Creating a supportive learning environment

How to create a supportive learning environment

Creating a supportive and understanding learning environment is particularly important when discussion activities deal with sensitive issues in relation to mental health and wellbeing. In order to provide a safe and engaging learning environment for students, it is important for teachers to:

• collaborate with students to develop a group agreement that sets the parameters for class discussions
• reflect on their own role in discussions - acting as a facilitator of the conversation to help to generate many viewpoints
• value all student contributions and make this known
• use a range of questioning techniques which open up discussion rather than trying to get to a quick right answer
• recognise that some students may not feel comfortable sharing
• explore ways of dealing with this such as using think, pair, share activities
• explore ways to ensure that all students get an opportunity to speak, such as using talk tickets.