Maria Eriksson

Prof. Janet Cross

English 305

15, March, 2001

Safe Learning Environment

Teachers and students want to feel safe and accepted when they are in school. Both students and teachers are concerned with the quality of life in the classrooms. Authors and experts of educational issues have different opinions of how the relationship between teachers and students should be, and what are the factors that could help to improve their relationship. To fit in the America's classrooms according to Mike Rose's article, "Lives on the Boundary" (114), students need common "core". Teachers should help students to acquire common sense by offering them the right education based on their cultural differences. Respect and understanding are related with common sense and they are necessary to get along well with others. Teachers should show respect and accept their students regardless of their differences to serve them as role models Mr. David Tomas explains it in "The Mind of Man". According to Mrs. Ott, Mr. Addler and Mr. Cleary, three teachers from Sylmar High School, in order to motivate students to learn, there should be a warm, fun but professional relationship between teachers and students. There should exist interest in what people want to learn says Mr. Spayde in his article Learning in the "Key of Life" (59-62). If there exists a warm environment where everyone respects cultural and gender's differences throughout the use of common sense, our classrooms would be the safest place for our children.

Understanding and tolerance should be practiced in America's classrooms to ensure a safe environment for both students and teachers. Students should be understood and accepted the way they are as Mr. Thomas states it in "The Mind of Man" (120-124). In order to reduce any differences in their academic accomplishments and keep students self-esteem, teachers should recognize that boys and girls are different and as such they should be treated. An educator must be an open-minded person that must respect students' diversity and display loving and caring attitudes towards the students as Mike Rose explains it in "Lives on the Boundary". Caring attitudes from teachers' side lift up students' self-esteem and creates ambitions in their minds. Understanding and tolerance is what people need to fit in this multicultural society, and they should be especially displayed in the schools for there is where more diversity exists. Schools influence students' behaviors because there is where they spend the first years of their life. Being comprehensive requires from teachers' general knowledge as well as the specific knowledge linked with their own specialization.

Respect and caring attitudes displayed by teachers in the classrooms open lines of communication with students and enhance the possibility for fair solutions to the problems as they occur. Teachers should never stereotype students based on their backgrounds to avoid racists' conflicts among them. Mr. Thomas believes that the lack of respect toward students' gender could mislead them and have drastic consequences. For example, if teachers try to change boys' nature instead of accepting them, boys could become frustrated and they could do rebellious acts against the causes of their frustration and against of the society in general. Girls also could be misled by the lack of respect from the teachers' side. Teachers must show respect always to receive that in exchange. They must bear moral and ethical responsibilities for being witnesses to and examples of responsibility of social behavior in the classrooms. To optimize the chances of achieving their wished classroom environment teachers must pursue emotional balance between themselves by respecting others' diversity. To be respected and serve as students' role model, teachers should learn to be accurate observers. Throughout of observation, teachers learn valuable facts about their students and that allows them to deliver the right instruction. Teachers must develop fair strategies of intervention to help students in learning self-control and good behavior. Children learn by observing how other persons behave and not just by being told how they are to behave. They learn from everybody and especially from their teachers; therefore, teachers should be good models of courtesy, discretion and respect (Annual Editions. "Education" 119).

Teaching requires curiosity. In order to deliver an adequate instruction, teachers should learn about students' Backgrounds and expectations. There should be some love in what we want to learn says it Mr. Spayde and it refers to the interest that both students and teachers could put in learning. Teachers should be friendly to students in their attempt to succeed. It is helpful for teachers to know about students' post-graduating goals because that can help them to prepare their lesson plans and relate materials. For example, if teachers know that some children have interest in working in stores or if some students are planning to have their own businesses, they will teach real life examples to guide students in their attempts to reach their goals. Curiosity stimulates questions and critical reflection that could lead teachers to create a warm environment where students could feel comfortable to participate in the class. This does not meant that the teaching activity is going to be reduced only to-and-fro questions that may also become boring. The need for dialogue between students and teachers should not in any way substitute the lessons. Through the intimacy created by teachers interest in learning the class could become a challenge and not just a room where people gathers.

Learning should be linked with humor and fun. Students and teachers should share hopes and they should have fun while they pursue their objectives of acquiring knowledge. As they learn together, teach together and produce together, students and teachers should share theirs respective goals. According to Mr. Addler and Mr. Cleary, teachers should use some humor to make their lessons more enjoyable and easier to assimilate. Students' motivations to learn grow as they have fun. They all emphasized the need of setting limits in their relationship with students in order to avoid conflicts. Friendly environments make everybody' s life easier and working time flies. Stress levels decrease when people laugh, and classrooms become the favorite place for students and teachers. Since teachers are considered as role models to students, their sense of humor and good attitudes towards others could teach students valuable social skills that they could use in the classrooms and beyond the classrooms.

Teachers must love their profession in order succeed in their field is implied by Mr. Spaydes in his article "Learning in the Key of Life" (59-62). In friendly environments of challenge, people get tired but they do not fall sleep. Students get tired because they follow the coming and goings of the teachers' thoughts and pauses, paying attention to their smallest movements. The passion on the subjects displayed by teachers increases students' interest in learning. Dynamic classes like these should be the goal of every teacher. Through teachers' interest questions can be answered, things can be learned and acts can be recognized. Without curiosity teachers can neither teach nor learn and the most affected would be the students because all the time they spend in those classrooms would be a waste.

Teachers have an enormous responsibility for the emotional environment that is set in the classrooms. Whether students feel secure and whether they want to learn depends greatly on the teachers' attitude. Teachers' joy or anger spreads among children and becomes contagious. If the teacher laughs, students also laugh. Teachers are responsible of social behaviors in the classrooms. Comforting students in the classrooms is a very important part of the teachers' planning for learning activities. Students' self-confidence increases their interest in learning and achieves teachers' goals about the work and behavior of their students.

There exist many debates among people and educators regarding to the relationship between teachers and students in the classrooms. Although the authors mentioned above have different points of view with regard to acquiring knowledge, their only goal is to improve the academic achievement of the students. Students' academic success and safety concerns everyone but especially to parents because they want the best for their children. Those approaches mentioned above should be used in every school to achieve a form of order, to optimize learning and to develop respect between teachers and students. Everything that happens in the classrooms could be related with the teachers' emotional balance and capacity of self-control. It is upon the teachers to create the safe environment where them and the students would like to be, and where the parents would like to send their children to learn life skills and to earn knowledge.