The Psychosocial Climate At School

School is a place where individuals grow, develop, and explore their future interests. This necessitates that the classroom is an environment where students feel supported, respected, and competent. I

Administrators must also take into consideration the persons whom the school will serve, including the students, parents, teachers, and community members. Each person who comes into regular contact with the school. Individuals each bring with them a separate sense of person, worth, and culture that is formed by membership in multiple communities consisting of work, school, religion, and social circles. It is within these communities that persons find a sense of belonging which perpetuates the order and cooperative function of schools. When persons lack a sense of belonging, they will resort to their own subculture, which may go against what the school culture is trying to promote.

Each day school children learn valuable skills and lessons from their teachers as well as through interactions with their peers. Although school, undoubtedly,

Forming and maintaining positive relationships within a school setting is of great importance. To have good relationships with pupils, staff and parents is not only beneficial to the school but also to pupil’s achievement.

Connecting education with good experiences will allow a child to feel secure at school and realise their full potential.

Building relationships is important in children and young people. You need to adapt your behavior and communication accordingly. Assessing the situation and environment you are in. It is important that children in all situations feel secure and have a sense of value from you. Your interaction with them should show this. You need to be able to create a positive relationship with children and young people this in turn will create a positive relationship, which will allow them to feel, accepted as part of the school community.

School climate consists of the attitudes, beliefs, values that underlie students’ academic success. School climate helps to shape the communication between and among students, teachers, administrators, parents, and the community. The continued promotion of the expectation that diverse groups of students can be successful and the maintenance of a school climate conducive to academic productivity are important initiatives toward improving student achievement. According to Schwartz, the recognition of the many unique cultures within a school and incorporating the characteristics of these cultures into the learning environment contribute positively to the success of students as well as develop the skills for students of these cultures to be social successes in adulthood (Schwartz, 2001). A safe, orderly and healthy school climate also promotes mutual respect between students, teachers and administrators and emphasizes a well-publicized, fair, and uniform code of conduct. Schools must become caring and learning communities. It is important to impress a caring attitude upon students early before they become unreachable. School climate not only impacts students, but teachers and administrators as well. Research indicates that African American students who attend schools that are supportive and caring have significantly higher achievement, as perceived by their teachers, and school administrators. The schools’ characteristics that correlated with higher levels of achievement were cooperation among teachers and administrators, support for students, and clear expectations about the mission of the school. Goddard, Sweetland, and Hoy conducted a study with a population of 60% African American students and concluded that poor and minority students are more likely to excel when there is a school climate promoting academic excellence (Goddard, Sweetland, and Hoy,

Dollarhide and Saginak state that “school culture and climate data consist of data that reveal information about thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and attitudes such as attendance rates, suspensions and expulsions, staff relations, campus morale, embracing diversity, and campus safety” (2012, p. 110). An enduring positive school climate and culture are essential conditions for fostering learning and positive youth development that results in productive and fulfilling lives. Academic achievement and a positive school climate go hand in hand. I believe that if a school wants to improve their academic success with their students, the school must improve their school climate. The culture of a school should be supportive and caring. Students should feel protected and safe and have trusting relationships counselors, principals, and teachers. Counselors can help with dropout prevention, bully prevention, safe and healthy schools, and guidance.

For students to thrive in the classroom, I must ensure that they have a positive space they can come to and feel comfortable. If students don’t feel safe in their classroom then learning will not happen. I must build a caring and supportive space for children so they can succeed and feel loved. This will help develop a sense of belonging to a school. I have to remember that it is not my classroom, it is the students! It is imperative that the students, parents, and coworkers in my school feel they can come to me for anything, especially as one of their

academic success and research by Astor and others has consistently found key factors that can make schools safer: cultivate social and emotional health, connect to community resources and respond, particularly, to troubled students.” If schools had better communication and relationships,

The lack of mental and emotional outreach from schools and the government is also a major aspect of this diseased system. It is no secret that adolescence is the most emotional time for a young person. Hormones, stress, school, family, and relationship problems are common in this age group. Still, schools have very little to none emotional outreach programs and lessons to help their pupils through this difficult time. In a NASP article about student connectedness with schools to support their emotional well-being, the article states, "School connectedness was first investigated as an important factor in student retention and dropout prevention (e.g., Wehlage et al., 1990). However, research on the construct has expanded over the past 2 decades. For example, school connectedness was the strongest protective factor for both girls and boys for decreasing drug and alcohol use, truancy, early sexual behaviors, violence, and risky behavior (e.g., drunk driving) in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which included more than 36,000 middle and high school students (Resnick et al., 1997)." Young people going through a hard or confusing time often will turn to a variety of outlets to relieve their emotions. These outlets though, can be harmful, such as drug and alcohol abuse, truancy, violence, and others. The article states, however, that an increase in school connectedness has

In this paper, I will examine Disposition Four, “the educator uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.” This paper is an effort to contest the many relentless influences affecting learners today. Its focus is the necessity of a partnership of resources for students to succeed. (Schulte, 2009) stated, “Increasing academic performance, enhancing social and emotional skills and even retaining quality teachers are all related to positive school climate” (p.46) .Thus the critically importantance for educator to be skilled at creating meaningful interactions between students and practitioners as well as practitioners with students.

According to the Office of Special Education Programs (2000) school discipline is defined “as the steps or actions teachers, administrators, parents, and students follow to enhance student academic and social success.” How discipline is administered in a school has a significant impact on the overall school climate and academic success. In schools where exclusionary or punishing discipline methods are used, the school climate is viewed by students as punitive. In schools where educational and supportive behavior interventions are used, the school climate is viewed by students as constructive and supportive (Mitchell & Bradshaw 2013).

Randy Sprick, Ph.D. purports that “school climate is the collective behavior of all the adults” in a school (personal communication, October 26, 2015). School climate also alludes to the quality and character of school life created by those adults. The overall school climate depends on the experiences of people’s personal encounters of school life and reflects the standards, objectives, relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational structures (Cohen, McCabe, Michelli, & Pickeral, 2009). According to Cohen et al., a positive school climate encourages youth advancement and learning fundamental for a beneficial, contributive, and fulfilling life in a democratic society. The positive school climate incorporates experiences that bolster the feeling of individual safety in a social, emotional, and physical context. Conversely, a negative school climate would reinforce feelings of unsafety in those same

For most of us in our daily lives, there are many relationships in force, often simultaneously, as this is a natural consequence of human interaction. In a school environment, relationships are formed at many different levels - between children and their peers, between children and adults in the setting, and also between the adults themselves. It is only when good (positive) relationships are enabled in a school setting between everyone involved, can benefits then be derived for everyone involved,