The social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course and the classroom has an impact on learning. We can promote a positive climate in our classroom by:

• Providing opportunities for small-group learning and interaction
• Creating a classroom charter
• Listening carefully
• Offering opportunities to be heard
• Providing an environment in which it’s OK to feel uncertain about things
• Examining our assumptions
• Being respectful and inclusive
• Considering cognitive, psychomotor (the relationship between cognitive functions and physical movement), and affective domains
• Being an authentic and genuine teacher
• Co-designing learning goals and classroom expectations

Factors that promote a healthy classroom climate will vary depending on the people involved. It is always best to establish ground rules for a class right from the outset, so that the classroom climate standards are co-constructed and meaningful to the group as a whole.

Create an introductory activity connected to your discipline to get to know your learners. Here are some examples for more ‘traditional’ subjects; how might you apply a similar idea?

• In a Human Geography class, you could ask every student to identify a location from which they would want to conduct field work, and why.
• For English Literature, each student could discuss what fictional character they would like to invite to dinner, and why.
• In History, ask what figure, living or dead, would be the most interesting to have at a cocktail party, and why.

Can you think of some fun and interesting questions for your discipline?

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