A Sense of Place
Creating a sense of place for one’s students is one of the most important concepts a teacher can have in the classroom. Creating a sense of place for students makes one classroom a safe welcoming place that students can express who they truly are. One of my “I believe statements” has always been that the classroom should be a safe place where students feel like they belong. If students feel like they have a place then this is when a teacher will really hear the child’s voice. In the article “Placing elementary music education: a case study of a Canadian rural music program” Julia Brook suggests that “The students also realised the important role that they played in the community through their performance, indicating that they felt appreciated and proud when adults came to hear them perform” (Brook, p.298). I strongly support this quote for a sense of place can not just be a room or place but it can also be the way students feel appreciated and that the role they are doing is important and needed.
How I plan on creating this sense of place for the students in my classroom is by putting up images around my classroom that suggest they are welcome. This would include signs from different cultures and languages around the world. Along with LGBTQ posters and symbols hanging around my room. As a teacher I want to bring in other culture learning styles so that the students have a wide concept of different ways culture learn. A big learning style I want to bring in is Indigenous peoples style of learning. They share a lot of their knowledge and pass it down by sharing circles. I have always loved sharing circles to get students to be able to share their thoughts and feelings about a topic. This gives students the impunity for their voices to be heard where in many other settings their voices may not always get heard. This also gives students the opportunity for them to really listen to their peers’ thoughts and opinions and see a topic from another mind set. I find in sharing circles the students feel appreciated and that this is a way that this creates a sense of place for them. I find this is also a great tool for the teacher to find out what is important to students and can take that information and put it back into their classroom.
Brook, J. (2013). Placing elementary music education: a case study of a Canadian rural music program. Music Education Research, 15(3), 290-303.
When reading your blog post, I as well made connections to the different communities that students can interact with. This was both a learning experience and a chance for reflection. Reflection came from being a student and remembering the engagement and fun I had when it came to learning in different locations, appreciation from the adults as stated by Brook’s work. Now as an educator I have the opportunity to implement this and expand the topic to students.
Emily,
Your post was very enjoyable to read and I was really able to relate to the points you made and to your personal opinions that you included. I really enjoyed your emphasis on how the classroom should always be a safe space for students and that it should be a place where students feel that they belong. I believe that students should always feel welcomed and comfortable to express who they are in the classroom and that they should never feel scared or intimidated to learn and explore what the education system has to offer. I really like your idea of putting up pictures around the classroom that showcase a welcoming environment. I especially like your idea of putting up pictures that related to all students; including different cultures, languages, and also pictures that represent the LGBTQ community.