Establishing a Supportive Classroom Environment
Ideas for Effective College Teaching | Faculty and Staff

The emotional climate of college classrooms is extremely important for both faculty and students. Classes with a positive emotional climate are characterized by a sense of connection, curiosity, and intellectual excitement. However, other classes experience a pervasive sense of negativity among students, overt hostility expressed by many people in the course, or resistance to completing assignments or participating. Consider the following suggestions to establish and maintain a supportive classroom environment.

Communicate warmth and interpersonal sensitivity.

Although many faculty members minimize its importance, students are acutely aware of instructors' enthusiasm, warmth, and respect for others; these factors affect students' motivation and are reflected their appraisal of courses (Davis 1993). Effective instructors often display emotional and physical "immediacy" when teaching (Kearney and Plax 1992). These faculty communicate interpersonal engagement with their students through eye contact, open body posture, respectful listening, smiling, and expressions of interest. Faculty who establish a positive classroom climate and prevent conflicts often communicate enthusiasm, set their pace to match students' level of understanding, remain available after class and during office hours, as well as listen and encourage students.

Establish a shared course framework.

A shared set of goals and a common course agenda are important determinants of students' reaction to the class and their motivation to learn. A mutually established framework minimizes classroom conflict for several reasons. First, students develop a clearer sense of the instructor's expectations and the course objectives; this clarity and predictability counteracts potential feelings of helplessness and confusion which often precipitate classroom disruption (Boice 1996). Second, student input into the formulation of the class agenda maximizes the chance that they will perceive the material as relevant and important. Finally, students are likely to view instructors who request student input as caring and responsive.

Establish learning communities in classes.

Faculty also can prevent conflict in their classrooms by building a sense of community among students. Promoting student cohesion often starts on the first day of class through informal methods, such as student introductions and ice-breaker activities. Faculty can continue to prevent conflict during the semester and foster community by frequently using peer learning techniques when they teach content material.

Display empathy to students' negative emotions.

The initial step in restricting the potentially deleterious impact of student disruptiveness and conflict is for the instructor to explicitly acknowledge students' feelings and communicate empathy. Psychologists call this process "reflection;" it involves repeating another person's statements with an emphasis on their emotions. Hill and O'Brien (1999) recommended the following basic format so that listeners identify the speakers' feeling and its rationale: "You feel _____ because ____." Although reflections can be brief (e.g., "you're really upset about this"), they convey greater empathy when the statements are detailed, communicate an understanding of students' feelings and their situations, and avoid simple repetition.

Use comprehensive problem-solving methods.

This approach typically involves three phases: setting the stage for effective conflict resolution, clearly defining the problem, and developing mutually acceptable solutions. Instructors should carefully choose an appropriate time and location to meet with students. The second phase of conflict management involves clearly defining the problem. Instructors should define problematic behavior in concrete and objective terms. In general, an accurate definition of the problem is the product of a collaborative dialogue rather than an instructor's monologue. After clearly identifying their needs and interests, faculty and students then propose as many different ideas as possible for resolving the problem.

I present this information in greater detail in the following article: Meyers, S. A. (2003). Strategies to prevent and reduce conflict in college classrooms. College Teaching.