Page |1

Part B - Reflection

I believe good teaching is about listening to the students when they decline the work,

then work with them openly to bring them around gently with humour. If the student is adamant

that they will not do the work, ask them what the problem is? (Wubbolding, 2010). Make the

work more relevant to them with differentiated learning to draw them in – for example, using

sport analogies. Disguise hard content by incorporating class discussions to break it down.

I believe classrooms should be places where any behaviour allows students to learn

from each other. For example, the positive reinforcements teach the students that good

behaviour is rewarded. The mutual respect between the students and also the teacher, creates a

positive environment. In the event that misbehaviour happens, the punishment must be agreed

upon so that the child knows the consequences for their own actions.

I believe that good communication between teacher and student is vital to a positive

classroom climate because there needs to be rapport and worth between partners of learning.

Mutual respect contributes to a quality learning environment. Communication is the way to

achieve this. Having students repeat instructions in their own words, and teachers repeating

questions in their own words leads to greater communication and better relationships.

Therefore, I will …

Make sure the way is open for communication between myself and my students. However,

negotiation must be well-founded, instead of simply denying the subject content. Having the

freedom to negotiate with students would ensure their voices are heard, but so is the teachers.

Mutual respect is key here.

Teacher personal beliefs affect the way we create Positive Learning Environments by …

Jessica Hayter Pedagogy for Positive Learning Environments

18139336 Reflection – Part B
 Page |2

Having a belief that students should behave a certain way, which is blind to how they will

actually behave. Having high-expectations of students, while being aware of teenage behaviour

realities, will lead them to work towards better results. Also, being realistic of the work that

they are capable of submitting, because this can lead to you becoming a hard marker. This can

be considered high-expectations, as outlined in the Quality Teaching Model, but it must be

matched with the pedagogy to get the students where you think they should be.

Mutual respect will aid an orderly, productive and positive classroom. Students will know the

rules, and know the consequences so there shouldn’t be drastic behavioural management in the

classroom. This classroom has high levels on open communication, where if students don’t get

it, they can ask the teacher without feeling like a teacher’s pet.

School policies must be adhered to. No hats in classrooms, or mobile phones. Students know

that I am a teacher that is high on care factor, but high on control too. There isn’t detention in

my classroom, only helping me with a task, whether its lunch duty, and collecting rubbish, or

cleaning the sports shed.

Organisation: I personally like the classroom split into tables of two people in rows from front

to back and left to right. Good for think/pair/share. Also, it narrows down the conversation

options for students.

There is a teachers’ desk at the front containing prizes for competitions and special worksheets

for my differentiated learning. All under lock and key.

The walls are covered in the formative assessments of my students, so they can feel proud.

The planning stage of the lesson will incorporate a description of learning goals and intentions,

so students can see the importance and relevance of the lesson content. When implementing

Jessica Hayter Pedagogy for Positive Learning Environments

18139336 Reflection – Part B
 Page |3

the lesson, the first portion of the lesson should be scaffolding their knowledge, or refreshing

their memories of the topic so they have the building blocks to connect their prior knowledge

to the lessons content. Also during this stage, students are encouraged to ask questions, and

repeat instructions so the teacher can ensure the content is understood. Then they must be given

to opportunity to use what they have learnt to embed the lesson. From this the teacher can take

down informal formative assessment of what the students were able to absorb from the lesson.

Assessment is important as it gives the teacher a reading on their own efficacy, and also

individual students’ knowledge. The types of assessment to be developed will be majorly

informal formative assessments during my early years of teaching so I can ensure the students

are meeting the outcomes. Then I build my skills, and understand the job more, I could do less

assessment, but of the formal formative type, such as producing artwork or writing to describe

what they know, to be shown on the walls of the classroom and during teacher/parent

interviews. Assessments will need to be done after a unit of work so the teacher can gauge what

needs to be improved for the next years’ class on that unit. Teachers need to be constantly

improving the work and their pedagogy.

I believe that students best learn through …

Doing. Writing tasks and explanations off the whiteboard is useful for settling them down, but

they do not absorb anything they are writing down. Students need to be given the opportunity

to USE what they know, create an activity that has the students doing something with the

knowledge.

Therefore I will use …

Jessica Hayter Pedagogy for Positive Learning Environments

18139336 Reflection – Part B
 Page |4

Programs such as Kahoot and Bingo, for formative assessments, and involve lots of group work

where students are doing something with the lesson content, whether it is organising it into a

jigsaw, or putting into chronological order, or creating artwork.

Physcoeducational/needs based -> students needs aren’t being met, resulting in misbehaviour

-> goal centred theory, choice theory, WDEP.

If intervention for behaviour management is needed, I believe that …

Meeting the students’ needs can help divert the misbehaviour. Also the Goal Centred Theory

is useful as you can gather information from the student and put in a behaviour management

plan for the future, where the student will have a say in consequences – ergo not misbehave as

the consequences are known.

In line with this thinking, I will …

Pull the student into line by giving a detention. In the detention, students will answer W.D.E.P

questions. From this point, the student can organise with the teacher his/her own consequences

if that behaviour is to reappear. The teacher will take on board the students’ plan for how to

help them stop a reoccurrence, and the students’ behaviour should disappear.

Students are not as verbally evolved as us, university trained individuals. They are not equipped

to articulate their feelings in the manner the teachers require to help meet their needs. The

misbehaviour students have, sometimes comes from their frustration at being heard, or noticed.

This concept is difficult to undertake in a classroom of 30 kids, as it requires one-on-one

relationships and conversation building exercises. Teachers could implement whole class

Jessica Hayter Pedagogy for Positive Learning Environments

18139336 Reflection – Part B
 Page |5

vocabulary, and reflexivity tasks to build students’ articulation of their own feelings and

emotions, to better help them achieve better results in school.

I believe professional reflexivity is important to my teaching because …

It aids in providing teacher understanding, and directions for any improvements. In the

classroom, chances are you have students that are respectful. This could be due to one of two

reasons, your teaching presence is friendly, and confident; but no-nonsense. Or you could be

authoritarian, where your kids are scared of you. If it is the second option, chances are your

students will not tell you if they do not understand something in the lesson; therefore, you could

have a very quiet learning environment, but the students do not absorb any of the lesson content,

and continue to fail all assessments. A teacher in this situation will have to be reflective of their

teaching practice to consider the reasons for their failure and come to the realisation that it

could be their teaching style.

As a consequence of this belief, I will …

Constantly implement new and different classroom management strategies, and continue to

review their effectiveness. I will complete continuous informal formative assessments of

students’ understanding prior to moving onto to new topics to ensure the strategies are working.

I hope to build relationships with students to become partners in their education where they

can communicate with me what their needs are in order to learn.

Jessica Hayter Pedagogy for Positive Learning Environments

18139336 Reflection – Part B
 Page |6

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

List all theorists/articles that have contributed to my understanding and knowledge of teaching
philosophies

Jessica Hayter Pedagogy for Positive Learning Environments

18139336 Reflection – Part B