I believe in order for effective learning to take place, first and foremost the school would have to ensure that the physical environment such as the classroom’s facilities (Lightings, fans, projectors, tables and chairs) would be in working conditions so that learning can take place.
Next, the school would need to have a series of programs and structures lined out for the students to develop them holistically in their 4 year stay in the Secondary school. For example, my school has provided many leadership opportunities for the students to take up in class or CCA, so that we can meet their personal needs. This is a chance for them to grow and learn, thus a boost to their self-esteem. When the students feel safe in an environment, they will then have a sense of belonging and will strive for their best in whatever they do, be it academically or in their CCA. In our school, we have a programs in place named EDGE, for every level to Experience, Develop, Grow and Emerge as fine gentleman.
As a teacher, we can also make a difference to the effective learning environment by taking care of our students’ psychological needs, constantly communication with the parents to understand our students better and to ensure the parents that their children are doing well in school. But most importantly is to use a variety of teaching methods to cater to the different needs of our students. For example, a shift from teacher-centered to learner centered activities, to tap on the various IT platforms which are widely and readily available. Even Mr Lee Kuan Yew mentioned that the teaching of Chinese needs to move towards IT based direction. As teachers, we need to arouse their interest through fun-filled activities such as IT or drama so as to better engage them in the lesson.
An ineffective learning environment would be one lesson that is totally teacher-centered without any activities and without the opportunity for students to work together and self- learn and internalize learning. I still remember in my sec school days, our English and Literature teacher would come into class, sits on the chair and go through our Literature text. She would not even touch the chalk and blackboard as she claims she is sensitive to chalk. All of us would have to follow line by line to understand the text. There were no group discussions or any activities carried out. No one dare to raise any questions as of all of us are terrified of her because she would always use our testimonial to ‘threaten’ us saying she would have nothing to write in our testimonial if we misbehave. Of course, I would not say learning does not take place but is effective learning taking place over here and how many students do actually benefit from it?
Just to add on: I am not trying to badmouth my teacher.But its just a reflection on my part and it also sets me thinking of my own teaching style and whether i create an effective learning environment for my students.
