Young pupils are still developing their bodies are still growing, their minds are still developing, some aspects of their first language are still developing. As teachers we play an important role m that development and we achieve it through our way of interacting (communicating) with children.
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One way in which we can do this is by creating a classroom environment in which children can explore their understanding and experiment with language without fear of being wrong. Perhaps you can remember learning to ride a bicycle Maybe you can remember someone helping to hold the bicycle m the beginning while you pedaled, so you could practice the movements. Later perhaps, your friend persuaded you to try cycling a little by yourself and encouraged your attempts when you fell off. This may have inspired you to try again until eventually you succeeded in cycling some distance without support If however, you had been laughed at when you fell off, you may have had less confidence in yourself to try again.
If your style is open, friendly and sympathetic to pupils, they will feel more confident and free to make mistakes, which is important for their learning and language learning.
Consider the ideas below for encouraging risk taking. These are small ways in which you could begin How effective would they be for your pupils?
- Create special times when pupils know they will not be corrected, eg during activities which are designed for communication.
- Make mistakes yourself and share this with pupils. Be open about it, eg I have forgotten how to spell 'astronaut' Can you help me?
- Develop some activities which encourage risk taking and where you can make it clear that there are no wrong answers, eg making guesses about what is going to happen in a story.
- Praise 'having a go' or 'trying' by pupils. Show you value it. Become a more sympathetic listener by
- making eye contact while a child is speaking
- nodding or make an uhuh noise to show that you are following
- giving your full attention to the child
- turning to face the child or leaning forward to show you are listening carefully
If pupils are used to more formal styles of teaching, they may take advantage of the greater freedom. You would need to introduce your ideas gradually and also discuss with pupils what you are trying to do and why.
Let's now look at some examples of how teachers interact with pupils m the classroom. We will identify which strategies are the most effective for supporting pupils' learning and language learning and creating an open and sympathetic environment for risk taking