Literature Review
Introduction
In my first observations of my students, it was clear that very little academic progress could be made because of classroom behavior and conflicts creating constant interruptions. I had learned previously about safe learning communities, and instantly thought about how this class could benefit if one was effectively established. What was unclear was just how to establish one. I began to research community building in primary school classrooms and found different types of resources that were relevant to community building. The sources offered a variety of ideas and perspectives.
The Need for Social and Emotional Safety
In my initial needs assessment, I found that in my classroom, many students did not enjoy school and many other students did not feel safe with their classmates. In discussions with the students, both group and individual, I learned that the students who did not enjoy school did want to learn, and the students who expressed safety concerns focused on emotional safety. I began to research these issues to develop an Action Plan to address the student’s needs.
Communities and Awareness and Accountability
I began my literature quest by reading a professional text by Ralph Wells titled “Group Community in the Classroom”. In his article, he identified key components in building a community. While many were of particular interest to me, two that stood out were awareness and accountability. According to Wells, “A community is a complicated and vibrant being in its own right. Many different interactions at many different levels are occurring. And people must be vibrant, self-aware and other-aware to be part of a community.” (Wells 2004). I found the focus on awareness to be on point with something missing in my first grade classroom, as the students often did not understand how their actions affected both themselves and others.
Wells elaborated on accountability with,
“In fact part of creating a safe place is holding everyone accountable for what happens in the classroom”.
I also found this interesting and on point because many of our students do not hold themselves accountable and often blame others, particularly when conflicts arise in our classroom.
Ralph Wells found that establishing a commonality in which key components were necessary for a classroom, and holding his students accountable for doing their part in making the community safe, worked. His findings were in his tech class. He had a disabled student who was responsible for completing the same assignment as the rest of the class, even though the assignment was to be done in a boiler room, which was not handicap accessible. The class worked together, and found a common solution to make sure that the wheelchair bound student could complete his assignment, and helped make sure he felt comfortable about the solution. The class worked together to carry the student and his wheelchair through what they could. In areas that were not accessible, the students used a recording device to show what the rest of the rooms looked like. Additionally, a student or students always stayed with him to make sure he felt safe. The students working together to find this fantastic solution shows success in Well’s research. It is that success, that inspires me to build that safe community in my own classroom.
Communities and Emotional Security
I continued to research community building, specifically emotional security. I read a professional text by Greg Janson and Margaret King titled “Emotional Security in the Classroom: What Works for Young Children”. These authors claim, “Less attention is given to the emotional security of children in schools, a necessary prerequisite to learning and healthy development.” (Janson and King 2006). These authors focus on the importance of fostering self-esteem, building effective relationships and developing strong and effective communication with and between students. The research that Janson and King based their text on claimed that a classroom that focused on emotional support and affirmation, providing security, fostered an environment conducive of learning and personal achievement. In this article I realized that to build a safe classroom, I needed to focus on an emotionally secure foundation for all of my students. The emotional security would create the emotionally safe learning environment I am aiming for. This article also discussed the importance of this effective commination in regards to conflict resolution stating “Modeling positive language and offering choices is also one of the most effective ways of helping children to resolve their own conflicts”, which brings me to my next community component. (Janson and King 2006).
Communities and Conflict Resolution
I continued my research to learn about community building with conflict resolution. I had been told about The Responsive Classroom in a previous course, and visited the website. The Responsive Classroom is a “research-and evidence-based approach to elementary education that leads to greater teacher effectiveness, higher student achievement, and improved school climate “ (www.responsiveclassroom.org). In their website, there are articles about problem solving. Specifically, I found a protocol for conflict resolution in elementary classrooms.
In the article “A Conflict Resolution Protocol for Elementary Classrooms” the author states, “Over and over again, we find that having a ritualized procedure for solving problems can help even the youngest elementary school children resolve conflict peacefully with a minimum of adult intervention.” (Denton and Kriete 2000).
The four essential steps in a problem solving protocol are:
1. Calming down
2. Explanation of the upset
3. Discussion and resolution
4. Some kind of acknowledgement
Conflicts arise every day in our classroom, and providing students with steps to solve their problems will help students independently solve conflicts in a consistent, safe and effective way. The steps also provide the students with a needed structure of how to approach problem solving, which is needed when young children are both angry and in need of guidance. In my classroom, I have found the more structure the better when it comes to both social issues and collaborative learning.
There are many other sources that support problem solving in a classroom with a safe learning community and the positive effects on academic achievement. The article “More than Manners: Conflict Resolution in Primary Level Classrooms” is an Empirical Study by Warren Heydenberk and Roberta Heydenberk about problem solving in first grade. In their study they found “school success is strongly correlated to a student’s ability to resolve social problems as well as academic challenges (Haydenberk and Haydenberk 2007). The connection supported by these authors of school success and problem solving, both social and emotional, gives me clear guidance and support for the safe community I wish to develop learning to greater academic success.
Communities and Social Skills
During a discussion about creating community in the classroom, a Professor suggested I look into the Second Step Program which is widely used throughout at risk schools in San Diego. I discovered that the school I was at had and used the program, and was given access to use the resources the program offered. In addition to what was at my school site, the program has a website, which offers a great description of the program. It says, “Each grade level features developmentally appropriate ways to teach core social-emotional skills such as empathy, emotion management, and problem solving.” As I had found many articles with protocols and helpful tools, I had not yet found a grade and location specific program that offered readymade lessons and resources to me. I reviewed the lessons, and found helpful pictures and ideas that support social and emotional learning. The program fits perfectly with what I want to accomplish, as well as addresses specific identified needs of the students.
Importance of Language
When I pitched my Learning Inquiry Project of Community Building to one of my Professors, she suggested I look into a book called Choice Words by Peter H. Johnston. The books focuses on the language that is used in the classroom, specifically how a teacher talks to students. I found the information very helpful. Johnston States’
“In productive classrooms, teachers don’t just teach children skills: they build emotionally and relationally healthy learning communities.”
In reading this, I furthered my understanding of the importance in not only the way the students talk to one another in the community, but how I talk with them. It is important for me to not only give guidance and tools for a safe learning community, but to also be a good role model to the students as a member of their learning community, in addition to their leader. The simple words, phrases and tones I choose to take can turn a constructive comment into a negative put down. This reading was a reminder of how powerful a teacher can bee.
Conclusion
These elements, specifically social and emotional safety, conflict-resolution and accountability have, according to research, proved successful in building safe learning communities and fostering the academic achievement of many young learners. As such, I will focus on these as the foundation to my Action Research Action Plan.
In my first observations of my students, it was clear that very little academic progress could be made because of classroom behavior and conflicts creating constant interruptions. I had learned previously about safe learning communities, and instantly thought about how this class could benefit if one was effectively established. What was unclear was just how to establish one. I began to research community building in primary school classrooms and found different types of resources that were relevant to community building. The sources offered a variety of ideas and perspectives.
The Need for Social and Emotional Safety
In my initial needs assessment, I found that in my classroom, many students did not enjoy school and many other students did not feel safe with their classmates. In discussions with the students, both group and individual, I learned that the students who did not enjoy school did want to learn, and the students who expressed safety concerns focused on emotional safety. I began to research these issues to develop an Action Plan to address the student’s needs.
Communities and Awareness and Accountability
I began my literature quest by reading a professional text by Ralph Wells titled “Group Community in the Classroom”. In his article, he identified key components in building a community. While many were of particular interest to me, two that stood out were awareness and accountability. According to Wells, “A community is a complicated and vibrant being in its own right. Many different interactions at many different levels are occurring. And people must be vibrant, self-aware and other-aware to be part of a community.” (Wells 2004). I found the focus on awareness to be on point with something missing in my first grade classroom, as the students often did not understand how their actions affected both themselves and others.
Wells elaborated on accountability with,
“In fact part of creating a safe place is holding everyone accountable for what happens in the classroom”.
I also found this interesting and on point because many of our students do not hold themselves accountable and often blame others, particularly when conflicts arise in our classroom.
Ralph Wells found that establishing a commonality in which key components were necessary for a classroom, and holding his students accountable for doing their part in making the community safe, worked. His findings were in his tech class. He had a disabled student who was responsible for completing the same assignment as the rest of the class, even though the assignment was to be done in a boiler room, which was not handicap accessible. The class worked together, and found a common solution to make sure that the wheelchair bound student could complete his assignment, and helped make sure he felt comfortable about the solution. The class worked together to carry the student and his wheelchair through what they could. In areas that were not accessible, the students used a recording device to show what the rest of the rooms looked like. Additionally, a student or students always stayed with him to make sure he felt safe. The students working together to find this fantastic solution shows success in Well’s research. It is that success, that inspires me to build that safe community in my own classroom.
Communities and Emotional Security
I continued to research community building, specifically emotional security. I read a professional text by Greg Janson and Margaret King titled “Emotional Security in the Classroom: What Works for Young Children”. These authors claim, “Less attention is given to the emotional security of children in schools, a necessary prerequisite to learning and healthy development.” (Janson and King 2006). These authors focus on the importance of fostering self-esteem, building effective relationships and developing strong and effective communication with and between students. The research that Janson and King based their text on claimed that a classroom that focused on emotional support and affirmation, providing security, fostered an environment conducive of learning and personal achievement. In this article I realized that to build a safe classroom, I needed to focus on an emotionally secure foundation for all of my students. The emotional security would create the emotionally safe learning environment I am aiming for. This article also discussed the importance of this effective commination in regards to conflict resolution stating “Modeling positive language and offering choices is also one of the most effective ways of helping children to resolve their own conflicts”, which brings me to my next community component. (Janson and King 2006).
Communities and Conflict Resolution
I continued my research to learn about community building with conflict resolution. I had been told about The Responsive Classroom in a previous course, and visited the website. The Responsive Classroom is a “research-and evidence-based approach to elementary education that leads to greater teacher effectiveness, higher student achievement, and improved school climate “ (www.responsiveclassroom.org). In their website, there are articles about problem solving. Specifically, I found a protocol for conflict resolution in elementary classrooms.
In the article “A Conflict Resolution Protocol for Elementary Classrooms” the author states, “Over and over again, we find that having a ritualized procedure for solving problems can help even the youngest elementary school children resolve conflict peacefully with a minimum of adult intervention.” (Denton and Kriete 2000).
The four essential steps in a problem solving protocol are:
1. Calming down
2. Explanation of the upset
3. Discussion and resolution
4. Some kind of acknowledgement
Conflicts arise every day in our classroom, and providing students with steps to solve their problems will help students independently solve conflicts in a consistent, safe and effective way. The steps also provide the students with a needed structure of how to approach problem solving, which is needed when young children are both angry and in need of guidance. In my classroom, I have found the more structure the better when it comes to both social issues and collaborative learning.
There are many other sources that support problem solving in a classroom with a safe learning community and the positive effects on academic achievement. The article “More than Manners: Conflict Resolution in Primary Level Classrooms” is an Empirical Study by Warren Heydenberk and Roberta Heydenberk about problem solving in first grade. In their study they found “school success is strongly correlated to a student’s ability to resolve social problems as well as academic challenges (Haydenberk and Haydenberk 2007). The connection supported by these authors of school success and problem solving, both social and emotional, gives me clear guidance and support for the safe community I wish to develop learning to greater academic success.
Communities and Social Skills
During a discussion about creating community in the classroom, a Professor suggested I look into the Second Step Program which is widely used throughout at risk schools in San Diego. I discovered that the school I was at had and used the program, and was given access to use the resources the program offered. In addition to what was at my school site, the program has a website, which offers a great description of the program. It says, “Each grade level features developmentally appropriate ways to teach core social-emotional skills such as empathy, emotion management, and problem solving.” As I had found many articles with protocols and helpful tools, I had not yet found a grade and location specific program that offered readymade lessons and resources to me. I reviewed the lessons, and found helpful pictures and ideas that support social and emotional learning. The program fits perfectly with what I want to accomplish, as well as addresses specific identified needs of the students.
Importance of Language
When I pitched my Learning Inquiry Project of Community Building to one of my Professors, she suggested I look into a book called Choice Words by Peter H. Johnston. The books focuses on the language that is used in the classroom, specifically how a teacher talks to students. I found the information very helpful. Johnston States’
“In productive classrooms, teachers don’t just teach children skills: they build emotionally and relationally healthy learning communities.”
In reading this, I furthered my understanding of the importance in not only the way the students talk to one another in the community, but how I talk with them. It is important for me to not only give guidance and tools for a safe learning community, but to also be a good role model to the students as a member of their learning community, in addition to their leader. The simple words, phrases and tones I choose to take can turn a constructive comment into a negative put down. This reading was a reminder of how powerful a teacher can bee.
Conclusion
These elements, specifically social and emotional safety, conflict-resolution and accountability have, according to research, proved successful in building safe learning communities and fostering the academic achievement of many young learners. As such, I will focus on these as the foundation to my Action Research Action Plan.