Creating Safe Learning Environments

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Creating Safe Learning Environments Effective teaching and learning can only take place if a teacher creates an effective learning environment1. The expectation of such a class is that there will mutual interest and enthusiasm between the teacher and learners which translates into an atmosphere that encourages the exchange of ideas, questions and experiences and learning is understood to be a corporative and productive activity. Such an environment is said to be a safe environment. It must be a place where students will say, “This is a good place. I can do well here”, (Lickona, 1992, p. 73). The children need to feel safe which is a fruit of love and respect. Character education builds relationships2 and students cannot help but feel connected. Just like the way “Educating for Character” presented by Concordia University makes one feel. The exchange of bios by all students and even the lecturer, enables one to have a sense of belonging and freedom, the comments fellow classmates and even lecturer make results in a feeling of am home, it is safe to be here! With regards to children, education is a triple alliance between the child, parent and the school2. Therefore, parental involvement in is critical in creating a safe environment for our children at school. Lickona proposes the following strategies to collaborate effectively with parents: formation of “parental peer groups”, getting parents involved and committed into which values will be taught, and teacher participation in each formation is essential. Such strategies have worked in my college and we go a step further by grouping students from the same programme together and they become the recipients of bulk messages sharing information. A new strategy nowadays is to use social media to communicate with both the child and parent. Lickona (p. 421) further proposes a practical step by step guide on how to get
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