Free Inquiry #2- Social and Emotional Environment

How do classroom environments influence learning with a social and emotional environment?

When creating a classroom, you have to take into consideration what will make the students feel welcomed and engaged when learning, with positives and negatives.

Cognitive development– Is when younger students start gaining mental abilities such as thinking, reasoning, remembering, and critical thinking. All these characteristics allow students to understand and interact, for learning skills.

Positive Influences: A classroom with clear structure, routines, and accessible materials helps students gain confidence with self-regulation and executive functioning when learning in the classroom. Having an organized and stimulating environments help students’ minds be focused, curious, and promotes deeper thinking with learning.

Negative Influences: When having A cluttered or chaotic space can lead to distraction, cognitive overload, and stress for students. But also having a poor classroom layout and design, such as a bad seating layout, can lead to challenges, such as group work and engagement.

Emotional and Psychological Safety– The environment in the classroom makes students feel safe enough to be vulnerable and to take interpersonal risks. This can include asking questions, being able to make mistakes, or feeling free to express their different perspectives. Students should feel like they are able to take these risks without feeling fearful of negative consequences, such as judgment, ridicule, and being punished for their learning.

Positive Influence: Having a supportive, inclusive environment can make students feel safe, valued, and confident when in a classroom. Encouraging environments in which students feel safe to take risks academically without fear of embarrassment can help students foster growth.

Negative Influence: Some negative aspects can be that students fear being judged or punished, which can cause anxiety and limit participation. The classroom environments that put up with bullying, exclusion, or favouritism promote the emotional well-being of students.

Social Interaction and Collaboration– Social interaction in the classroom is the engagement between the learners, teachers, and the environment where they apply knowledge and different types of skills. While collaboration is the active process where group work is used for working together to help with problem-solving, with activities, and to complete tasks.

Positive Influences: The classroom design is critical when thinking of collaborative work, such as group tables and flexible seating that can promote communication and teamwork. When doing peer learning, it is boosted when environments that have encouraging discussions and peer support.

Negative Influence: Having a traditional or rigid seating plan can make students feel isolated and limit interactions with their peers. When having environments that shame group work can hinder the development of social and communication skills for students.