Creating Security and a Holistic View of each Individual within the Learning Environment.

Abstract

Security and a holistic view of each individual is necessary in order to create confidence and trust, for both the learners and the teacher, in the classroom community. As a result, the learning will be internalized, leading to a new “learning self” who ultimately becomes independent.
Creating security and a holistic view of each individual requires some basic principles in the teaching-learning process, such as equality among all learners and the teacher, and a relaxed, non-judgmental and fun learning environment. Simultaneously, the teacher is committed to developing a healthy and secure relationship with his students, and among the students themselves.
“Equality does not mean to equalize everything; it does not mean that there are no differences. WE are equal because we are all learners.” That is, the learners and the teacher are all learners. The teacher learns about the learners while the learners learn the language. As Earl Stevick says in his book A WAY AND WAYS :
The teacher whose work is subordinated to the work of her students must be continually learning from them about where they are- must be constantly ‘learning them,’ so to speak, at the same time that the students are learning the subject matter (1980: 45).
Since all come to the classroom from different backgrounds, we are all different; not one learner/teacher is all-knowing. There is a wide range of knowledge which is presented in every classroom; some learn slower; some learn faster, but everyone has something to offer; this is what makes us equal. This is also what makes all of us feel valued and that we are of great worth.
In addition, to get equality among learners, teachers should consider differences like the ones which Cohen refers to in her book Designing Group Work as peer and academic statuses, societal statuses, and the intellectual quality of group performance (1994: 28-38). When these differences are dealt with properly (that is, students have more or less the access to the interaction during group work and, most importantly, learn to treat each other as individuals rather than as members of a social group), the teaching and learning process in the classroom environment becomes effective.