What is ‘classroom culture’?

teaching. Teachers should not concern themselves with notions of teacher professionalism;

they should simply teach what is prescribed and teach the students. However, defined more fully, teaching professionalism encompasses knowledge and skills along with [b]eing able [,]

willing and [having the] know how:

[a] teacher is a professional when they consider the methodological aspect for their field when preparing for the class, they monitor their own performance and constantly revise their methods and material.

the ways they [the class] like to do things, for example paying attention to each other, not talking while the other student is talking. However, classroom culture can also include such things as students’ family background, intelligence, motivation or the students['] knowledge of the language, each other, their behaviour, social background. Trainees therefore seem very much aware that the culture of a classroom is unique to that classroom: [t]he culture where students live and learn[…and ][t]heir habits and beliefs. As a result a classroom culture reflects the people, whether as individuals, as members of the whole group or as members of one of the various sub-groups:

[e]very class has its own ‘way of life’ habits, rituals, spoken & unspoken rules. This is the culture

Classroom culture can have various manifestations: everything that forms regularity in a class… a [form of] greeting, the way of talking or some posters on the wall, as well as rapport in/with the class. The dual nature of the last trainee quotation reflects the multifaceted nature of classroom culture and hints at the numerous groupings present within a classroom.

For example, rapport in… the class could indicate the rapport among trainees as a whole, and could or could not include the trainer, or the rapport amongst certain groups or even individuals, again possible including the trainer. However, the notion of rapport…with the class would appear to point to the rapport the trainer has with the trainees. What all these manifestations point towards is a suitable atmosphere for learning.

As indicated above, the culture of a classroom is influenced by the dynamics of the group:

[t]he way teacher and students and students among themselves interact

[a]s well as how the group is organized and its atmosphere. Factors which are seen to engender a group dynamic for the good include shared experiences which form a common history for the members of the group:

[t]he ideas and stories shared by the members of the classroom which are related to their common past.

In a similar vein, shared values of “what a class should be like among the students and the teacher” harks back to a common ancestry of knowledge most likely won from individuals' previous experiences of the classroom, effectively their 'apprentice of observation' (Lortie, 1975). Reference to what a classroom ought to be is also found when trainees refer to behaviour and expectations. These appear to be very closely linked to what is done in a certain classroom and how it is done. Trainees suggest that this could include [m]aybe the usual behaviour of a given class or on an individual level, and more tentatively and hence the question mark, [t]he way I appear and I behave? There is recognition that the classroom requires behaviour peculiar to itself:

[o]ne has to behave differently in a classroom than on the corridor or out on the street

and that these are behaviours and attitudes that are accepted in the class. There appears to be an overlap with the customs and the like already referred to above as trainees mention that [c]lassroom culture includes all the behaviours, expectations, [and] attitudes that you can expect in a class along with rituals, the way of communication, [and] roles that

characterise the classroom. Most interestingly, there is a significant overt reference made to the teacher in terms of [h]ow the teacher behaves & dresses in the classroom which would suggest that classrooms require something not only of the pupils but also of the teacher. In terms of teacher training this suggests an awareness of what awaits trainees in their future career choice. Ultimately, the reason for an accepted way of doing something has a purpose:

[t]he accepted behaviour students should follow in order to do[…] effective work.

MN Methodological approach

For many the classroom should be a way of quickly getting the answers. This is exemplified by a call for pulling activities out of a hat, offering a few tips and tricks or adopting the tool-kit approach:However, this is not the long-term best solution, although I know that it will go down well.

Despite witnessing this approach to teacher education, I was concerned from the very beginning that I should not do the same. However, I was acutely aware that most students, at least initially, expected this approach to the course. It reveals a clear tension between student expectations of what this particular classroom will be about and how I envisage it.

As a particular group within a particular context with its own past and present it is no surprise that a classroom culture can bring forth group knowledge.This can include a group [k]nowing in general about habits, customs and rules within the classroom and in the school itself (eg knowing the official school rules) or a group which has [k]nowledge of all the

important facts of the group life. As with the previous discussion of behaviour and expectations, the teacher is perceived as one of the participants, like them a user and holder of group knowledge:

[b]eing used to and knowing well the life of the class including you as the teacher as well

Trainees make mention of the contribution of atmosphere to a classroom culture. The particular atmosphere of a classroom culture brings together various of the elements already discussed in this section in as much as it can be shaped by the special age/social group of the students, [or] influenced also by their background knowledge and needs. Similarly, it is the reliability and attitude of students which can create an atmosphere. The full beneficial potential of atmosphere to a classroom culture is described as:

[a] special atmosphere, nothing like other cultures where the most beautiful things take place learning, thinking

Once again, there is a clear acknowledgement that the teacher, ultimately the trainees themselves at some future date, has a pivotal role to play:

[i]n a class, there is a different atmosphere, different aims, different coherence in a group

While this acknowledges the importance of the atmosphere created by the teacher, at the same time it also highlights the concern felt by trainees who perceive a deficiency in their teacher training, namely that what takes place within seminars, including peer teaching and

discussion, does not reflect what goes on the classrooms they are being trained to enter, overwhelmingly state secondary classrooms.

Bringing together all of the above categories leads to the realisation that each classroom culture is unique and that it is incumbent upon the classroom teacher to be aware of this and behave accordingly: [a] class is like an individual. You should know it before you deal with it. However, the situation is somewhat more complicated:

[a] classroom is a micro-society with specific socio-psychological processes, however, also every student should be treated as individually as it is possible. A classroom as a group will react to the teacher’s personality and work, so it is also a task for the teacher to make themselves accepted by a class. A class is also a purpose-driven community, which might be an advantage in studying or on the contrary it might provoke resistance.

Consequently, trainees should know that a classroom culture is not only a distinctive entity the characteristics of which reflect the whole group, but one also characterised by its members, either as individuals or as groupings within the whole group. The teacher has to be prepared for this situation and must strive to ensure that working with the group is possible given the dynamics of such a group as outlined above. In addition, since a classroom culture comes together for a specific purpose this can prove beneficial and so facilitate learning, or conversely, be more malign and hinder learning as a result. It is for this that the trainee should be prepared during the process of teacher training.

One consequence of compulsory education is that trainees may have spent so long in education that some of them are no longer able to rationalise a classroom culture. Having spent a considerable amount of time in a particular environment, it can often prove difficult to describe it. One is too close to conduct any profound examination of the situation. Unable to say what they understood by classroom culture one trainee proffered:

I don’t really know. STUFF I TAKE FOR GRANTED AFTER 18 YEARS OF EDUCATION, I GUESS.

The use of underlined capital letters in the original emphasises the strong feelings of the respondent and ought to give pause for thought that overexposure can have a dulling effect.