What Factors Help Foster a Positive Classroom Community?

Term

Summer 8-14-2014

Capstone

Thesis

Degree Name

MAT

Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair

Jeffrey Fink

Secondary Advisor/Reader One

Deb Sheffer

Peer-Reviewer/Reader Two

Rebecca Wirtz

Abstract

The research question addressed is, what do teachers do to help foster a positive classroom community? The motivating factor for this research was the lack of a positive learning environment in the early years of the author’s education. A key influence for this capstone stemmed from the desire to find a way to create a caring classroom community where students can achieve their best. The author documents the details of the study using related literature as the foundation for the project. Through teacher questionnaires, the author investigated what teachers do to help foster a positive classroom community. The data would suggest that 1) few teachers recognize themselves as a key element in achieving a strong classroom community; 2) among the surveyed teachers, the most common practice used by teachers to build community is providing opportunities for students to share about their personal lives.

Keywords

Community Building

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