This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
In writing an amusing story from their early childhood, for example, middle years students may need time
to consider and choose among story possibilities. Then they may need additional time to experiment with
ways of expressing the story in writing. In this case, to make sure students know that they have such time,
try saying something like: “Writing a good story will take time, and you may have to return to it repeatedly.
So we will start working on it today, but do not expect to finish today. We’ll be coming back to it several
times in the next couple of weeks.”- Show that you value unusual ideas and elegant solutions to problems. When a student does something out
of the ordinary, show your enthusiasm for it. A visually appealing drawing, a well-crafted essay, a different
solution to a math problem than the one you expected—all of these deserve an explicit compliment.
Expressing your interest and respect does more than support the specific achievement. It also expresses a
more general, underlying message that in your classroom, it is safe and rewarding to find and share the
unusual and elegant.
Note that these communication strategies support problem-solving and the related skills of creativity that we
discussed in Chapter 8. In describing creativity in that chapter, in particular, we called attention to the difference
and importance of divergent (open-ended) thinking. As with problem-solving, though, divergent thinking may
seem risky to some students unless they are encouraged to do so explicitly. The strategies for boosting academic
risk-taking can help to communicate this encouragement—that process matters more than product, that there will
be time enough to work, and that you, as teacher, indeed value their efforts.
Promoting a caring community
A caring community is one in which all members have a respected place, in which diversity among
individuals is expected, and in which individuals assist each other with their work or activities wherever
appropriate. Classrooms and even entire schools can be caring communities, though moving them in this direction
takes work on the part of teachers and other school staff (Noddings, 1992, 2004). The key work in promoting a
caring community involves arranging for students to work together on tasks, while at the same time communicating
the teacher’s commitment to mutual respect among students and between students and teachers. Many of the
instructional strategies discussed earlier in this book, such as cooperative learning and inquiry learning (in Chapter
8), therefore contribute to community in the classroom.
More specifically, you can, as a teacher, encourage community by doing any or all of the following:- Tell students that you value mutual respect, and describe some of the ways that students can show respect
for each other and for school staff. Better yet, invite students themselves to describe how they might show
respect. - Look for ways to sustain relationships among students and teachers for extended times. These ways may be
easier to find in elementary school, where a teacher and class normally remain together for an entire year,
than in middle and secondary school, where students learn from many teachers and teachers teach many
students. But still there are ways. Participating in extra-curricular activities (like sports teams or drama
club), for example, can sometimes provide settings where relationships develop for relatively long periods
of time—even more than a single school year.
Educational Psychology 175 A Global Text