The evidence I provided above is a written description of some routines I developed to keep the students in my class engaged. Although not mentioned above, establishing clear expectations was instrumental in keeping students engaged, as this provided them the opportunity to take responsibility of their own behaviours (Ewing et al. 2019, p. 262). I was able to establish my expectations through various classroom management strategies – which in turn allowed me to follow the routines I outlined above.

I learnt many ways to encourage and support student participation, but the one I found most surprising and interesting was how designing a learning space can have so much impact on learning. Ewing et al. states that a good learning environment will foster engagement, positive interactions and meaningful learning (2019, p. 263). During one of the science lessons I did with the class, my supervising teacher suggested sitting on the carpet in one big circle. I realised that organising the space to cater for everyone in this way made everyone more involved and wanting to participate. Those who were usually ‘problematic’ became cooperative. I never realised something so simple as the arrangement in the environment could a make a big impact. The Reggio Emilia approach emphasises this importance of the space or environment as the ‘third teacher’ in learning (Strong-Wilson & Ellis 2007, p. 40), and I am grateful to have gained a new set of lenses in viewing education. At the beginning of my placement, I did not really consider the environment to that much as I was too focussed on planning and incorporating the Australian Curriculum in my lessons. However, I realised that children come to care about everything in their world, and I should be more considerate of what they see and hear in their world, from their perspectives (Strong-Wilson & Ellis 2007, p. 42).

References:

Ewing, R, Kervin, L, Glass, C, Gobby, B, Le Cornu, R & Groundwater-Smith, S 2019, Teaching: Dilemmas, challenges and opportunities, 6th edn, Cengage Learning Australia, South Melbourne, Australia.

Strong-Wilson, T & Ellis, J 2007, ‘Children and Place: Reggio Emilia’s Environment As Third Teacher’, Theory Into Practice, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 40-47.