TA week 3 reflection

This week’s focus is on building a Positive Classroom Culture, which is 1 of the 4 key teaching processes under the STP. I would be highlighting some classroom management approaches employed by my CT, as well as my observations of students’ in-class behavior in response to my CT’s management style.

I understood that through the building of a positive classroom culture, we are able to meet students’ basic psychological needs. This sets the stage for effective learning as students will be motivated to learn in an environment that provides them with positive learning experiences. Drawing on content from the Pedagogical Practices module, there are 5 key factors that make up a positive classroom culture which I will be linking to my observations in my CT’s lessons.

Establishing interactions and rapport

In my observations, I’ve noticed that my CT tries her best to address students by their names whenever she calls on them to share their inputs on a piece of artwork. She encourages students to speak up by giving them sufficient wait time, after which she would listen actively to their inputs before paraphrasing and building on it to further their understanding. In acknowledging and reaffirming students’ contributions, she reminds them that there is no ‘right or wrong’ when it comes to opinions and that we can have our own ideas and thoughts. Her students learn to listen respectfully when others’ share, and this allows for positive student-student interactions in the art room when students add-on to a point or share another perspective.  

My CT also plans for collaborative work for her students. As part of her instructions, she would remind them to discuss, consider each other’s’ perspective and reach an agreement when making artistic decisions. By encouraging students to communicate with each other, my CT was able to focus students’ attention on working together to create an artwork that combines everyone’s input.

Maintaining positive discipline & building trust

Something I’ve observed consistently in my CT’s lessons would be her use of positive discipline to enforce rules. In reminding students of the desired behaviors in the artroom, she would give praises to groups of students who are well-behaved for instance: “I like table 5, they are waiting quietly and patiently for all of us to be ready”. This draws attention to the positive examples in class and has the effect of motivating other students to follow suit so that they would also be deserving of praise. Hence, my CT has effectively replaced unnecessarily nagging and reprimanding by picking up the positive behaviors displayed by students and commending them for it.

Setting expectations and routines & building trust

My CT sets aside time for a proper introduction and closure so that students may form the linkages between their prior knowledge and the upcoming art lessons. This sets in place a momentum for the lessons, where students know what to expect once they step into the artroom and what to do after finishing up with their work.

In starting the lesson, students are to place their pencil cases under the table before greeting her. In getting students’ attention mid-task to address issues that have arisen or to remind them to keep their noise level low, my CT has set a call-and-answer routine in place:

CT: “(class name)”

Students: “Yes, (CT’s name)”

I found it amusing as students would respond with my CT’s name enthusiastically. I also saw its’ effectiveness in redirecting students’ attention in a positive and uplifting manner as both parties addressed each other in a non-confrontational tone.

In closing up, my CT has set in place a system where she would display the completed artwork of students on the whiteboard. This sets up some healthy competition that motivates students to finish up their work so they may put theirs up for display as well. Additionally, it also serves as a mini exhibition area that students can engage with after washing up to admire their classmates’ work to pick out their favorite and share the reasons for their choice! This set in-place an enjoyable routine where students who cleaned up faster would sit down and admire their classmates’ works quietly while waiting! Students were actively engaged in thinking about art right up till my CT does a closure.

Empowering learners

Finally, in empowering her students, I’ve watched my CT give creative license to her students by allowing for guided choices in choosing the art materials to work with. This choice is not limited to the upper primary students! For instance, P1s were given a tray of various materials to explore with in creating their texture paintings. They could flexibly change between materials and try handling more ‘challenging’ ones if they were comfortable with it. Similarly, for the P2’s half-and-half artwork, students were allowed to choose the magazine cutting they’d like to work with, reposition and reimagine the setting in creating their unique artworks. By involving students in decision making, students will learn to take ownership of their own work and would take greater pride in their art!

In the current COVID-19 situation where full Home-Based Learning has been rolled out, I would imagine that the effects of a positive classroom culture would permeate online lessons too! Having set in place an encouraging and positive learning environment, students would naturally look forward to lessons with their teachers and their classmates, regardless of the setting.