Answer to Question #301394 in English for Lerato nyalungu

Question

Name and describe the factors that may influence the classroom climate. Using your own

practical examples, describe how such factors may be used to create a positive classroom

environment. (10)

2.2. Briefly outline common elements of a successful parent-engagement programme,

according to Bauer & Shea (2002:95). Also explain how you would follow enforce control

measures during a parents’ meeting in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. (10)

2.3. Describe in detail the importance of the new information that is being applied in South

African schools, using the SA-SAMS

Answer 1

2.1 .1 Develop and reinforce classroom rules and norms that clearly support safe and respectful behavior. Having classroom rules helps you create a predictable, safe learning environment for your students. Rules give your students clear boundaries and opportunities to practice self-regulation and make good choices. When students feel safe and respected both emotionally and physically, they are able to focus better on learning.

1. Promote positive peer relationships. You want to create an environment where your students support and are kind to one another. Some ways you can do this are:

• Notice and reinforce casual positive interactions between students on a daily basis.
• Deliberately plan relationship-building activities and games that encourage positive interactions. These can be long-term projects, or short and simple games designed for students to get to know each other better.
• Pay attention to the social dynamics of your classroom. Do some students have trouble making friends? Do some students have trouble getting along with others? Who has a lot of friends? Who has few friends? Interviewing your students one-on-one can help you identify students that have stronger or weaker social connections. This can inform your seating arrangements, guide your grouping and pairing decisions, and assist you in helping students form new networks of friends.
• Have class meetings. Class meetings provide a safe environment in which students can discuss with you and each other topics that are important to them. You and your students can get to know each other better and build relationships through open discussions on subjects like: Following Rules, How to Get Help, Including Others at Recess, Solving Playground Problems, etc. This helps create a positive classroom climate built on trust and respect.

1. Nurture positive relationships with all students. You need to let your students know that you not only care about their progress in the classroom, you also care about them as human beings. Some ways you can do this are:

• Greet your students by name every time they walk in the door. This lets them know that you notice and care that they are there.
• Use warm, inclusive behaviors with your face, body, and words each day. Smile! Ask, “How are you feeling?” Look at your students. Notice and reinforce their positive behaviors with encouraging words.
• Ask your students personal questions that will help you get to know them and what’s happening in their lives outside of school. “How was your soccer game last night?” “Is your grandma feeling better?”
• Notice changes in students’ physical and emotional behaviors. Changes may indicate a student is in need of additional emotional support. Provide or find support for that student as needed.
• Spend and keep track of individual time with each one of your students over a set duration (such as each month).

2.2 Promotion of parents’ associations

The positive impact of parents’ involvement and support is significant, both on school governance and on children’s learning outcomes (Desforges and Abouchaar, 2003; Balarin and Cueto, 2007). While such policies have a particularly notable impact on governance, they also have a learning component. Evidence from Mexico suggests that trust between parents and teachers, and clear rules about parents’ expectations are key factors to any improvement (Barrera-Osorio, 2021). School governance policies can also provide a starting point for parental engagement within schools. However, roles and responsibilities of parents in relation to other stakeholders are not clearly defined in most countries, and the roles of different stakeholders need to be made clear and accepted by all (Marphatia et al., 2010; Bray, 2001). 

Parental support during school closures

Policy decisions on school closures and continuing education remotely need to take into account parents’ capability to help their child learn. Parents can be supported with home learning packages, particularly where there is no IT connectivity or electricity (Brossard et al., 2020). Angrist et al. (2020) found that engaging parents through SMS and phone calls led to increased parental participation in their children’s education and improved parents’ understanding of their child’s learning level. It is important that any strategies developed also take into account parents’ busy lives and the variety of family situations with support targeted to those who need it most (Winthrop, 2020).

2.3 it is freely provided to all school and aims to assist schools with their own school administration and reporting. SA-SAMS provides the only electronic platform to ensure efficient and standardized policy implementation and reporting across all provinces.

The system is able to save on exorbitant resources for the Sector by eliminating data duplication, since it is the source system to collect the National Senior Certificate (NSC) registration information.