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Caring and Concern For Students in a PE Classroom

In PE, it is extremely important to create a classroom climate of caring and concern. At PE, every sport or activity is going to take at least one student out of their comfort zone. It is important as a teacher to nurture a positive climate where students are encouraging and caring others. It begins with you as an instructor. “When asking students to explore issues of personal and social identity, teachers must provide safe spaces where students are seen, valued, cared for and respected. It is also important that students have opportunities to learn from one another’s varied experiences and perspectives” (Scharf). 

A positive and caring classroom climate is a place where students feel safe and secure in their vulnerability. One key element is dialogue, or just an openness to new things and ideas. To establish this as a teacher and within your students, you must practice the skills of listening, humility, respect, trust, and voice. PE is a place where students tend to feel vulnerable and insecure, so I always try and be really open and treat every student with respect. I also try and be very careful when pushing my student to try something new, because I want them to have the courage to try something new, but I don’t want to break their trust by forcing them to overdo it. I also use a lot of positive reinforcement of behavior to set the tone and model what it looks like to acknowledge the positive things I see so students can do the same. 

Another key element is to establish an environment where everyone feels included. Inclusion in PE can be done in a really easy and fun way through the inclusion of materials, sports, and activities from other cultures. I also try and give my students a lot of time to share and connect with each other, which is a great time to have students share a bit about their culture. Instead of just asking them to share their favorite part of Easter, I ask what their favorite holiday is to celebrate so everyone is included. This leads to a much more positive and tight knit classroom climate where everyone is comfortable with other cultures and treating everyone with respect. It also really great for me as an instructor to learn more about other cultures and feel more connected to my students.

A big part of how I establish a positive and caring climate is setting very clear expectations for behavior. In my class, we talk a lot about respect and responsibility. I make sure that my students understand that everyone is different and no one person is better than the other, no matter the difference in ability. We don’t tolerate bullying and I try and make sure that each person feels heard and like something happens when we resolve conflicts. We use a mindful space as a management tools where students have a chance to think about their choices and how they can make better choices. In my life, I have always had strong conviction of what is right and wrong and hold fairness to a high standard. I believe in keeping that as a common thread in my teaching so my students can understand me and always know that I hold every single one of them to the same standards and explain what I can if for some reason I treat someone a little differently. Classroom climate is so important, and I always hope that I can model the positive and caring climate that we need in our class.

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