Running Head: CREATING AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 1
Creating an Effective Learning Environment in the Public High School Classroom
Rachel Cockrell
Liberty University
CREATING AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 2
Creating an Effective Learning Environment in the Public High School Classroom
Introduction
A public high school classroom is a condensed melting pot of diverse ethnic and
socioeconomic backgrounds, worldviews, and personalities. Students do not typically have the
option to choose their teachers and classmates, and this can cause stress and anxiety for both the
students and the teacher. In order for a classroom to function effectively, the teacher must
establish a learning environment that fosters as much engagement and understanding as possible
while simultaneously ensuring a safe and protective atmosphere. The teacher alone is responsible
for the creation and sustainability of this environment.
The most effective learning environment for a public high school classroom is an
environment where students know it is safe to try and fail, where they feel respected and
encouraged, and where they are consciously aware of the fact that their teacher genuinely
believes in each of them and cares about their education as well as their personal lives. It is
important for students to understand that they are expected to do their best but that their best may
sometimes fall short, and in those instances, they should always be encouraged to use their
failures to learn and improve. The teacher should encourage students to inquire about the world
around them and to accept constructive criticism graciously and without resentment.
The classroom environment should be set up so that the teacher gradually releases the
responsibility of learning to the students by first modeling instruction, then allowing students to
practice alone or in groups, and finally expecting students to produce satisfactory work on their
own. This means that the teacher must ensure that his or her students are capable of asking
questions when necessary and utilizing feedback effectively.
CREATING AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 3
As a teacher, it is my job to ensure that I genuinely care for each of my students in order
to foster the most ideal and effective learning environment. The foundation for this kind of
learning environment is positive and meaningful teacher-student relationships. The students must
trust the teacher and know that they can go to the teacher with their failures and be encouraged
and supported in their desire to improve.
Learning Theory and Its Importance
Developing a personal learning theory that guides classroom instruction is crucial for
teachers. A learning theory will provide a framework for “interpreting environmental
observations and serve as a bridge between research and education” (Slavin & Schunk, 2017, p.
10). Of course, it is important to remember that “Theories reflect environmental phenomena and
generate new research,” meaning that a theory needs to evolve depending on the conditions of
the environment (Slavin & Schunk, 2017, p. 10). This is why the foundation of my personal
learning theory rests on meaningful teacher-student relationships. In order for me to create an
effective learning environment for all students, I need to be able to exercise flexibility and
responsiveness in my teaching, depending on my students’ individual needs.
Slavin and Schunk (2017) identify three criteria for learning: “learning involves change,”
“learning endures over time,” and “learning occurs through experience” (p. 3). Throughout the
years, there have been several different psychologists with their own take on the theory of
learning and what constitutes the most effective learning environment. Jean Piaget believed that
knowledge comes from action and from children manipulating their environment (Slavin &
Schunk, 2017). He insisted that development has to precede learning (Slavin & Schunk, 2017).
Piaget also explored the ideas of heteronomous versus autonomous morality (Ryan, 2011). Most
of my students have transitioned into autonomous morality, and an effective learning
CREATING AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 4
environment for these students involves choosing content that challenges their moral compasses
by forcing them to investigate their own internal sense of right and wrong. In contrast to Piaget,
Lev Vygotsky believed that cognitive development is tied to input from others and that learning
precedes development (Slavin & Schunk, 2017). His theory on the zone of proximal
development is the reason why my own learning theory involves gradually releasing
responsibility over to the students slowly in order to ensure they are in a zone where they can
handle the task on their own (Slavin & Schunk, 2017). Lawrence Kohlberg also proposed stages
of moral reasoning (Slavin & Schunk, 2017). Part of my job as an educator is to provide my
students with opportunities to consider moral dilemmas that can further move them into the post-
conventional stage of development proposed by Kohlberg (Slavin & Schunk, 2017). Albert
Bandura explored human behavior within a model of triadic reciprocality, meaning that a
person’s behavior, their environment, and other personal factors are all intertwined to create that
person’s behavior patterns and moral reasoning (Slavin & Schunk, 2017). Bandura’s theory on
modeling and observational learning is a cornerstone in my own learning theory. He proposed
the idea that children and adolescents learn primarily in a vicarious fashion by observing the
behaviors of adults (Davidson, 2011).
It is my firm belief that positive and meaningful teacher-student relationships are at the
core of each different learning theory. In Daniel Quin’s (2016) review of various studies
measuring the associations between teacher-student relationships and student engagement, he
found that “better quality TSRs [teacher-student relationships] were associated with higher levels
of psychological engagement, academic grades, and attendance” (p. 359). Quin (2016) also
found that “Teacher care and teacher control were associated with improved psychological
engagement” and higher teacher expectations “were positively associated with behavioral and
CREATING AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 5
emotional engagement” (p. 368). This supports the idea that positive teacher-student
relationships influence almost every aspect of the student’s school experience.
Description of an Effective Teacher
In my opinion, the most effective teacher is a teacher who takes the time to get to know
her students personally. A student is much more likely to be engaged in class when that student
knows his teacher genuinely cares about, not just his performance in class, but also his life
outside of class. An effective teacher is also one who establishes a relationship of trust, because
an effective teacher understands that “trust is essential if students are to accept their teacher’s
guidance” and that “dishonest communication will undermine some of the aims of education”
(Van Brummelen, 2009, p. 56). In order to establish a relationship of trust, it is important for
teachers to own up to their own mistakes and apologize when necessary. Not only does this
foster a trusting relationship, it also shows the students that failure is sometimes inevitable. By
owning up to our mistakes, teachers can model appropriate ways to handle failure.
An effective teacher is also an advocate for her students. Van Brummelen (2009)
discusses how teachers can be compared to biblical prophets in the sense that both stood up for
the marginalized and exploited members of society. Students need to know that their teachers
will stand in the gap for them when necessary and will defend them when appropriate. The bible
calls me to “look not only to [my] own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians
2:4, English Standard Version). It is my duty to look to the interests of my students and be a
proponent of theirs when necessary.
Sulkowski and Simmons (2017) discuss four teacher characteristics that “may help with
establishing and maintaining positive teacher-student relationships” (p. 146). These
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characteristics are as follows: attunement, which involves teachers adjusting instruction
according to students’ state of being; relatedness, which is when teachers do their best to make
sure students feel understood; supportiveness, which involves teachers working with students to
help them reach their academic goals; and finally gentle discipline, which is when teachers guide
and instruct students in order to improve moral reasoning (Sulkowski & Simmons, 2017). It is
important for the teacher to support students socially and emotionally in order to help foster
more positive results for the students socially and academically (Sulkowski & Simmons, 2017).
Description of an Effective Learning Environment
Direct Instruction
I follow the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) model in my classroom. This means
that I begin each unit or lesson by modeling the concepts for the students, then I slowly transfer
more and more of the responsibility over to them until they are completely in control of the
products they create in my class. For example, I may start out the year reading certain texts aloud
and modeling annotation on a document camera as I read and explain the material. Throughout
the year, I read aloud and model annotation less and less because eventually I want the students
to be able to do it on their own.
Barbara Blackburn (2014) calls this GRR model the “Me, Us, You Diamond” (p. 98).
Teaching a new concept starts with me, the teacher (Blackburn, 2014). The teacher begins by
modeling a lesson for the students, and the next step is “us” (Blackburn, 2014, p. 98). There are
two versions of the “us” part of the model: first is the teacher and the students (us) following a
guided practice, and then the students (us) work in small groups (Blackburn, 2014). The final
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step involves the student (you) demonstrating understanding of the new concept independently
(Blackburn, 2014).
Technology
I utilize technology every day in my classroom because my school has a one-to-one ratio
of students to technology. Each student has a school-issued laptop that they carry with them and
are allowed to take home. This gives me the opportunity to challenge students to extend their
skills beyond the classroom and take in information in a variety of ways. Technology allows me
to “cater for the particular needs of specific individuals” (Armstrong, Brown, & Thompson,
2014, p. 8). I can provide access to audio versions of the material we read and study in class as
well as providing visual resources for students to help aid their understanding. It is important to
me to integrate technology into as many of my lessons as I can so that my students are better
prepared for the world after high school.
Another important aspect of integrating technology in the classroom is interactivity,
which deals with an individual’s ability to influence the progress of another in a controlled way
(Armstrong et al., 2014). The students’ laptops allow them access to all kinds of information and
different ways to participate in academic dialogue with each other and people all over the world
(Armstrong et al., 2014). Students have more ownership of their learning with the technology
now available in the classroom because they have some freedom to choose the format in which
they present their understanding of a concept. My unit assessments always involve some sort of
project that allows the students to synthesize what they’ve learned over the last several weeks in
my class with something that’s important to them. For example, during one unit my students
studied various short stories along with a novel. The essential question we discussed throughout
the course of the unit was how authors use fiction to try to enact social change. For their final
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project, the students were asked to identify a problem in society and propose a solution to that
problem. They had full control over how they presented this information. Some chose to write a
fictional story, some chose to write a proposal for a community project in the form of a
slideshow presentation, and some chose to write a campaign speech. I use technology to
differentiate instruction for my students and to increase student choice, which increases the
students’ intrinsic motivation.
Motivation
One of the most common questions I get in my classroom is “when am I going to use this
in real life?” An effective learning environment should help students “experience the relationship
of concepts and skills to real situations” (Van Brummelen, 2009, p. 41). It is my job to foster a
higher level of intrinsic motivation in my classroom by making sure that what I am teaching is
personally meaningful for my students. As I mentioned previously, one way I do this is by giving
my students a certain level of choice in what goes on in my classroom. High school students
have almost reached full maturation, but in spite of this high schools tend to offer fewer
opportunities for students to make their own choices (Nucci, Krettenauer, & NarvKez 2014). This
“mismatch between adolescents’ efforts to attain greater autonomy” and the schools’ attempts to
gain more control results in the decline of “students’ intrinsic motivation and interest in school”
(Nucci et al., 2014, p. 130).
I mentioned before that each unit in my curriculum ends with some sort of project. The
students are allowed to choose the topics for their projects, and sometimes I give them the choice
as to what kind of product they create. In my Advanced Placement Literature and Composition
class, I allow my students to choose the novels they read each year. I have noticed that students
are much more invested in their work when they have more control over what they are learning. I
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am able to do this because my team and I set up our curriculum based on overarching themes and
ideas, and because I do my best to get to know my students personally.
Classroom Management
Effective classroom management is one of the most difficult aspects of teaching to
master. There is a delicate balance that must be maintained between orderly structure and
flexibility. According to Van Brummelen (2009), the best teachers employ a combination of
traditionalism and constructivism. Traditionalists carefully sequence learning concepts and skills
and focus on the transmission of knowledge (Van Brummelen, 2009). In the traditionalist
approach to teaching, the teacher is the leader of the classroom (Van Brummelen, 2009).
Constructivists use strategies that actively involve students and give them a voice in their own
learning (Van Brummelen, 2009). Constructivist teachers facilitate the independent learning of
the students by coordinating and critiquing student constructions (Van Brummelen, 2009). The
climate of the classroom is an important factor of maintaining a positive learning environment. It
is also a “fundamental source for students’ social development” (Nucci et al., 2014, p. 128). Part
of maintaining a positive classroom climate is ensuring a balance between the traditionalist and
constructivist models of teaching.
Actively Including and Engaging Learners with Diverse Needs and Exceptionalities
One method that my school uses frequently is data-driven response to intervention (RTI).
We have a set time during the week when we can pull students who are struggling in certain
areas and bring them in for extra help. We do this with the help of our professional learning
communities (PLCs) which are made up of a team of teachers who teach the same content and
grade level. The PLCs work together to create common assessments in order to determine our
CREATING AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 10
students’ understanding of certain standards, and then we use the data from those assessments to
design an intervention plan for the students who need it. The common assessments allow us to
“identify relatively poor performance and a slow rate of learning compared with peers” (Zentall,
2014, p. 26). We follow the three tiers of the RTI model. The first tier is completed in class. We
each teach the concept we would like our students to learn, then we provide them with the
common assessment. The data from that assessment determines who we pull for Tier II and III
intervention. For each of these tiers, we pull students based on their understanding of the skill in
question. Each teacher in the PLC takes a different homogenous group of students who need help
and works with them to improve their understanding of that concept. Students who are close to
mastering the skill in question will go together to one teacher in the PLC while students who
require even more support will go to a different teacher. The students who have already mastered
the skill are either given enrichment opportunities that allow them to expand their learning into
something they find personally meaningful or they are tasked with tutoring another student who
is close to mastering that skill.
I also use different techniques within each of my lessons to ensure that each and every
one of my students is engaged in what we are doing. Of course, no method is perfect, but there
are ways to get as many students actively engaged in the learning as possible. Scaffolding is a
method that has proven to be effective in my own classroom in reaching students with
exceptionalities. Scaffolding is when a teacher provides extra support to students who need it. It
is often assumed that extra support means that the rigor of the work is lessened (Blackburn,
2014). However, this is far from the truth. Scaffolding supports help move students toward more
challenging work (Blackburn, 2014). Scaffolding also fits well within the GRR model. As the
year goes on, I take away more and more of the support – the amount depends on each individual
CREATING AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 11
student and his or her own ability – until the student needs little to no support and can do the
work on his own.
Addressing Behavior and Character Development
The first thing I do from the minute the students walk into my class on the first day of
school is to set the tone that I want to maintain for the rest of the year. One of the most important
aspects of this process is encouraging positive character attributes (Cockrell, 2018b). Christian
teachers are at an advantage when it comes to creating positive character attributes in the
classroom because “For the Christian, character formation is not independent of religious faith”
(Nucci et al., 2014, p. 45). One of the best ways to instill good character in our students is to
model that behavior (Berkowitz & Bustamante, 2013). In order for this to work, it is important
for the teacher to “first focus on [their own] character . . . before implementing character
education for students” (Berkowitz & Bustamante, 2013, p. 14). As the teacher, I have to act out
the principles of good character that I want to see in my students. However, “[ideal] models are
those with whom students have healthy relationships,” so if I have not built a foundation by
creating a meaningful relationship with my students, then they will not desire to emulate my
behavior (Nucci et al., 2014, p. 256).
One of the first character qualities I attempt to instill into my students is responsibility
(Cockrell, 2018b). I expect my students to take ownership of their own learning. They are
responsible for talking to me about any work they miss when they are absent, anticipating any
known upcoming absences and taking care of work beforehand when possible, and
understanding that “all required work must be completed and turned in before they can come
discuss opportunities for re-doing assignments or extra credit” (Cockrell, 2018b, p. 9). Another
way that I integrate responsibility in the classroom is by enforcing due dates strictly, within
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reason, taking individual student issues and modifications into account. This means upholding
consequences when students don’t turn work in on time. Paul stated in his letter to the
Colossians, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for
human masters” (Colossians 3:23, New International Version). It is with this in mind that I
encourage my students to take responsibility for their own learning. Everything students do is an
extension of their character. “Even if they don’t personally find the work valuable or
entertaining, they owe it to themselves to do their best at everything that they do” (Cockrell,
2018b, p. 10).
If my students learn no other positive character traits in my class, I hope they at least
learn respect. The teacher should always model appropriate respectful behaviors towards all
students, administrators, and school staff and should trust students until the students give the
teacher a legitimate reason not to. This is how teachers show their students that they admire them
and that they matter to the teacher. Berkowitz and Bustamante (2013) insist that “The single most
powerful influence on a child’s development is how people, particularly people who are
significant in the child’s life, treat that child and treat others in the child’s presence” (p. 11).
According to Slavin and Schunk (2017), Bandura “felt that much of human learning is not
shaped by its consequences but is more efficiently learned directly from a model” (p. 85). If I am
not modeling the respect I want to see in my students, then no attempt to correct their
disrespectful behavior will be effective.
I have found that most students seem to be intrinsically motivated (Cockrell, 2018b).
However, there will always be students who do not see the value in doing school work at all.
This is why positive and meaningful teacher-student relationships are so crucial. The better I
know each of my students individually, the more likely I am to be able to determine the root
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cause of any misbehavior or poor academic performance. According to Slavin and Schunk
(2017), “We cannot assume that a particular consequence is a reinforcer until we have evidence
that it strengthens behavior . . .” (p. 74). Poor grades are not an effective consequence for some
students, because grades are not something they care about (Cockrell, 2018b). This is when the
teacher needs to take time individually with the student in order to determine the underlying
reason for the behavior because it is the only way to find an appropriate reinforcer (Cockrell,
2018b).
Engaging Students in Learning, Building Self-Efficacy, and Motivation
Self-efficacy is a person’s belief about what he or she is capable of doing and it is closely
related to confidence (Slavin & Schunk, 2017). If a student is confident that he can solve a math
problem with fractions then it is much more likely that this student will be able to solve that
problem. In this way, self-efficacy is also strongly related to achievement (Slavin & Schunk,
2017). How well individuals judge their own capability to do something is typically a good
indicator of how capable they actually are (Cockrell, 2018a).
Part of helping my students build self-efficacy is displaying confidence in each students’
ability to perform the task in question. It is important to help students build a strong sense of
self-efficacy because it is the best way to engage students in learning and to increase their
intrinsic motivation (Cockrell, 2018a). Bandura claimed that there are four major ways to
develop a strong sense of self-efficacy (Davidson, 2003). Those four ways include mastery, or
the ability to excel in a skill; social modeling, where a student watches someone they perceive to
be like them accomplish the skill; social persuasion, when someone the student trusts tells the
student they are capable of performing the skill; and physical and emotional states, or the
student’s ability to judge his or her own capabilities correctly (Davidson, 2003). I can integrate
CREATING AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 14
these four things into my classroom instruction and grouping strategies in order to increase my
students’ self-efficacy, which will then increase their optimism and belief in their own chances
for success, their motivation, their emotional maturity, and their decision-making skills
(Cockrell, 2018a).
Personal Reflections/Conclusion
The best teachers “systematically analyze and reflect on their teaching and its effects,
constantly learning from practice” (Van Brummelen, 2009, p. 38). It is important to an effective
learning environment for the teacher to reflect on every lesson in order to improve its
implementation. It is also important for the teacher to reflect on her own actions and behavior in
the classroom. I must constantly “show [myself] in all respects to be a model of good works, and
in [my] teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned” (Titus 2:7-
8, ESV). As Christian teachers, we know that “not many of you should become teachers . . . for
you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1, ESV). When I
fail or when I am not sure what to do, I must pray for wisdom and “ask God, who gives
generously to all without reproach” (James 1:5, ESV).
Classroom management and lesson planning tricks and techniques will always be
important for implementing an effective learning environment; however, the most important
aspect should always be the teacher’s relationship with the students. The relationships must be
individualized, personal, positive, and meaningful. From there, everything else will fall into
place much more easily. If I know each of my students as an individual, then I am much more
capable of creating a personalized, effective learning environment for everyone.
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References
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Department of Education, Liberty University, Virginia.
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CREATING AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 16
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