Building Classroom Communities

Creating a community in the classroom is something that I have been thinking a lot about this semester since it has come up in many of my classes. While I really want to be able to create a mini-community in my classroom I worry that external factors over which I have no control will hinder these efforts.

I think that building relationships based on trust and respect is where to start with creating a classroom community. Earlier in the semester we discussed how to do this after reading the first chapter of Fires in the Bathroom. A couple of things that stuck out to me were doing student surveys in the first days of class. I think that doing this and working it into a project of personal identity might be a good way to start a semester and get students to know one another. Especially in a larger school, where the students might not know each other as well or come from very different backgrounds. Learning about each other can help to understand and appreciate diversity.

A specific strategy that I believe would be appropriate to use in high school art to increase the likelihood that my students will feel a sense of connection to the classroom and school is creating after-school programs where high-school students teach middle-school students. I believe this strategy will help both sets of students and will be a good way to work within a small budget and to get students involved that are not members of other extracurricular activities.

Fostering a sense of community in the classroom is productive for many reasons. Students that feel a part of a larger group will automatically be more engaged with the material. Research shows that students that are more connected are less likely to engage in health compromising behaviors and have increased academic success. High quality student-teacher relationships are helpful for classroom management. A feeling of connectedness helps with social development. Each of these reasons alone is motivation enough to establish a sense of community in the classroom and individual relationships with students. Ultimately, fostering a sense of community in the classroom will help to create a safe, healthy, productive environment where students want to engage in material and will be more successful socially and academically.