Carol S. Weinstein

Toward a Conception of Culturally Responsive Classroom Management

Given the increasing diversity of our classrooms, a lack of multicultural competence can exacerbate the difficulties that novice teachers have with classroom management. Definitions and expectations of appropriate behavior are culturally influenced, and conflicts are likely to occur when teachers and students come from different cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this article is to stimulate discussion of culturally responsive classroom management (CRCM). We propose a conception of CRCM that includes five essential components: (a) recognition of one’s own ethnocentrism; (b) knowledge of students’ cultural backgrounds; (c) understanding of the broader social, economic, and political context; (d) ability and willingness to use culturally appropriate management strategies; and (e) commitment to building caring classrooms. In the final section of the article, we suggest questions and issues for future research.

Educational issues, school settings, and environmental psychology

Abstract This paper reviews selected research on classroom and school environments, using a framework that views schools from three perspectives—as places for learning, as places for socialization and as places for psychological development. Studies are included that deal with the impact of noise and classroom design on learning; the relationship between seating position, achievement and status; spatial cognition; the classroom environment and sex role stereotyping; privacy; and density. The need for classrooms to enhance childrens feelings of competence, security and self-esteem is also stressed. The goal of the paper is to point out ways in which environmental psychologists can contribute to the improvement of the educational system and to the quality of life in schools.

The Built Environment and Children’s Development

Children’s interactions with physical settings tend to be direct and easy to observe. For the infant who delights in exploration and movement and the preschooler who strives to master physical skills, the immediate environment is the primary medium for learning. Moreover, attachments to beloved objects and places are central to the emotional life of the young child. As time goes on, exposure to a variety of group and institutional settings leads to new understandings about social roles and norms in the world beyond the home. The arrangement of classroom space, for example, communicates expectations for behavior that are reinforced by institutional policies.

Designing Preschool Classrooms to Support Development

Many fields of study are concerned with children’s development or with the built environment. Only early childhood education, however, has focused attention on both of these topics. The concern with development was recently impressed upon me when I searched for a preschool for my 3-year-old daughter, Laura. Each school I visited thrust into my hands a written statement of its philosophy and objectives. Consider a small sample: Our goal is to offer a well-balanced program for preschool-age children, which will enrich the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development of each child.... We try to meet the individual needs of each child, while helping the child to develop self-confidence, self-esteem, a constructive approach toward learning, and a sense of curiosity and independence. Our objectives—joy in learning, concentration, self-confidence, respect for others and the equipment, self-control and courtesy, coordination, intellectual growth. Why your child should attend our school— It helps him to mature emotionally: he is helped to overcome his shyness; he loses some of the fears and anxieties common to little people; he enjoys working and playing with other children; he acquires pleasure in his own accomplishments. It helps him to mature socially: he learns to show consideration and respect for others, to give and to accept help from others, to participate and to lead in group activities, to accept responsibility. It helps him to mature intellectually: he learns to express himself, to create in many ways, to use his initiative and imagination, to be alert to the world around him. It helps him to mature physically: he develops better control of his large muscles; he improves his posture; he develops good health habits.