14 March 2014 / by Radmila Gurkova

Positive learning environment: Learn from sports and apply to ESL classes to create the best environment for your students

What is the best learning environment and how can we create a positive learning environment in our ESL classes? What can we learn from sports about positive learning environments?



“Children learn in a variety of ways. As a coach, the type of environment you set up is crucial to how much learning takes place”, coaches say. “If I enjoy, I send a message to the group… and that gives you a real connection. We have to create an environment in which the kids feel it’s ok to make a mistake. Being a good communicator allows you to manage these mistakes to the benefit of the children.”




There’s a lot that we can take from sports and apply in the classroom regarding positive learning environment.

Some considerations for ESL positive learning environment


There are different types of learning environments but we have just chosen four to be analyzed:

1- Knowledge-centered

2- Student-centered

3- Teacher-centered

4- Assessment-centered

Characteristics of a knowledge-centered environment



  • Can be teacher-centered (teacher is content resource), traditional pedagogy at times

  • Students might be working individually

  • Assessments are comprehensive, requiring students to bring prior learning to bear

  • Students are asked to explain in their own words what they have just learned

  • Materials on walls serve as review of content that has been learned

  • Students are engaging in “practicing” the discipline (active learning) as if they were

  • professional in that discipline

  • Students are using discipline-specific terminology accurately


Characteristics of a student-centered environment



  • Students’ interests, attitudes, beliefs are addressed and valued (and the teacher sets a model for the students about how they should value others’)

  • Teacher tries to help students see how their interests, attitudes and beliefs can be transformed into more formal ways of thinking about the subject matter

  • Students are trying to make sense of discipline-specific terminology

  • Teacher is asking questions to try to tap into students’ prior knowledge

  • Students have some decision-making power about what they will learn and explore, and maybe even about how they will be assessed


Characteristics of an assessment-centered environment



  • Students receive feedback so they can move toward what they should achieve

  • Summative assessment (formal testing) – comes at the end, is often final

  • Formative assessment (can be informal, observational) – assessment that occurs along the way, feedback gives students the opportunity to respond and improve, shows progress

  • Self-assessment and peer assessment

  • Assessment occurs frequently, feedback is provided to students constantly

  • Teacher is careful in phrasing feedback to help students advance

  • Teacher helps students learn how to monitor their own thinking (metacognition)

  • Breaking down procedures into small steps and then scaffolding students toward being able to do all the steps by themselves

  • There may be portfolios of students’ work


Characteristics of an teacher-centered environment



  • Knowledge is transmitted from professor to students

  • Students passively receive information

  • Emphasis is on acquisition of knowledge outside the context in which it will be used

  • Professor’s role is to be primary information giver and primary evaluator

  • Teaching and assessing are separate

  • Assessment is used to monitor learning

  • Emphasis is on right answers

  • Desired learning is assessed indirectly through the use of objectively scored tests

  • Focus is on a single discipline

  • Culture is competitive and individualistic

  • Only students are viewed as learners


DEBATE QUESTIONS:


Why creating a positive learning environment in vital for ESL classes?

What type of learning environment are they developing?

What´s the role of the teacher?

Is it possible to apply the ideas suggested from their experience into the English class? How?

What did they say about ''making mistakes''? Do you agree? Why / Why not?

 

12

June 2014
What makes a good ESL teacher. Preparation
by Radmila Gurkova
What are the qualities that make a good ESL teacher? When asked at a job interview what makes a good ESL teachers, candidates often praise personal traits such as patience, creativity, knowledge, skills, empathy, experience… But what if you have just finished your TEFL course and are not that experienced yet. Does that mean y...

30

May 2014
FM - Unifying format criteria for TEFL activities. The cherry on the cake!
by Radmila Gurkova
On debate: We need to unify format criteria when creating TEFL activities in order to create the perfect activity. The teachers creating activities and the ones correcting them have to use the same criteria. We agreed to: Creating st...

30

May 2014
TEFL classes by videoconference for elementary level students.
by Radmila Gurkova
TEFL classes by videoconference are often related to high level students. How should our teaching change in order to grant successful and exciting learning experience to our students? On debate: Elementary level stu...

16

May 2014
ESL activity lab. Creating functional beginners material - I play!
by Radmila Gurkova
The purpose of this piece of ESL activity belonging to our activities section for beginners is to introduce the verb 'play'. The previous ESL activity included the verb 'like' as well as 'play' so we removed the verb to like in order to simplify the activity. We introduced 4 Sports which all add something different to the ESL...

13

May 2014
ESL activities for beginners - a new ESL activity is born
by Radmila Gurkova
If you think these faces are too serious and concentrated, you are about right. The guys you are seeing in the picture, part of our Oxbridge TEFL teacher team in Madrid, are deeply engaged in creating ESL activities for beginners. Four teachers. One activity. An ESL activity for beginner learners of English t...

08

May 2014
How to teach beginners English as a foreign language- I want, I don't want
by Radmila Gurkova
How to teach beginners English as a foreign language in the target language only is sometimes a headache for ESL teachers. As it turned out, teaching the function I WANT in English without translating is not that easy. Students tend to confuse its meaning with I LIKE because this structure appears in similar contexts. How to teach beginners I...

20

March 2014
My favorite ESL class
by Radmila Gurkova
We asked different teachers about their favorite ESL class. We wanted them to explain what makes a great ESL class really memorable. We often hear teachers complaining about certain students and classes that were difficult. It's much more productive and rewarding to hear about TEFL teacher's favorite class...

14

March 2014
Positive learning environment: Learn from sports and apply to ESL classes to create the best environment for your students
by Radmila Gurkova
What is the best learning environment and how can we create a positive learning environment in our ESL classes? What can we learn from sports about positive learning environments? ...

07

March 2014
How to teach pronunciation through ESL activities. Say it clearer, not louder
by Radmila Gurkova
The OxbridgeTEFL community launched the project of how to teach pronunciation through ESL activities as a result of the necessity of creating specific tools -apart from the usual work on pronunciation through vocabulary activities- that would target Spanish learners' pronunciation. What moved us ...

27

February 2014
My Top 5 Reasons to do a TEFL course: featuring India Boddy
by Radmila Gurkova
Maki...