The Importance of the Emotional Climate in Schools : An Exploration of the Sense of Belonging Experienced by Teachers in an Australian School

The emotional climate in schools is characterised by the nature of teacher-student relationships and can be enhanced by the acceptance, respect, inclusion and support that a Sense of Belonging to school engenders (Goodenow, 1993b). Teachers' SoB to school was explored to understand teachers' school experiences, and the influence they may have in the classroom environment. Ten primacy school teacht. :. vere interviewed regarding their SoB to school. Supportive collegial relationships ( •:ged as most influential to teachers' SoB, with shared goals, emotional safety, size and locality of school and principal's influence also being important. Additional information about teachers' SoB should be sought from a variety of educational environments so that strategies can be devised to enhance the school environment for teachers and their students. Emotional Climate in Schools 28 The Importan~ of the Emotional Climate in Schools: An exploration of the Sense of Belonging Experienced by Teachers in an Australian School Introduction The emotional climate of a school is characterised by the nature of the relationships that exist between the students and staff at the school. If the teacherstudent relationship conveys respect and genuine caring the abnosphere is likely to be welcoming and supportive of students and teachers alike. Unforttmately this is often not the case and Beck and Malley (1998) advise " . modern-day educators tend to emphasize a pedagogy that stresses economy, efficiency and technology over human relationships. " (p.l34). The school environment has come under scrutiny in recent times due to research that suggested that the reason for students' academic failure was not necessarily their lack of cognitive capabilities but due to feeling lonely and alienated from the school community (Beck & Malley 1998). This lack of emotional connection to school frequently leads to educational disengagement and, in some instances, seeking solace in gangs of similarly disenfianchised peers (Goodenow, 1993a). In the early 1980's the American education system was deemed to be in crisis because of a decline in academic engagement and achievement among students. The National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983) in its report A Nation at Risk warned that the standard of education had fallen dramatically. The report stated that average scores attained by students sitting the College Boards Scholastic Aptitude Test had dropped by 50 points on verbal tests and 40 points on mathematical tests in the period from 1963 to 1980. The perceived crisis resulted in a focus on efforts to refonn the American educational system that included qualitative studies that investigated how students felt about school. Baker, Teny, Bridger and Winsor (1997) reported that what emerged from the qualitative research was that many students felt alienated and Emotional Climate in Schools 29 disenfranchised, the inference being that problems inherent in the educationaJ process related not necessarily to the academic curriculum but. importantly, to the emotionaJ environment in schools. The emotional environment in AustraJian schools was discussed by Groundwater-Smith, Brennan, McFadden & Mitchell (2001) who argue that some aspects of education have remained unchanged from colonial times. For example, the classroom climate in traditional schools was governed by an authoritarian style of teaching where the student was the passive recipient of information and the teacher had sole responsibility for the decisions, rules and knowledge. Competition between students was encouraged by the grading of academic achievement based on comparison with students in the same grade (Berk, 1999; Kale & Cavanaugh, 1996). Grading promotes the in-group/out-group culture by labeling students and this reinforces feelings of rejection and alienation among low achievers (Beck & Malley, 1998; Osterman, 2000; Schmuck & Schmuck, 1992). l&arniog Communities The school refonn movement in America, motivated by the publication of A Nation at Risk (The National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983), focused oo relationally oriented education that depicts schools as learning communities instead ofbureaucratic rule governed institutions (Baker et al., 1997). The elements of the community construct that would satisfy the need for schools to be more emotionally supportive were identified by McMillan and Chavis (1986). They suggested that there are four elements to the community construct; membership, influence, reinforcement and a shared emotional connection. The issue of membership is afforded particular importance in the development of a sense of community (SoC). Membership is underpinned by a sense of belonging (SoB) to community and is signified by feelings of Emotional Climate in Schools 30 acceptance and inclusion. In order to experience the benefits that ensue from being part of a community, members must first have a sense of their place in the community or a SoB to the community. Similarly in order to be motivated to function as a community affiliate, members must have a SoB to the community (Baker et al., 1997; Goodenow,