DOMAIN 2: Learning Environment

STRAND 1: Learner Safety and Security

Education Theory:

1. Learning environment refers to any context in which learning is supposed to take place. It may refer
to a physical space like a classroom, laboratory, or any room. It may also refer to a non-formal learning
environment such as distance learning and online or virtual learning where the teaching-learning
process occurs (Bernard 2012).

2. Environment plays a vital role in learning (Hannah 2013).

3. Psychologist Abraham Maslow formulated a hierarchy of needs. It states that each level should be
fulfilled in order to progress to the next stage. Two of the basic needs identified by Maslow are security
and safety. Students should be in an environment where they are free to move, talk, and interact with
others without compromising their physical, psychological, and emotional health.

4. Knowing what to expect provides students an opportunity to manage behavior as they deem fit in a
predictable learning environment (Burleson and Thoron 2014).

STRAND 2: Fair Learning Environment

• The goal of any teacher is to provide the students with a safe learning environment. to
make students feel safe and be in an environment that is fair.

• It does not impose the same expectations for all the students.

• It does not provide students the same academic experiences all the time.

• A fair environment provides students with lessons, strategies and challenges that will
address their individual needs.

• A fair learning environment uses an inclusive pedagogy.

• The teacher should adopt various teaching techniques to suit the different learning
capabilities of the students.

STRAND 3: Management of Classroom Structure and Activities.

• To promote an effective learning environment, teachers should be able to manage the
physical structure of the classroom and activities well.

• Learning theory: According to Robert Sommer (1977), classroom layouts depend on the
teacher's philosophy, objectives, activities, and priorities.

• The children learn best by listening, the desk and chairs in rows and columns.

• The children should collaborate and communicate, arrange desk and chairs by cluster.

• Learning activities affect how physical space is set up.

• The classroom setup should also account for students' behavior. (Earp 2017)

STRAND 4: Support for Learner Participation

 Encouraging students to partake in class discussions is one of the challenges encountered by
teachers.

Ways to improve students' participation in discussions:

1. Teachers need the students to understand that participation is a collective undertaking of the class
and that their contribution can help in the learning process (Hollander 2002).
2. Teachers should also make sure that the learning environment is conducive to participation. Various
ways of arranging should be explored to make sure that the students are not only facing their teacher
but also their classmates. The teacher should also make a point to move around the room to interact
with your students. It is important to give students an opportunity to ask or even converse with each
other (Holland 2017).

3. Teacher should explore various teaching strategies to ensure that the students can participate
actively. The teachers also engage the students by other non-threatening activities (small group, pairs
or triad) this will allow students who are not confident talking in front of the whole class participated
(Holland 2017).

STRAND 5: Promotion of Purposive Learning

Edward Chance Tollman made significant contributions in the field of cognitive psychology. His
revolutionary vines differ from other behaviorists in the sense that he believes that there are internal
factors such as cognitive maps and physiological drives that prompt behavior (Hergenhahn 2009).

a. The first group of rats was permitted to move around the maze without reinforcement.

b. The second group of rats was rewarded once they were able to find their way through the maze.

c. The third group of rats was only rewarded after the tenth day of experiment.

Comparing the three groups of rats, the second group of rats had fewer mistakes as the researchers
predicted. However, the third group of rats also manifested fewer mistakes when given a reward. This
only suggests that from the onset, the third group of rats had been forming mental maps of the
environment. It was only when they were rewarded that they manifested their learnings.

• "latent learning" = learning is only manifested when the right conditions are given.

• Therefore, propelling students’ behavior to learn becomes purposive in an ideal learning

environment. (Pickren and Rutherford 2010)

• Teachers should always remember that learning is purposive and that students are
constantly learning.

• Thus, the learning environment should provide avenues for students to observe. This
kind of informal learning allows students to form cognitive maps that enable them to
make a mental representation of a specific situation.

STRAND 6: Management of Learner's Behavior

• The teacher uses a variety of skills and strategies to make their students become
interested and engaged in the learning process.

• Classroom management is essential in ensuring an effective learning environment

(Lynch 2016)

• The teacher needs to provide a venue where the student's potentials will be maximized
to the fullest.

• The teacher plays a significant role in providing a learning environment that would
satisfy and meet the needs and interest of the students (William Glasser 1999).

• B.F. skinner (1982) suggest that the teacher managed the student's behavior through
rewards and punishment. the teacher reinforces good behavior by giving external
rewards like prizes, praises and good grades.

• Alfie Kohn (2006) believes that student's behavior can be managed well if they are
given the opportunity to satisfy their curiosity.

• Teachers should not use grades or external rewards to motivate students. students
learn because they see the relevance of what they are learning in their own lives.
 Strands of Desired Teaching Performance Performance Indicators
2.1 Creates an environment that promotes 2.1.1 Maintains a learning environment of
fairness courtesy and respect for different learning
(eg., ability, culture, gender)

2.1.2 Provides gender-fair opportunities for

learning

2.1.3 Recognizes that every learners has

strengths
2.2 Makes the physical environment safe and 2.2.1 Maintains a safe, clean and orderly
conducive to learning classroom free from distractions.

2.2.2 Arranges challenging activities given the

physical environment.
2.3 Communicates higher learning expectations 2.3.1 Uses individual and co-operative
to each learner learning activities to improve capacities of
learners for higher learning.

2.3.2 Encourages learners to ask questions

2.3.3 Provides learners with a variety of

learning experiences

2.3.4 Provides varied enrichment activities to

nurture the desire for further learning

2.3.5 Communicates and maintains high

standards of learning performance
2.4 Establishes and maintains consistent 2.4.1 Handles behavior problems quickly and
standards of learners’ behavior with due respect to children’s rights

2.4.2 Gives timely feedback to reinforce

appropriate to learners’ behavior

2.4.3 Guides individual learners requiring

development of appropriate social and
learning behavior

2.4.4 Communicates and enforces school

policies and procedures for appropriate
learner behavior

2.4.5 Encourages free expression of ideas

from students

2.4.6 Creates stress-free environment