, of course, no sanction should be physically or psycholog-ically damaging.

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Comment As was stated at the beginning of this Unit, it is the behaviour that is inappropriate and not the student. Both students and staff should work towards a class and school atmo-sphere that promotes good behaviour by praising students who display self-discipline and respect for others. Any sanctions, if necessary, need to be implemented with the same care and concern, consistently and fairly in line with the agreed classroom rules and the UNRWA zero tolerance policies to violence of any sort.

Rules for classroom behaviour should be devised and implemented early in eachschool year.

Inclusive language and teachingAs you learn more about each student, you will find it easier to engage with them and match activities to their needs. Such finely matched teaching will also aid students’ abil-ity to manage their own behaviour in positive ways. A key tool is the use of language to explore their world. The sensitive use of language is extremely important and cannot be overemphasized: you have to be sensitive to what students tell you and sensitive to the way you speak and acquire such knowledge.

The terminology and judgements implicit behind some terms that are often used in con-versation are often very judgemental and disparaging. With some forethought and care, these incidents can be avoided. For example, by calling a student ‘a disabled student’ you are already not seeing the person as a person in their own right, because by placing the disability first you lower people’s expectations and they are likely to make assumptions about what the student can or cannot do before seeing them.



Using the term ‘a student with a physical or hearing disability’ is much more inclusive and supportive for the student. The student is now seen as able, but they have a dis-ability that has to be taken into account when planning certain kinds of activities in order for them to have the same access to the curriculum as other students. This is a kind of differentiation to match their learning needs. Accepting diversity and working constructively with the wide range of experiences the students have will add much to the classroom ethos and enable most students to feel valued and respected. This will also contribute to the students being better behaved in class, because they feel they belong and accepted for whom they are.

In the next Case Study, you will see how Amani, a teacher, managed in cooperation with other staff to deal with one of her student’s behaviour which turned out to be due to her coming from a different background.

Case study 8: Fostering respect and support among students

Amani, a teacher of Grade 6 girls, was teach-ing her class about ways of presenting data and information in quick, easy, visual ways. She had decided to give the students a task that involved them carrying out a survey among their peers about their interests out-side school, categorise these and then produce a bar chart to show their results in a graphic form that could be displayed for all to see.

As they were going around asking each other what they liked doing after school, the noise was quite loud. Amani stopped them and asked them to keep their voices down,explainingthat if one group does not talk at a normal level then other groups have to raise their voices to be heard, and so the sound escalates. Amani had noticed how behaviour often becomes more exaggerated and therefore more unmanageable in such circumstances, so she wanted to limit the noise level in order to keep the students on task.

They continued to work steadily, but as the sound level gradually rose again one girl suddenly became very loud and aggressive towards a member of her group. Amani went over to see what the problem was. As she did so, she asked the rest of the class, who had stopped to watch, to get on with their task as quietly as possible. Amani asked the girl, Elham, what the problem was and she replied that she did not like the questions asked and the others were laughing at her answers. She said she felt they were making fun of her.

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Amani sat down with the group and asked some other members of the group to ex-plain what their interests were and then she asked Elham for her interests, which she listed as including sewing, embroidery, looking after her younger sisters and especial-ly playing football with her girls’ team. Amani then asked Elham what it was that re-ally made her react as she did. Elham explained that the group had said girls do not play football and that she was not telling the truth as she could not play football. They called her ‘babyminder’ and she did not like the term, as it did not see her as a person with different interests like the rest of the group. Amani had noted that several others in the group also had a range of interests, including arts and crafts that were similar to Elham’s sewing and embroidery, so why should their attitude be different for Elham?

Amani realized that Elham came from a different area to the others, which was not as settled as where the school was situated. Those from the school area were not trou-bled by unrest as much as Elham’s family. Amani had noticed before that Elham was often tired, as she had not slept well the night before because of unrest and trouble.

Amani spoke with Elham at the end of the lesson to help her think about her behaviour more positively, but Elham burst into tears and explained to Amani that she was wor-ried about the safety of her family when at school as her home was some way from the school. Amani said she was there to help Elham whenever she felt anxious and asked her to now go to her next lesson. The comment about the football was just one criticism too many for Elham and that was why she exploded and became disruptive.

Amani thought carefully about what to do next and spoke with the School Counsel-lor about Elham and also with another colleague who taught Elham’s sister. They re-alized that the Counsellor could speak with both students and maybe link with the family too, to help the students feel more secure at school. It transpired that both girls were frightened that the rest of their family was not safe and this dominated their thinking more when away from them and as a result affected their learning and their behaviour at times.

The Counsellor helped Amani and her colleague think of strategies to help the sisters be more comfortable in class. Amani carried out some activities about difference and being non-judgmental with her class that she had taken from the Inclusive Educa-tion materials that UNRWA had developed. She used games that used simple pictures, where students had to describe what they saw. Amani was surprised how some of the class made assumptions and judgements about the people in the pictures. In other words, they were putting feelings and emotions based on preconceived ideas into the picture that they could not actually see by just looking at the picture. By using such activities with different foci over time, she a saw a gradual change where students did not seem so quick to judge before they had all the information. Amani was pleased to see how the class became much more receptive to Elham and there was less name calling generally.



CommentAs a teacher, it is also necessary to always have an open mind and to think before react-ing instinctively with negative comments or prejudging events without knowing the full extent of the incident. In the Case study, Amani spoke to the group of girls to try to find out the root cause of the problem. She then tackled the issue by fostering respect and support among Elham’s classmates, but also by speaking to other personnel about Elham and her sister. As a teacher, you do not have all the necessary skills to deal with some kinds of behaviour issues and its root causes. When you realize you cannot do this on your own, it is time to consult with colleagues and those trained in working with students who have social, emotional or mental health challenges.

Sometimes it is necessary to seek the advice of other personnel to deal with persistently challenging behaviour.

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Working with other personnelIf inappropriate behaviour issues persist with a student or a class, it may become nec-essary to seek the assistance of other personnel to help you support the student in be-coming more responsible. Referring a student to a more senior member of staff, a Head of Department or the School Principal may be necessary, and may also help to make a considerable difference to the way the student decides to respond.

Sometimes it may be important to meet with the parents/carers to see if there are extenuating circumstances that are fuelling a student’s inappropriate behaviour and which, if you knew about them, could help you plan different ways to respond to the student. Not all families will want to share such information and this must be respected, but maybe by raising the situation with the parents/carers they can help the student at home. This may help you and the rest of the class. It may be that you could also work together with the parents/carers to support the student by exchanging news of how well they are doing each day.

The next Activity asks you to consider the students you teach and particularly those who are more challenging and may have more problems with their schooling and behaviour.

Activity 10: Planning for a student who needs more supportWhether you teach the same class all day or several classes, there will be students who give you more concern than others – either because of their slower progress in learning than other students or because of their behaviour, or for both reasons at once.

In your course notebook, write down why this student causes you concern. Try to be as precise as possible and support any statements you make with evidence. If some areas are not clear, spend a few days observing the student more closely to see whether your statements are true or not. Look carefully at how much the student is involved with others during lessons and also during breaks. Are they solitary, an active member of a group of friends or mixing with a group outside their age group?

Having made your initial profile of this student, think very carefully about what it tells you. Does the evidence suggest that there are genuine learning difficulties or perceptions by the student that they are not good enough? Is there evidence of the student misbehaving to hide their fear about the work and their ability to understand and complete it? Is there evidence that other members of the class are making life in the classroom more difficult for the student? Do you know if there are circumstances at home that may have upset the stu-dent and impacted on their ability to concentrate in class? What else could you do to find out what makes the student either disrupt lessons or underperform? Are there students in the class or school who have been putting pressure on the student in some way?



Not all students are a problem just because they have learning difficulties and need support. Most students who exhibit inappropriate behaviour have poor self-esteem or emotional and social problems that make school a difficult place for them to function effectively or they are not being challenged enough in class and so disrupt lessons as they have nothing else to do. Sometimes, when the situation outside school is trouble-some, even the most well-behaved students will be fearful about what might occur and so not join in as easily as usual.

The next step is to think about what you should do. You may need to speak to col-leagues or the School Principal, the School Counsellor, the family or other agencies outside the school with the help of the School Principal and others.

Closely observing a student who is giving you cause for concern can help you plan how best to provide support.

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SummaryA good classroom ethos can only become real if all parties concerned sign up to an agreed way of working and interacting that is based on respect and acknowledgement of diversity. This means that interaction should be positive, constructive and support-ive, enabling students to achieve their potential without harassment or interruption. The Case Studies and Activities in this Unit have focused on systems and ways of work-ing to model best practice so that students are encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour and work and for supporting and helping others. Managing behaviour does not mean that individuality and creativity are lost. It is the exact opposite; if stu-dents are not distracted by other students’ behaviour, they can spend more time actu-ally thinking and learning in diverse ways.


Unit 4: Using the local environment

As a teacher, how often on your way to school in the morning do you look around the local area and see what is there that you could use in your teaching? A typical answer by many teachers would be “Not often”, as on the way to work they are likely to be busy contemplating the day ahead and thinking what tasks they might need to do before classes start. But looking more closely at the area in which your school is based can be a beneficial exercise, as the local area can be a rich resource for a teacher. This may seem impossible to believe when the area is in the middle of a busy urban setting or there is some unrest around, but even within such a locality there are possibilities that you could use in your teaching.

Identifying the positive elements that you could use may not be so obvious at first. But within the community around the school there will be people who have expertise and skills that they might share with the students, either at school or at their place of work. Such activities can add a whole new element to the students’ learning experience and enhance their understanding. Enriching the curriculum through using resources and the skills, expertise and experiences of those who live and work in the area can be a significant motivator for some students about their own attitude to their education and aspirations for later life.

The local environment presents a multitude of opportunities, either within the bound-aries of the school or beyond. This Unit will suggest some ways to maximize the use of the local environment and the community to support both you and the students.

Learning outcomesBy the end of this Unit, you should have developed your:

• skills and knowledge regarding using the local environment as a resource for learning both in and out of the classroom

• understanding of how to extend the students’ knowledge and experience of their local area

• skills and knowledge regarding issues around safety, including the UNRWA ap-proach to Education in Emergencies (EiE)

• skills and knowledge regarding reasons for and ways to invite a visitor into the classroom

Extending the classroom experienceBecause learning is such an active process, it is very important that teachers are proac-tive in providing a stimulating environment and a classroom ethos where students are encouraged to think and question for themselves as they strive to learn.

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One important way to create a more active learning environment for students is to look beyond the walls of the classroom. Even within school, there may be people or resourc-es that you could use in the lessons you plan. The first Activity asks you to think widely as you brainstorm ways in which the local community could enrich your teaching.

Activity 11:Brainstorming ideas for teaching the use of the wider environment in teaching and learningIn your course notebook, put the heading ‘Using the local environment’ in the middle of the page. Then, either by yourself or with another colleague and/or another teacher participating in the NAT programme, write down as quickly as you can any ways that you could use the wider school and the local community to help your teaching. Keep this brainstorm, as it will be useful whenever you are planning a new topic.

Spend time dividing the activities you wrote down into those that involve taking stu-dents out of the classroom and those that involve people or materials being brought into the classroom. How many of the activities and resources that you have listed can be used in both ways? Think about how you could plan and carry out some of these activities.

CommentThe next quick Activity is to stimulate you to think about the possibilities before moving to actually reviewing in more detail the added facilities and resources that are available to you and the students. Try Activity 12 straight away, as it will stimulate your thinking more about the resources available.

Activity 12: Reviewing the local areaFirstly, spend some time outside in the school grounds and look at what resources there are around the school building itself. For example, are there areas with plants, shrubs and/or trees? Are there any outdoor buildings that could provide some kind of resource, such as a room to use for a messy painting task or walls to look at their con-struction? You need to be open-minded as you do this and think about the topics you are teaching over the next few weeks. Talking with colleagues about whether they have ever taken their classes outside may help you think more deeply about the possibilities. Make notes of the possibilities for bringing resources into the classroom and the oppor-tunities where you could take students out.



Secondly, either on the same day or on the way to school next day, look beyond the school to see what there is in the locality. If you live near the school you will be familiar with the nature and mix of the community, but if you live further away you may not know the area as well. In this case, an exploratory walk around the area would be very useful. This assumes that it is safe for you to do this. It may be that going on such a walk with a colleague(s) may make it safer and also will help you all to see more and discuss the potential of the area together. Again, make notes about those aspects that have relevance to what you are about to teach. This may be actual physical resources you could bring into school (such as some craft work by a parent, an animal such as a frog or insect) or people (such as local people with particular interests or expertise related to upcoming topics).

Finally, as you plan next week’s lessons, think about how you could use the local area/community in some way. Do not try to be too ambitious at the start, and do check what the School Principal and any school policy say about using the outside environment for learning. Note down some of the possibilities and keep these for later use in your career, as well as for your study of this programme.

CommentIt is hoped that you have seen that the curriculum and topics you teach could have much more relevance, interest and stimulation for the students, just by looking beyond the confines of the classroom.

The extended classroom – bringing the outside inThe outside environment can be a tremendous resource for collecting artefacts and objects that will help students better understand what they are learning about. Some-times it may be necessary that you or a helper collects such resources, but at other times it might be more important for the students to do the collecting for a variety of reasons. Knowing where something comes from and the conditions in which it is found can add more to students’ understanding of logical reasoning or classification, among other skills. For example, why does a specific plant grow well in a shady position rather than in the open? Another example could be when the students are collecting soil from the grounds to test the pH and other factors, such as whether it is sandy or loamy. It is useful for students to see what kind of geology is prevalent in the local area. Teaching about geology can be quite hard and abstract if students are unable to sometimes work outside or collect samples to examine in more detail inside, such as using a microscope to examining the rocks or soil more closely.

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Working outside, for example to collect plant samples, can really help to bring a topic alive.

At the beginning of a topic, in whatever subject, it is important to capture the students’ interest. The two short Case Studies below show how the teachers do this by using the locality as their resource centre and also as an extended classroom. As you read the Case Studies, think about the way you could do this and how the students might benefit.



Case study 9: Using the school grounds to learn about units of measurement

Anwar, a maths teacher in Gaza, was intro-ducing his class to the idea of standard units for measuring length. Having gained approval from the School Principal, he took his students into the school grounds with tape measures, sticks and pencils to measure features in differ-ent parts of the grounds, including a wall and a flowerbed. They had to use the stick, pencil, their footprint and the tape to gather four mea-sures of the same feature.

The students were very excited to be going outside, especially to do mathematics. Anwar reminded the students about being sensible and not being too noisy, so that they did not disrupt the other classes.

As this was a very different type of lesson for them, the students were engrossed in what they were doing. The tasks did not take too long to do, but clear recording of their results was not as easy and several groups had to re-measure some lengths again. As they finished, the groups were asked to collate their results into a table until everyone had finished and they could return to the classroom.

Back in the classroom, the discussion that followed helped the students to realize that as different students had measured with different length artefacts, including their feet, it was not easy to compare their results. Anwar asked them to think what their tables showed and the importance of standard units was raised by the students and thoroughly discussed. Each group wrote out a table of results that were displayed for all to see and talk about.

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Case study 10: Bringing resources from the local area into the classroom

Abeda, an art teacher in Jordan, asked her stu-dents to help her collect some different pebbles and stones from around the area and bring these into school for the lesson next week. She kept them curious about the reason, but men-tioned they had to pick them because they were attractive or interesting to them in some way, for example in terms of colour, shape, size or texture, and they could bring in several if they wished. Abeda left a tub outside her classroom for the students to drop their stones in.

During the art lesson, the students were given a collection of stones and pebbles and were asked to feel them and share their ideas about their attributes and to write down words to describe these. Next, they were asked to draw a collection using only pencils and try to show the attributes by skilful use of shading.

Abeda displayed the resulting sketches on the wall. The display was very eye-catching and the students looked at it and talked about the art for some weeks.

CommentWherever your school is, there will be a variety of things that you could collect and bring into the classroom for the students to observe, investigate and use in different ways. Either you could do the collecting, or you could take the class out, or ask them to do the collecting on the way to school as Abeda did in Case study 10.

It is not difficult to find interesting things to do outside, but it is key to ensure that the activities will enhance the learning for the students. It is important to be clear about the outcomes of the lesson and the reasons why you are collecting resources before taking the students out. You also need to be careful that all students can access the outside and participate as fully as possible in the lesson. You may need to consider ar-rangements for students who have special needs, such as limited mobility or hearing problems.



Health and safety when using the local environmentCareful planning is vital when taking students outside. For example, you need to ensure that you take all the resources you need with you from the start, as you cannot go back inside and leave the students unsupervised. If possible, having a colleague to help is recommended. Have a contingency plan in case of accident and keep official numbers saved to your cell phone.

Students also need to be briefed about the aims of the outing and about expectations regarding their participation and behaviour. They need to have written permission from a parent/carer, if that is school policy.

If students are out of school for long periods, then plans must be in place to ensure they have food, water and access to personal facilities throughout the day. Transport may need to be arranged.

Resource 21: Respecting the environment expands on these ideas, especially in relation to gathering resources from the local area. Read this and keep a copy at hand if you want to take the students out more, so that you embed the requirements in your mind.

The extended classroom – taking students into the communityTaking students out into the school grounds or further is a way to link with the local community. Activities such as taking students out to see the plants and animals in the real world will also increase student participation. Going out to look at the way the en-vironment is used, buildings are laid, the local stream flows or where cattle graze will interest the students and stimulate their deeper thinking skills, especially if you plan appropriately challenging activities for them to do.

The impact of these sorts of approaches can be stronger if they are used regularly rath-er than very occasionally. Given the nature of the curriculum in Grades 1–6, the use of the local environment could, as some schools do, be planned on a regular basis.

Before doing Activity 13, read the next Case Study to see how one teacher used the local environment to stimulate the students’ interest.

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Case study 11: Looking at the local environment

Fadwa, who teaches a Grade 4 class in Syr-ia, was doing a topic called ‘People and their jobs’. Fadwa wanted to explore some of the key services and jobs there were in the local area to bring this topic alive for the students. She told the class that on their way to school the next day she wanted them to try and ob-serve what different kinds of businesses or ser-vices were available in the area. To help them be able to recognize and identify these ser-vices, she asked the class to brainstorm what kind of things they might see. She stimulated their thinking by telling them that on her way to school she passes two garages where she sometimes fills up her car. The ideas they sug-gested were shops, banks, cafes and restau-rants, hotels and garages.

The next day, Fadwa divided the class into groups of students who live near each other so they could share their experiences better, and asked them to list what they had seen. She asked them to list the businesses or services they saw in order of their frequency. This led to some interesting discussion and some disagreement between group members as to which services and jobs were most common. As the groups shared their prioritization from most frequent to least frequent, Fadwa recorded their answers on the board in a table format so that they could see the differences between the different areas surrounding the school. It transpired that as Fadwa filled in the table, the students could see a pattern developing – that the main service in their area was garages for fuel, but also for motor repairs. The garages or service stations dealt with different kinds of vehicles – some only dealing with heavy machines like trucks and other big vehicles like diggers and tractors and even cranes. Others were specifi-cally for motorbikes and scooters.

Fadwa’s last question was to ask the students if they had realized that they lived in such a machine-focused area. Some agreed that it was a surprise to them, but others said that they had family members working in the trade. What they had not realized was the wide range of vehicles that were dealt with.

Fadwa set them a task for homework to talk to a manager/worker at one of the ga-rages near them, preferably with a partner, and ask if it helped them by being close to other similar businesses and if so why? Her plan was to discuss why areas such as these – where the focus is on one trade – actually develop. What are the factors that help such areas grow? The students were quite excited and interested about the homework as they left the classroom.


At the end of the topic, Fadwa reflected how she felt that the research in the local area had provided a good base for her students to begin considering why certain jobs arose in particular areas of a town or country. She felt that the students had practised some important research skills that would be transferable to other contexts and topics.

CommentThe patterns of settlement, trade and business development, if any, and the outcomes of a small research project will, whether the area is heavily populated or not, be differ-ent, but the skills the students need to use and develop their understanding while doing this work (such as observation, questioning, recording and analysing) are the same. It is the context and complexity of areas that causes students to extend these basic skills of learning. Gathering the data together and identifying ways and means of doing this helped the students think more deeply about the kind of information they needed to un-derstand about the jobs and then how they could interpret the data they had gathered.

Activity 13: Using the local environmentAs you plan for tomorrow or another day this week, think how you could use resources from the environment to make the lesson more interesting. Plan a lesson where you and the students either go out into the school grounds or local area to work or go out to bring something(s) from the environment into the classroom. Write out your plan. Share your intentions with the School Principal to ensure that it is safe and acceptable to go out.

Teach the lesson and, as the students work, observe their behaviour and note their involvement with the task. Listen to the talk that is happening and note its content and the level of understanding. Think too about what extra skills, if any, you needed to manage this more open ‘classroom’.

At the end of the lesson, spend a few minutes asking the students what they thought of working outside. Note their answers down in your notebook along with your own reflections on the whole experience of planning and working outside. What did the students learn? How do you know this? Do you think more students were on task for longer than they would have been if you were in class?

CommentIt is always important to set clear expectations for behaviour when outside the school, but hopefully the students really enjoyed the experience and worked well. Sometimes students only need to go out for a short time to do one task as part of a lesson that is divided between being inside and being outside.

In some situations, you may have to make alternative plans because of a change in the calmness of the surrounding area. The next Case study illustrates how one teacher re-sponded in a situation like this.

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Case study 12: Working in a difficult safety situation

Samira was teaching a lesson on plant growth and had planned to take the students out to collect specimens and to note the oth-er plants that were mixed in with their chosen plant. Unfortunately, during that day, there was some minor unrest outside the school. Although this was a low-risk situation, the School Principal and senior staff agreed that all the students should stay where they were safe in their classrooms.

Samira’s students had been looking forward to collecting plants from the grounds and some were disappointed. Others were con-cerned, even though Samira explained that keeping them in class was just a precaution and that they were in no danger.

Samira was keen to continue with the lesson as she thought this would help give her students peace of mind. She spoke to the School Principal who agreed that she could go alone out to a more remote and safer part of the grounds to collect a few samples of plants very quickly while he watched her. She then returned to the classroom.

To redirect the students’ attention and reduce their anxiety, she reminded them that they were completely safe and explained they were going to start their science lesson. She asked students to help her distribute the few plants she had collected – one for each group. The first task was, as a group, to examine their plant and if possible to name it. They were asked to list all the parts of a plant and the things they thought plants needed to grow. They listed water, light, soil and the right temperature. Samira that asked them what happened to plants if they did not get all these needs. Did the plant survive? Their responses were interesting and showed which students had more experience of plants in their everyday lives.

Samira then used a DVD showing a virtual experiment on the growth of plants. The students were asked to write down their observations as they watched. After that, she divided them into six groups to share their observations and to plan an experiment where they could test what would happen if a plant did not get all the things it needed to grow. She also asked them to think about what resources they would need for the experiment and whether they had any suggestions about how to gather these. The students had lots of ideas of containers they could collect to grow the plants in, such as plastic bottles with the tops cut off, and Samira was pleased to see how interest-ed and how much less anxious they seemed. Finally, she asked them to predict what would happen when they tested the experiment and she promised they would try out the experiment as soon as possible.



As soon as the situation outside the school had calmed down, Samira took the class outside and each group collected enough specimens of the same plant, with soil, in the containers they had collected and brought in. The groups then set up the plants that Samira had gathered to test each element of the experiment they had planned in the previous lesson. The plants were labelled for each element they wanted to test, such as ‘no light’, ‘no water’, etc. and left in the classroom. A rota was developed for someone to check and water the plants (if appropriate), each in their different place, over the next few weeks.

CommentBeing flexible, adaptable and able to think quickly are key skills for a teacher to develop. There is always a need for teachers to adapt and modify what they do to take account of student needs, interests and abilities on a daily basis, but on some days those plans may have to change suddenly, as they did for Samira.

Samira worked positively in this situation to ensure the safety of the students and their well-being, including psychosocial health, and to keep the quality of education in the circumstances. Samira knew it would be much more meaningful to engage students in active approaches to keep them focused.

UNRWA has an Education in Emergencies (EiE) approach where it works to ensure the continuity of quality education whatever the challenges being faced. It also focuses on three key dimensions of its delivery:

• Safe and secure learning environment, which addresses both the physical and emotional needs of the children. The capacity of education personnel and com-munities is also being built to respond to insecurity, provide safe learning spaces and psychosocial support to help students deal with trauma and support their recovery.

• Quality teaching and learning, including the provision of other modalities such as self-learning materials, interactive learning programmes and UNRWA TV ep-isodes, and the professional developments of teachers in these modalities and resources.

• Student, parent and community engagement and participation, which involves identifying and mobilizing available resources within the community, as well as building consensus and support for EiE.

It is important that as an UNRWA teacher you are aware of what the emphasis is in times of emergency, and what resources are available to support you.

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UNRWA produces a range of materials to help teachers deal with Education in Emergencies (EiE) situations.

Bearing in mind the discussion above, now read the next Activity.

Activity 14: Planning for the unexpected in advanceAs an UNRWA teacher possibly working in challenging circumstances, you might face a similar situation to Samira. It is important not to lose the creativity in your educa-tion, but to be prepared to adapt and modify your teaching. Using the outdoor local environment for teaching and learning may be one of the first limits you face when emergency situations arise. Depending on where your school is, you can be prepared for much disruption by ensuring that you have resources within the classroom that are reusable and recyclable and which will help extend the access to more interesting teaching by bringing the wider world in. Think about what you could have ready for such eventualities in terms of resources and lessons, and think how you could build these up over time. Write your thoughts in your course notebook.



CommentYou should work with the School Principal and all the other staff in your school to develop awareness and understanding of the EiE approaches, ensure you know the school’s contin-gency plan (evacuation plan, list of contacts, safe areas, safe exits, easy access to first-aid kit, etc.) and the school’s different resources that can be employed at such times. You should always keep up to date with local news about the situation around the school, but do not let this mean you forget your key role of teaching the students to the best of your ability.

Inviting visitors into the schoolDo you remember ever having a visitor come into class to share their experience when you were at school? If not, would you have liked it? Why?

One of the most likely focus of visits to schools is probably with relation to music. Invit-ing in a single musician or a group or even an orchestra often happens for the whole year group or school. They may come in for a particular festival or to show a special type of music or dance and their input is usually thoroughly enjoyed by both staff and stu-dents. But there are many other people that can be invited into school who will bring a different perspective for the students.

The Case study below shows what one teacher did to interest students in understand-ing how the digestive system works.

Case study 13: Ahmad invites a gastric consultant into his class

Ahmad, a new teacher of science for Grades 5–7 class in a boys’ school in Gaza, was teaching the digestive system to a Grade 5 class and he decided that it would really help his students to have someone come into the class to talk to them about their experience.

Ahmad told his plan to a friend who was a doctor at the local hospital. Ahmad’s friend recommended a colleague who was a gastric consultant. He also said that this colleague, Dr Khalid, was a good speaker and that he would be a good choice for talking to Ahmad’s students. Having gained permission from the School Principal for Dr Khalid to come into the school, Ahmad and his friend invited the consultant to visit; Ahmad spoke on the phone with Dr Khalid about the aims of the visit and the students’ level of understanding.

Before Dr Khalid’s visit, Ahmad worked with his class to prepare them for the visit by telling them a little bit about the consultant and his particular interests with digestive problems. Ahmad put the boys into groups and asked them to think about what kinds of questions they would like to ask Dr Khalid. He gave them some time to talk about their ideas before sharing their questions. The range of questions pleased Ahmad and he sent a summary of the questions to Dr Khalid as had been previously agreed. Ah-mad also prepared his students by speaking to them about the format that the visit would take.

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When Dr Khalid came to the school, he spoke to the students for 15 minutes about his work and related this to what they knew about digestion and then he asked them to pose questions. This session was lively, as students were really interested and Dr Kha-lid was a good speaker, as Ahmad’s friend had said. He was able to use language that was not too complex for the students, and they really began to understand how the digestive system worked and what could cause dysfunction. One of the students gave a vote of thanks to Dr Khalid at the end and two of them accompanied him out of the school after he had talked briefly with Ahmad.

At the end of the day, Ahmad met with the School Principal and reflected with him on the effectiveness of the experience and the impact on the students. The School Prin-cipal asked Ahmad to share his experience with the staff at the next weekly meeting, which he did. Afterwards several colleagues came to talk to him about how he did it and were interested in trying something similar. Ahmad was pleased and became more friendly with other members of staff, which made him feel much more a part of the school. Ahmad wrote to Dr Khalid himself to thank him for what he felt was one of his best lessons.

Inviting an expert into class can inspire the students and enhance their learning of a particular topic.



CommentAs Ahmad had spent time setting the visit up and thinking through all stages, the visit was a great success and Ahmad was able to see the positive impact on his students. Dr Khalid was well primed by Ahmad and so had pitched his talk, and the language he used, to the students’ level. Ahmad’s planning also meant that the visit did not need to take too much time out of Dr Khalid’s busy day. By sharing what he did with his colleagues, Ahmad was also initiating the practice of arranging school visits into the school’s way of working.

Other local people who can be brought into school to explain their jobs might include health workers, hotel staff, plumbers, chefs or computer experts. There will be many others who can provide interesting stories about the local area, or, for example, about their families and histories. While it is important to be careful when using family sto-ries, they can provide an interesting resource to hear about how people lived or how things used to be in the area. Students are often particularly interested if they know the person. It is always recommended that you discuss the arrangements with your School Principal first, as Ahmad did in the Case study.

You need now to do activity 15 that asks you to think about the possibility of inviting the visitor to the classroom and the related actions.

Bringing local people into school is a good way of establishing school and community links.

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Activity 15: Inviting a visitor into classThink about what kind of person you might want to invite into class. The range is end-less, from a medical professional, as Ahmad did, to, for example, a shop assistant. Think about the topics you are covering over the next few weeks and identify possibilities. Talk to colleagues who may know someone who has expertise in the area of your focus, or even the students who may have family members who have talents or a history to tell that will enhance your planned lesson.

Read Resource 22: Using visitors as an educational resource and use this as a guide as you identify and contact a visitor, plan and arrange the lesson. Remember to prime the class about how to behave and respond to the visitor.

Teach the lesson and observe how the students respond during the session. Reflect on the experience in the same way that Ahmad did on the whole process and the impact on the students. How valuable an experience did you think it was for them? Why? Write your reflections in your notebook.

CommentBeing able to talk in a semi-formal setting with someone who has a particular experience of life, or who has expertise in a subject the students are studying will help support their learning and understanding around the topic. The effort needed to set up such a dynamic session is worth it because of its likely impact on students. Using this kind of approach will:

• motivate the students• stimulate their thinking• open their eyes to the richness and diversity around them• develop a link with the local community• provide you with support• link the curriculum to the students’ lives• introduce them to new experiences• show students the relevance of what they learn in class to the outside world

SummaryTeaching is a very challenging but exciting profession, which allows its practitioners to be very creative and dynamic in how they work with students. Using the rich resources within the local community, either by going out into the locality or by bringing in resources (including people), will help capture the interest of even the most reluctant student. These kinds of ap-proaches, such as finding their own objects or doing their own research, also give students more ownership and responsibility for their learning. All the Activities and Case Studies in this Unit have looked at ways to use the resources in the local environment in creative ways, taking into account guidance on safety, organization and evaluating the impact on student learning.



The focus in Module 3 has been on creating a positive ethos and ambiance that are supportive of all students. The Units explored how talk can increase the effectiveness of working in a more active way in the classroom with your students and also discussed and tried ways to enhance the classroom environment through displays created by ei-ther you or the students to create stimulating and interesting ways of sharing infor-mation and ideas. The link from creating a pleasant environment to that of managing behaviour is easy to make because if a place is colourful and stimulating and students have contributed much to its development, they are more likely to be interested and on task. If you then extend the classroom by both taking students out and bringing resources, including people, in, then you add another dynamic element into the class-room experience.

The content and practical tasks set for this Module ask you to link what you have learned to the Activities you have carried out and to reflect on and evaluate their impact.

Content taskFrom the themes of Unit 2: Developing a positive classroom environment and ethos, which has display as a key idea, and Unit 3: Managing behaviour, and using one to a maximum of four lessons you taught during this Module as examples, identify what were for you the most important educational ideas that you took and used. Describe these ideas and discuss in around 1500 words why they were important ideas for you. How do they fit in with your developing understanding of your role as a teacher and your understanding of how students learn? Use examples from the lesson(s) to illus-trate how you applied the theory into practice.

Practical taskPick one lesson where you focused on encouraging talk in the classroom and/or where you took the students out or brought someone into the classroom. Provide copies of the lesson plans alongside your description of how you planned and organized the les-son. Reflect on the success of the lesson from both your perspective and also from the perspective of the students. What skills were they developing? How well did they listen to, question and respond to the visitor? How do you know this? What impact did the lesson have on their understanding and ability to work more actively and cooperatively in class? How do you know this?

Module 3 assessment tasks

65module 3 assessment tasks

module 3 the learning environment - UNRWA

Documents

Transcript of module 3 the learning environment - UNRWA