High-functioning learning spaces are created when teachers are adequately supported and trained to build relationships and manage behaviors
By: Alejandra Lopez-Herrera
Schools are crucial in determining how students develop, and teachers play a significant role in shaping the minds of future generations. While teachers are the foundation of education, the support they receive often falls short of matching their importance. A lack of support for teachers can make it difficult for them to run their classrooms effectively, which can harm students, parents, and schools.
Teaching is a challenging job, and it requires significant support from school administrators and colleagues to ensure that instructors are equipped with the necessary skills and resources to provide their students with quality education. Of the students who responded to the 2023 Oakland Scholar Voice Survey, administered by Oakland Energy Convertor Fellows, 40.6% of 404 students believe their teachers receive adequate support from leadership, specifically to deal with classroom behavior. 59.4% of 404 expressed the need for improvement. Teacher ability to instruct students successfully can suffer if they do not receive needed support and resources, leading to burnout, decreased morale, lower quality of education, and high teacher turnover. 32.9% of 404 students in the 2023 Oakland Scholar Voice Survey indicate that two or more teachers have left during the school year. 41.8% of 404 were unsure, which brings up another conversation about communication when staff members leave.
Teacher turnover has significant implications for school communities. The effect on students is apparent, but often overlooked is the impact of teacher departure on teachers who remain at the school site. In the absence of a ready replacement, the workload of fellow teachers is likely to increase, exacerbating burnout concerns and jeopardizing their ability to deliver high-quality instruction.
Schools must take steps to retain teachers and give pupils a secure and encouraging learning environment. To successfully educate their students and foster a positive learning environment, teachers must have access to sufficient support and materials.
Strategies for ensuring that educational institutions provide instructors with sufficient support:
1. Professional Development: Schools should offer opportunities for instructors to advance their knowledge, learn teaching techniques and sharpen their skills. Training in effective classroom management, cultural awareness, and methods for working with varied student populations should be part of this.
2. Mentoring and Coaching: Schools should pair new instructors with seasoned teachers who can serve as mentors. Schools should also regularly provide teachers with instructional coaching to improve their classroom management and teaching methods.
3. Administrative Support: School administrators should assist teachers by keeping class sizes manageable (when possible), providing resources, and providing access to materials.
4. Collaborative Learning Communities: Schools should provide collaborative learning spaces for instructors to exchange ideas, materials, and best practices, which may foster a sense of solidarity and community among teachers.
Techniques for creating classrooms where behavior is effectively managed in Black and Brown schools:
1. Build Relationships: Teachers should put much effort into developing positive relationships with their students, especially those from different backgrounds. This could foster a classroom climate of trust and respect, encouraging better behavior.
2. Set High Standards: Establish clear expectations and accountability measures for improper classroom behavior, and communicate them to parents and pupils.
3. Practice Positive Reinforcement: Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool teachers can use to reward students for good behavior. Verbal adulation, incentives, and rewards for good behavior are examples.
4. Be Culturally Aware: Teachers should demonstrate awareness of other cultures and be mindful of the difficulties that students from different backgrounds may encounter, without using them as an excuse to underperform. Incorporating cultural allusions and analogies into courses and paying attention to language and tone in the classroom can help with this.
Solutions for educators, scholars, parents, and districts:
1. Empowerment: It is important to give teachers, students, parents, and schools the freedom to take charge of their classrooms and actively contribute to the development of a supportive and encouraging culture.
2. Collaboration: To develop a shared vision for the classroom and school community, teachers, students, parents, and institutions of higher learning should work together. This may foster a sense of shared accountability for the academic performance of all students.
3. Prioritize Diversity: Diversity and inclusion should be prioritized in all facets of the learning environment. This may entail encouraging culturally competent instruction and developing inclusive rules and procedures.
4. Embrace Accountability: The entire school community should hold one another accountable for fostering a pleasant and encouraging learning environment that attends to all students’ needs. One way to do this would be to commit to routinely examining and analyzing rules and practices.
Establishing classrooms where conduct is properly regulated requires multifaceted strategies that engage all stakeholders, especially in schools that serve Black and Brown students. The methods and recommendations named here will help ensure that schools provide teachers with proper support. Positive reinforcement, culturally sensitive instruction, and parental involvement are just a few techniques that teachers can use to foster positive behavior and student engagement in the classroom. Furthermore, offering students support services that meet their social and emotional needs, as well as systems of accountability, help foster a supportive learning environment and encourages positive conduct and academic success.
