THE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT: A MAJOR MOTIVATING FACTOR TOWARDS HIGH ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

AILYANNE S. MIRANDA

The classroom environment seems to be an important motivating factor that makes or mar the teaching and learning process. It is pertinent to note that the curriculum or the content of the school syllabus is being implemented mainly within the four walls of the classroom, (usually under the formal school system) through professional teachers who happen to be the curriculum implementers. It appears that the quality of teaching would likely affect the learning of many secondary school subjects and learning programmes, this perhaps may be as a result of the state of the classroom environment. Globally, formal classroom systems can be found in every citadel of learning in all countries across the globe, be it developed or developing countries, depending on the types, shapes, class and academic environment in which they are situated. The classroom environment is an important, most powerful and effective instrument of socialization where learners from different socio-economic backgrounds come together to learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds including public and private schools home schools, corporations, religious and humanitarian organizations. For lessons that require specific resources or vocational approach, different types of classrooms both indoors and outdoors are used.

Classrooms can range from small groups of five or six to big class rooms with hundreds of students. A large classroom is also called a lecture hall. A few examples of classrooms are computer labs which are used for IT lessons in schools, gymnasiums for sports and science laboratories for biology, chemistry and physics. It has been observed that the yardstick to measure a student’s academic performances are through the scores obtained by the learner during or after the process of learning. So much importance seems to be attached to scores to the extent that scores often depict or reflects performance. Academic excellence is the desire of every school owner (proprietor). The quality of teaching and learning that takes place in any establishment determines the level of academic excellence. In other for effective teaching and learning process to occur within the school environment, there must be provision for required learning aids such as conducive school physical environment, well painted classroom, adequate chairs, moderate distance from an industrial area to prevent unwanted noise and a well experienced teacher (progress Educate). A warn well-run classroom begin with the physical layout – the arrangement of space and working space, attractiveness and appeal of bulletin boards, the storage of materials and supplies. The physical layout of the classroom reflects the teaching style, for example students could be organized around clusters of desks.

-oOoTHE AUTHOR IS TEACHER III AT BECURAN HIGH SCHOOL