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Educational Social Environments & Classroom Social Environments
Overview
This page includes: this overview, description of a traditional classroom environment,

categories to consider for positive educational social environments, and positive
communication and instructional strategies for teachers & students.
Before you teach you should recognize your personal beliefs and theories and analyze what
their impact will be on your classroom practices. To discover and be able to explain how your
ideas and theories align with and affect your methodologies, strategies, procedures, and
interactions, which will in turn affect the success you and your students achieve. The following
information provides assistance for your reflection and analysis.
First, is a review summary of the social environment in a traditional classroom.
Traditional social classroom environment
The classroom is a unique social environment unlike most other social organizations. Below are
five attributes for all social environments with a description for each in a traditional classroom
environment. Notice how different they are from social environments such as: a group of
friends, a club, religious group, sports team, travel group, alumni group, and most other groups.
Goals
Learning is the main objective.
Outcomes of learning and procedures for achieving them are chosen before the group is
assembled.
There is little participation by the members of the group in the assessment and revision of goals
and methods of instruction.
Participants
Mandatory participation by students is enforced by law.

Time of birth and place of residence determine school and class placements.
Members of the class have no control over the composition of the group.
Leadership
The leader is chosen without the participation or consent of the membership.
Law and custom, rather than group consensus, establish the prerogatives of the leader.
Freedom of expression and movement are controlled by the leader.
Relationships
What the class can and cannot do is often determined by those who preceded and will follow
them.
Membership in other groups may exert strong pressures to accept or reject classroom norms.
Other groups often carefully scrutinize the work of students and their teachers.
Points of Interest
Most social groups select leaders. Members may choose to participate and the degree of
participation. If individual members do not agree with the group, they may leave.
If a majority of the members do not approve of the leader’s role, they elect a new leader.
The teacher is the appointed leader of the class, or a social group, and derives authority from
this appointment as teacher.
The power of leaders depend on how they interact with students. Leadership power derives
from five sources of power illustrated on this Classroom leader power model and chart
J. W. Getzels and H. A. Thelen summarized the social environment of the classroom in The
Classroom Group as a Unique Social System. The 56th yearbook - The Dynamics of
Instructional Groups: Part II (pp. 53-82), Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education.
Possible goal categories to consider for educational social environments
Interact and work with students in ways that respond to and meet their diverse needs (social,
academic, physical, emotional):
Diversity
Equality
Teaching
Learning
Interacts in culturally diverse classroom to create certain culturally responsive social curricula
Manage your professional lives each day
Negotiate your classroom social curriculum with your students. Attain classroom flow in
learning. Manage conflict.
Culturally responsive teachers must: Avoid long-standing traditional, subject-centered, top-down,

and non-negotiable ways of working with students and create new ways of interacting with
students to develop shared visions through mediation and negation that motivate students to
take risks and seek empowerment from learning and become an ethical person and self learner.
Positive Communication & Instructional Strategies for teachers & students
Teachers
Validate students’ opinions
Create an equitable climate
Avoid segregation in the classroom
Find legitimate multicultural materials that are bias-free Involve the students’ parents in the
learning process
Use community resources
Keep expectations for each student reasonable but challenging
Teach students that differences are not deficiencies
Enable students to use their own cultural resources and the cultural resources of others
Encourage students to take academic risk

View yourself as one of the learners
Deal with controversial topics objectively
Use academic, socio-political, cultural and interpersonal conflicts to teach conflict resolution
Serve as a guide to your students, not a boss
Include all your students in legitimately practicing democracy in your classroom
Develop and Use Mindful Labels
Students
Are actively involved
Can achieve their goals
Are comfortable working with all types of people and using other cultural practices
Cultures are validated
See role models form their cultures on a daily basis
Know the school belongs to everyone
Believe they can learn See their own and other’s differences as positive and not negative or
stifling
Believe that all kinds of knowledge is values and personal “stories” are told
Do not fear failure – but view knowledge acquisition as a worthwhile risk
See the life-long learning process modeled by the teacher
Look at situations not people-taking the time to arrive at reasonable decisions
Learn to resolve conflicts using proven strategies and mediation
Are empowered to make decisions about their own life and learning
Validate the power of self-determination and self-definition
Students are advantaged by their traits and characteristics, not held back or miseducated.

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Go Back

Educational Social Environments & Classroom Social Environments

This page includes: this overview, description of a traditional classroom environment,

First, is a review summary of the social environment in a traditional classroom.

Traditional social classroom environment

Learning is the main objective.

Mandatory participation by students is enforced by law.

The leader is chosen without the participation or consent of the membership.

Freedom of expression and movement are controlled by the leader.

Possible goal categories to consider for educational social environments

Manage your professional lives each day

Culturally responsive teachers must: Avoid long-standing traditional, subject-centered, top-down,

Positive Communication & Instructional Strategies for teachers & students

Validate students’ opinions

Create an equitable climate

Avoid segregation in the classroom

Use community resources

Keep expectations for each student reasonable but challenging

Teach students that differences are not deficiencies

Encourage students to take academic risk

Deal with controversial topics objectively

Serve as a guide to your students, not a boss

Include all your students in legitimately practicing democracy in your classroom

Develop and Use Mindful Labels

Are actively involved

Can achieve their goals

Cultures are validated

See role models form their cultures on a daily basis

Know the school belongs to everyone

Do not fear failure – but view knowledge acquisition as a worthwhile risk

See the life-long learning process modeled by the teacher

Look at situations not people-taking the time to arrive at reasonable decisions

Learn to resolve conflicts using proven strategies and mediation

Validate the power of self-determination and self-definition

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