“When the atmosphere encourages learning, the learning is inevitable.”- Elizabeth Foss.

Every time we enter a place, how we behave instantly changes to suit the environment. For instance, as soon as you sit at your work-desk, you’re all set to tick off your to-do list. Similarly, when your children come to school, the environment around matters to retain their focus. With this post, we’re discussing the importance of learning environment to help you choose the best school that is equipped for the same.

A positive learning environment is the backbone of a healthy teaching strategy. Without a favourable classroom culture, it is easy for a child to lose focus or grasp what is being taught.

What is a learning environment?

A learning environment is the vibe of a classroom that equips children to grasp what they learn. Schools aim to create a good learning environment to optimize the learning ability of their students.

A positive learning environment multiplies the outcomes of education by leaps and bounds. It enhances learning, engagement, and enjoyment, making the entire process enriching.

A structured and organized learning environment is paramount in instilling a sense of fulfilment and ease among children. It creates avenues for children to learn, bond, and connect with each other.

When teachers nurture a joyful and optimistic environment it results in quality learning and implementation. All of these culminate to enhance academic performance of children.

When schools understand the importance of learning environment, they develop an atmosphere where children can grow mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Signs of a positive learning environment

Here is what you should explore in a school to ensure they have a positive learning environment:

Amicable student-teacher relationship

After parents, teachers are the role model children look up to. They mould and shape lives and their contribution can make or break a child’s upbringing.

A profound student-teacher relationship can create a lasting impact that shapes future. So, teachers should aim to create an amicable relationship with their pupils to channelize a cheerful, fun, and relaxed environment in the classroom.

If children feel valued and heard, they tend to succeed in academics and other activities. It also impacts their mental health and they feel seen, understood, and reciprocated.

Small gestures, like welcoming children in class with a broad smile, showing excitement upon meeting, and thanking them for their attention go a long way in fostering a positive classroom environment.

A personalized learning environment

When schools recognize the importance of learning environment, they adopt a personalized teaching approach. They create teaching strategies according to the tailored needs of students. For instance, offering extra attention to children with special educational needs, being vigilant with children with physical or mental challenges, etc. Schools where teachers understand the individual demands and requirements of their pupils and act accordingly are the epitome of a healthy learning environment. At DWPS, we strive to offer the same.

Acknowledgment

To make learning conducive to a positive outcome, small achievements of children should be acknowledged and appreciated. Such acknowledgment fosters a positive attitude toward learning. A good learning environment is where teachers recognize the efforts their pupils put in and praise them irrespective of how grand the outcome is to boost their confidence.

Accessibility and engagement

An accessible curriculum accelerates the learning capabilities of children. Students who have access to a structured curriculum grow into curious and quick learners. Furthermore, their curiosity inspires engagement, creating a favourable learning ecosystem.

Creativity

Several studies have proved a strong connection between keenness and creativity. Inquisitive children are often creative and schools must bring out the best in them. A classroom where creativity is valued more than orthodox teaching strategies produces smart individuals.

No fear of errors

Children are bound to make mistakes. A healthy learning environment is tolerant of errors. When children realize it is good to make mistakes, they tend to learn from them. On the other hand, children who fear punishment, focus more on the negative impacts of what might follow if they go wrong. Such thought processes often refrain them from trying at all.

A positive learning environment allows children to make mistakes, rework on them, and constantly practice towards excellence. This approach facilitates growth and protects their mental well-being.

Rules, regulations, and routines

A positive learning environment should neither be laidback nor chaotic. An undisciplined and unrestrained class can never cultivate good and responsible individuals.

Routine, rules, and regulations are an integral part of fostering a healthy classroom culture. An environment where children know how to behave, listen, and reciprocate when needed nurtures their minds.

Freedom

Decision-making is one of the most essential skills that individuals need to learn from a young age. The earlier a person picks up this skill, the better. Within a classroom, the skill of decision-making comes from freedom. While classes follow a routine, it is interesting to observe how children can think beyond the conventional norms. How they communicate or reciprocate can give ideas to teachers to improve the way they teach. So, instilling a sense of freedom makes children more expressive.

Components of the learning environment

To understand the importance of learning environment we need to go through the components that create a healthy atmosphere:

Physical environment

As the name suggests, it encompasses the physical elements of the classroom, which means the design and layout of the classrooms. Since children spend most of their time here, how the place makes them feel matters a lot.

By creating a positive class environment, schools nurture the entire learning process of the students. It aims at making children feel comfortable, relaxed, and focused creating a space that caters to varied learning needs of children.

A positive physical environment translates to a spacious, well-organized, and comfortable learning space. An efficacious physical environment is created by considering light, air quality, noise, and temperature inside the classroom. It also includes well-organized physical elements, like furniture, floor treatment, wall, and window treatments, etc.

Here is how schools can create a positive physical environment:

• Providing comfortable seating arrangements to children, which entails comfortable benches with proper backrests, desks that can accommodate the belongings of the students, and height-adjustable furniture for different age groups
• Using cushioned play mats and cushioned seating options for kindergarten classrooms
• Having large windows to let in ample natural light along with quality artificial lighting
• Using good quality blackboard, whiteboard, projectors, and other teaching aids

Social environment

A healthy social environment comes round when the social components of the class are in perfect harmony. It creates a healthy environment where kids can interact and forge a bond of understanding, mutual love, and respect with their peers and teachers.

An effectual social environment is contingent on the orientation, versatility, and open-endedness of the space; and on how it metamorphoses into a purlieu for interactions and activities within the classroom.

Here is how schools can create a positive social environment:

• Creating a flexible furniture layout plan. For instance, leaving a leeway space to reconfigure the furniture layout to create a collaborative space for activities and interactions between
• Placing the desks and chairs in a way that boosts day-to-day interactions between children
• Having aids in the classroom that cater to the personal needs of children
• Having modules for social activities, such as interactive games
• Providing independent learning aids

Emotional environment

A positive emotional environment makes children receptive to learning and interacting with their peers and teachers. It comes from keeping children motivated to learn.

Creating an environment where children can value edification and aim at making the most of their learning years can reinforce their love for learning. It also helps in inflicting responsibility, focus, and resilience in children. Children become independent and thrive in environments that nurture them emotionally.

Here is how schools can create a positive environment for their mental well-being:

• Children should know that they have someone to solve their problems and motivate them to face challenges
• Creating strategies to keep children motivated and interested in learning processes
• Creating support groups in school where children can share their problems and issues and seek help
• Offering one-on-one support to children who need help

Temporal environment

The temporal environment is characterized by flexible routines and transitions. It involves the sequence, timing, and length of day-to-day activities and routines. Optimizing the temporal environment helps in maximizing the positive effects of learning.

Here is how schools can create a positive temporal environment:

• Creating flexible day-to-day routines to accommodate changes and transitions
• Fabricating a space that can be effectively used for routines and extra activities

How can schools create an overall good learning environment?

A positive, steadfast, and potent learning environment can be achieved by making effectual changes in every component (physical, social, emotional, and temporal) of the learning environment.

If you want to understand what a positive learning environment is, who better than students can answer it?

Ask children about how they fancy their learning environment.

What are the elements in the classroom that affect their mood, both positively and negatively?

Are they happy with their current learning experience?

Do they feel productive in the current environment?

What is the one thing about the classroom that they would like to change?

Answers to these questions can act as the roadmap to achieving a positive and productive learning environment for schools. While parents must find out how schools cater to a good environment for their children to learn and grow in the best possible way.

The bottom line

Creating a positive learning environment in a classroom is essential to ensure that children make the most of their learning experience. Moreover, the classroom environment is also the determinant of the success or failure of an educator.

By understanding the importance of learning environment and figuring out the right strategies to create one, teachers can help students succeed in their learning journey.