Evidence Set Three:
Classroom culture and practices
Overview
Evidence Set Three illustrates the ways in which I am developing a positive learning culture in the class through practices that build children’s understanding of themselves and of others, as individuals and as learners. The artefacts in this evidence set show the key role that developing the social and emotional competence of the children, as well as engaging children in learning, play in this process.
Descriptors
1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of children
1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.
2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
3.1 Establish challenging learning goals
3.2 Plan, structure and sequence learning programs
3.3 Use teaching strategies
3.4 Select and use resources
3.5 Use effective classroom communication
4.1 Support student participation
4.2 Manage classroom activities
4.3 Manage challenging behaviour
4.4 Maintain student safety
6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice
3-A Building a sense of community and inclusion
3-B Developing leadership and independence
3-C Growing emotional literacy
3-D Engaging children in learning
Artefact 3-A. The primary-aged child has a strong and developing sense of justice and morality and is sensitive to perceived injustices. Weekly community meetings give all children an equal opportunity to raise concerns about their own learning environment, and to then work collaboratively to come up with solutions for these. This empowers children to shape their own learning community and builds an environment that supports their well-being, learning and development (1.1, 4.1. 4.2).
As children are transitioning in and out of the class throughout the year, it is important they have regular supported opportunities to get to know each other in a social setting. Most days of the week, the children sit with their friends to eat, but during our weekly sit-down meal, seating is allocated randomly, meaning children may not have a close friend nearby. Our weekly class meals contribute to building social cohesion, offering children the chance to find common ground with their peers and build new relationships (4.1).
Care of the environment is a crucial part of establishing respect for the classroom and materials. Through participating in daily jobs, every child is actively engaged in being responsible for caring for their own learning environment, and no matter which job a child has, for the whole class to be properly cared for, everyone must participate (4.1).
The second plane of development is when children are developing a conscience and working out for themselves the difference between right and wrong. Based on a secure foundation of earlier experiences and expectations within their families and their pre-primary classroom, the child is now ready to explore the rules as an individual that is part of a wider society. At this age, children are strongly influenced by their peers and through interactions with each other, they are developing their own moral compass. Inevitably, conflict occurs and it is important that children are guided to learn how to resolve these so they can eventually do this independently. In my class, I support restorative conversations between the children to help them understand the impacts of their actions on others and what they can do to make things right again. Importantly, these conversations must happen when both parties are calm but also in a timely manner. This process still sits within the behaviour management framework of the school, so that communication with parents occurs when needed and serious incidents are still met with appropriate and consistent consequences (4.3).
The Montessori classroom environment can present many challenges for neurodiverse children, including those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Children with ASD can experience sensory sensitivities, making a dynamic and sometimes noisy classroom, a challenging space for them in which to feel comfortable and to learn in. For some, the level of freedom in the class can also generate anxiety, as decision-making and uncertainty can be difficult for ASD children to navigate. The approach for supporting such children includes building a positive working relationship with the family to develop an Individual Learning Plan (see Artefact 1-C) which may incorporate strategies to support the academic and social-emotional development of the child.
Completing ASD training has helped me create a classroom environment that is sensitive to the needs of children with ASD, such as creating a calm space in the class with a range of sensory objects that can be used. Other strategies that I have adopted for specific students, include the development of social stories (see Artefact 1-B) and inclusion of books about neurodiversity in the class library to help build understanding and appreciation of difference within the class culture (1.5, 1.6, 4.1, 6.2).
Artefact 3-B. Leadership is a natural part of the progression within a Montessori class, as children remain within a cycle for roughly a three-year period. While older children have more experience and knowledge in some areas, leadership responsibilities are not prescribed based on age alone; children of any age can take on responsibilities and become role models by demonstrating positive learning behaviours and aptitude in different areas.
Leaving the confines of the classroom and venturing out into the community is an integral part of the Montessori primary classroom. It is linked to the developmental needs of the child of this age, who is beginning to understand their own place in society and who therefore needs to explore the wider world to see how society really works. Going Out is also linked to human independence and gives the child the opportunity to develop greater responsibility. Presentations in the class are designed to entice the child to want to go further and do something more; the opportunity to Go Out empowers them to find, see and do more through their own initiative and exploration, without having to wait for a teacher to provide them information. The kinds of experiences that children can have as part of Going Out can transform a child’s total experience in school (1.1, 3.1, 3.4, 4,4).
Artefact 3-C. The arts are a natural way for children to explore and express their own emotions. Combining discussions around emotions with lessons in art techniques, is also an effective means of engaging all children in developing their emotional literacy, irrespective of their level of ability in the emotional domain. These discussions initially focus on identifying and managing their own emotions. Building on emotional self awareness, the next stage is learning to recognise emotions in others through reading their body language and knowing how to offer them support. This is a fundamental relationship skill and contributes to building a culture in which children are noticed and supported.
It is important the children know that all feelings are valid, and in class I support this by allowing them to experience their emotions and by connecting and empathising with them. However, not all ways of expressing emotions are appropriate, so I try to help children devise coping strategies that help them to manage their strong emotions in an acceptable way. These strategies must be learned while the child is composed, so they can be called upon when needed. (1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.2, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1).
Drama is also an effective tool for social-emotional learning, allowing children the ability to practise skills they are learning in a playful and explorative way. It also offers children a positive opportunity to move outside their comfort zone; when the children all do that together, it builds community and trust (1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.3, 3.5, 4.1).
Building social-emotional competence is an integral part of classroom life, being incorporated into all areas of learning and every discussion and interaction with the children. This is supported in my class by implementation of social-emotional learning programs, including Grow Your Mind and Bounce Back! These programs give children the language to understand and talk about their own emotions and develop important relationship skills (1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.4).
Part of helping children learn how to self-regulate, is setting up a space where they are free to go if they notice that they are feeling strong emotions and need to take themselves to a quiet space away from their peers. The calm space in my classroom has a range of resources that children can select, such as sensory fidgets, noise-blocking headphones, emotions charts, breathing prompts and books. There are also resources from the Grow Your Mind program (3.3, 3.4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4).
Artefact 3-D. Freedom is a key factor in engaging children in learning. The Montessori learning environment is one that offers freedom – not only for children, but also for teachers – who are free to use imagination and ingenuity in exploiting the natural connections between the learning areas (which are in reality part of a contiguous whole, divided only for the convenience of adults) and to share our passion for the beauty and wonder of the natural and human-made elements of the universe. While subject areas are increasingly becoming specialised in traditional educational settings, the power of being a generalist teacher in a Montessori setting provides me the ability to integrate presentations across the curriculum, such as art and geometry, or language and music, or any other combination that naturally occurs or will engage the child. I can tailor presentations around a child’s interests; for one child with a keen interest in language, a lesson about polygons might lead to a detailed study of nomenclature; whereas the same lesson for a child who is interested in art, might involve watercolour painting and a study of shape in art (1.1, 2.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4) .
Children are also free to choose their follow up, through drama, art, songwriting, poetry or any other means they may think of. So too are they free to engage in self-directed projects that come from their own interests, in which I can embed further learning if there is opportunity. For example, a child who has dyslexia wanted to participate in a dyslexia awareness event that involved the class folding and flying paper aeroplanes and measuring their flight times, which provided the perfect opportunity to deliver a lesson on presenting data in tables and graphs, and linked to lessons on measurement (3.3).
I encourage the children to take pride in their work and offer lessons in different ways to present work, such as how to create a poster or how to make a book during bookbinding workshops. The allure of using specialty paper or fancy beads in the presentation of their work is very attractive to the primary-aged child (3.4).
Another key factor in engagement, is presenting lessons to groups of mixed age and ability. Some learning areas are less dependent on prior learning so provide a good opportunity to ensure dynamic groups, which keeps interest up and gives all children the opportunity to work with different peers and to be exposed to different ideas and ways of thinking. For lessons which are more sequential, such as mathematics, ability grouping is more natural, however older or more capable children can also brought in to help deliver lessons, which can also be helpful if such children need a refresher on concepts they have learned earlier. When mixed groupings are part of the culture, children are seldom self-conscious about attending refresher lessons, and in such cases I may mention that the child has chosen to join the lesson, as they aware of their own learning needs and are taking responsibility for their learning (1.5, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1).
A key element of engagement is providing the child with an appropriate level of challenge. The child in the video within this artefact had quickly grasped abstract addition, so I needed to provide him with points of interest in the process that would enable him to consolidate this skill through practise. This can be difficult to achieve with children that pick up concepts quickly, as they can bore easily. In this case, I challenged him to go beyond the decimal categories he was already familiar with – the trillions (9 zeros). In the video, the problem the child has completed and is reading out, goes up to duodecillians (72 zeros). Part of the fun was also having to research and learn the names of the decimal hierarchical families (3.1, 4,1).
Annotation of evidence
Reflection
As my teaching career has progressed, I have increasingly identified as a learner alongside the children. Together with them I have experienced that learning involves putting oneself into a situation of vulnerability; of encountering new ideas and concepts, and then trying make sense of, and put it into practice, this new knowledge. Learning is, in this sense, a risky activity, and I have come to appreciate just how important it is to ensure the physical and social-emotional aspects of the class provide a sense of safety and inclusion for all children, in order for them to feel able to take the risk of engaging in new learning. As a teacher, my role is as much about building this culture, as it is about presenting new ideas and concepts. It is also becoming increasingly apparent through my own journey as a teacher, the importance of being kind to oneself in the learning process. This is an area that I would like to work more on with the children, as I am noticing more and more, children that experience anxiety around their perceptions of their own abilities. While holding a high standard for oneself is a good thing, this must be balanced with self-compassion.
A culture that is conducive to learning, is also one in which children are empowered to be active agents in their own learning; giving children the opportunity to shape their own learning environment, choose how and with whom they practise their work, and to drive self-directed projects from their own interests.