Creating a Learning-Centered SOCIAL Environment

Just as the physical and emotional environments in a classroom have an impact on learning, so too does the social environment.   We all know what it is to be uncomfortable in a group of people with whom we have little in common.  As our students meet each other at the beginning of each semester, anxieties about the demands of the course work are often increased by concern over other students in the class.  Will the other students be judgmental, unkind, selfish, or even cruel?  Or will they be helpful, considerate, and supportive?  A safe social environment for our students requires a strong sense of community.  New learning involves taking risks.  Even if a student is highly motivated and has a high self concept, without a supportive community, he or she will be unwilling to take risks, and without creative risk taking, deep learning is not going to happen.

Current brain science research tells us that the brain is social.  The second brain/mind principle of the Caines speaks directly to the social nature of the brain:  "It is now clear that throughout our lives, our brain/minds change in response to their engagement with others--so much so that individuals must always be seen to be integral parts of larger social systems.  Indeed, part of our identity depends on establishing community and finding ways to belong."  (2002) The Caines (1994) explain further in Making Connections:

We have a brain-based drive to belong to a group and to relate to others. Hence educators need to support and consolidate social relationships and a sense of community. Friendship and companionship are both intrinsically important to us and contribute to safety, security, and relaxed alertness because a genuinely supportive group helps reduce threat. (p. 125)

Lev Vygotsky, whose work is very important to second language acquisition theory, emphasizes the importance of social interaction in learning. He said,

Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals." (as cited by Kearsley, 2001, Social Development Theory, ¶ 1)

Robert Sylvester (2002) offers some biological insight into why this is so. He says, "We're inherently a cooperative species" and explains this biologically:

Our upright stance and consequent narrow female birth canal have led to a brain that is born only one third its adult size (as compared to most animals that are born with an almost fully developed brain).  The biological solution to the problem is to be born with an almost full complement of neurons, but with most neural systems functioning principally at a survival level.  These protosystems then mature by expanding their connections, as environmental challenges dictate. ...

So we are of necessity a social cooperative species.  This innate sense of dependence means that everyone in a social group must be able to do some communal things (such as being able to speak the common language), but not everyone has to be able to do everything.  ...  Human dependence thus encourages cooperative behaviors, and this in turn provides our species with additional capacity within our social brain--the combined capabilities of a cooperating group of brains being more than the capacity of the simple sum of the parts. (Hearts and Minds, A Biological Brain in a Cultural Classroom, adapted by Slyvester, p. 2)

Sylvester goes on to say that democratic classrooms which encourage cooperative behaviors and provide broadly integrated curricula benefit not only the individual student but the society as a whole.

A focus on cooperative activities in a school allows students to explore their interest and capabilities, and non-threatening competitive enterprises (from games to grades) allow them to compare themselves with others.  A good balance between cooperation and competition is developmentally essential.  Viewing classroom management as an important cooperatively managed element of the curriculum thus provides students with extended laboratory experience in learning how to get along with others, to share responsibilities, and to settle disputes that might arise. (Hearts and Minds, A Biological Brain in a Cultural Classroom, adapted by Slyvester, p. 2)

The need for social interaction in learning continues throughout our lives. Jensen and Dabney (2000) tell us that social interaction influences brain chemistry and thus learning.  They cite a study by Ralph Dougherty of cooperative learning among undergraduate organic chemistry students for two semesters at the University of Florida. Dougherty found, "that not only did learning flourish in group study situations, fewer students dropped out or had to repeat the course."  (p. 15) He concluded that working in groups increased the sense of social safety among the students.  Jensen and Dabney continue, "Other researchers concur that whatever the learning topic or task, small-group discussion reinforces classroom learning, aids recall, and gives students collaborative opportunities to solve problems and explore topics more thoroughly."  (p. 15) Pat Wolfe and Ron Brandt (1998) tell us, "The brain is innately social and collaborative.  Although the processing takes place in our students' individual brains, their learning is enhanced when the environment provides them with the opportunity to discuss their thinking out loud, to bounce their ideas off their peers, and to produce collaborative work." (Finding One, #4)

So, we conclude it is important to create a learning-centered social environment. For our purposes, I'm going to define a safe social environment as one where students feel comfortable with others and feel free to take risks. An enriched social environment goes one step further to a mutually supportive and caring social environment.

Go to the next section, Creating a SAFE SOCIAL Environment

Safe
Enriched

Creating A Learning-Centered EMOTIONAL Environment

Safe
Enriched

Creating A Learning-Centered SOCIAL Environment

Safe
Enriched

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