Great question!If a student feels accepted then they will take risks in learning- they will feel empowered to use their critical thinking skills and make well thought out assumptions...and right or wrong- still learn through thier efforts.
This is true, sometimes, especially older students come to me in private to ask lecture questions because they feel that if they speak out in class, the younger students will think they are stupid and they will not be accepted.
Hi Larry,
Well said about the environment. Students need to feel comfortable and accepted into the learning format. If they do then they can focus on learning and not on the room arrangement.
Gary
In my experience,such as it is, most people look for acceptance. Maybe they want to be members of an outlaw motorcycle club but they still seek acceptance. The classroom is no different. Acceptance creates a postive environment forlearing to take place. When I attended teacher college in the mid-70s, environments for learning were the rage. Acceptance helps create that environment.
If a student feels accepted they will do better in class and life and they'll fell like they belong. Some students have no one at home to give them the feeling they can be accepted or pass a class in college and perhaps try and talk them out of finishing what they've started. No matter how old a person is they are worth something and someone need to enforce this in them and that I think is where the instructor comes in, they can make the student feel like a million dollars just knowing someone cares even if at first the 2 are strangers.
Judy
Hi Becky,
Well said. This is why instructors need to "read" the class atmosphere to determine how students are settling into the course. Then if adjustments are needed they can be done and the course move forward with everyone feeling a part of the class.
Gary
If students do not feel accepted, then they will not be able to focus on learning. If they feel alienated or uncomfortable, they will have a much more difficult time concentrating. Their focus will be on just making it through the class without being embarrassed or singled out. It is a huge barrier to learning.
Hi Jared,
Good point about how to accept criticism. As a book author I know when my copy editor gets through with one of my manuscripts it is going to have mark ups all over it. I learned years ago that is is not personal it is beneficial. By considering the edits and revisions that are suggested the content reads better and thus I have a stronger work as a result of it. I know students have some difficulty in getting through this area but through your support and encouragement I know they can start to see the value of having someone else review their work.
Gary
Feeling accepted makes them feel important and in turn this acceptance will give a sense of responsibility to be successful for the team
It is important that the student feel as though they are an important, contributing member of the group. If they don't feel this way, they will lose interest in the class and the group and quite possibly drop out of the group.
If a student feels accepted in the group they will have a greater level of confidence and be more willing to participate. If the feel accepted they will have less fear of giving the wrong answer or making a mistake. No one is perfect.
I teach composition online, so many of the suggestions here about small-group exercises are very difficult for me to put into practice.
I do my best to remind students that any criticism they receive from their peers is intended to help them grow as writers, and that having their mistakes pointed out for them is the only way that they will ever improve. My goal is to teach them to look at criticism as a positive experience (as any writer should) instead of a negative experience. Once they do this, they have a much easier time feeling accepted by the group.
Hi Amy,
Great point! Students need to feel they are accepted and able to be successful. If they feel such they will be comfortable in the course and contributing to the success of that course to the benefit of themselves and the other students.
Gary
Hi Sahbaa,
Good point and one all instructors need to remember. We need to be well prepared and excited about our course each time we enter the classroom.
Gary
Hi Lorna,
Right you are. If an instructor doesn't establish a comfortable and supportive classroom environment then the students are not going to feel like they are a part of the learning process.
Gary
If we look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, we see that love and belongingness is needed before self-esteem needs. In other words, acceptance from others contributes towards an individual's level of self-confidence. If a student feels accepted by his or her peers and instructor, he or she will feel more confident in their role as a student. A student with greater self-confidence will be more likely to participate actively in class via discussions, lecture, and completing assignments.
This is important thing for me feeling Accepted help. you can see the facial expression of the students, if you see they accepted you, you feel happy and give more and more. But if they do not accepted you, you feel that you did not do your best.
It is important to create a risk free environment for learning so a student can feel free to ask questions, otherwise, they are held back sometimes by feeling intimidated. This is no way to learn or to acquire confidence.
Because the best kind of learning happens when the student is both challenged by the content AND relaxed enough in the environment not to feel pressured.
Being accepted by the instructor, the non-teaching faculty, and fellow students allows the student to feel comfortable in the classroom environment enough to be able to freely voice their serious opinions, connect the classwork to personal experience, and thereby create in themselves more motivation to succeed in the course.
I feel that it is extremely important for students to feel accepted in their classes because if they are comfortable in the classroom they will contribute and work to be successful in that class. When they are successful in the class this will carry over to their personal life, their jobs and their careers.
A few techniques that I use to feel accepted in each of my classes is to share some of my own college experiences. I try to also get to know each of my students by having them complete a short survey and introducing themself. Furthermore, each of my class sessions have a small group activity. I encourage students to work in share in small group sessions. It seems much easier than large lecture sections. I know that it is crucial to know my students names and address them in class and out of class with their names. Furthermore, I like to give positive feedback to all students in the classroom. I tell students to see me before class, after class or during my office hours. I feel this creates a comfortable, open, and rewarding educational experience. Hopefully, what they see and experience in the classroom will transfer to their personal life, their work and their future careers.
