Lesson 15 The School Climate

THE SCHOOL
CLIMATE
Presented by:
Leslie Emm S. Laurente BSED ENGLISH 3-A
What is the School Climate?
School environments vary greatly. Whereas
some schools feel friendly, inviting, and supportive,
others feel exclusionary, unwelcoming, and even
unsafe. The feelings and attitudes that are elicited by
a school’s environment are referred to as school
climate. Although it is difficult to provide a concise
definition for school climate, most researchers agree
that it is a multidimensional construct that includes
physical, social, and academic dimensions.
What is the School Climate?
School Climate refers to the quality and
character of school life. School Climate is based on
patterns of students’, parents’, and the school
personnel’s experience of school life and reflects
norms, goals, values, interpersonal interactions,
teaching and learning practices and organizational
structures.
– National School Climate Center
The physical dimension includes:
 Appearance of the school building and its

classrooms
 School size and ratio of students to
teachers in the classroom
 Order and organization of classrooms in
the school
 Availability of resources
 Safety and comfort.
The social dimension includes:
 Quality of interpersonal relationships

between and among students, teachers, and
staff
 Equitable and fair treatment of students by
teachers and staff
 Degree of competition and social
comparison between students
 Degree to which students, teachers, and staff
contribute to decision-making at the school.
The academic dimension includes:
 Quality of instruction
 Teacher expectations for student
achievement
 Monitoring student progress and
promptly reporting results to
students and parents
Impact on behavioral and
emotional problem:
A great deal of research shows that student
perceptions of school climate affect academic motivation
and achievement. Increasingly, research is showing that
perceptions of school climate also influence student
behavioral and emotional problems. Behavioral
problems are characterized by acting-out behaviors
such as fighting, lying, and cheating. Unlike behavioral
problems, which tend to be external and observable,
emotional problems are more difficult to identify
because of their internal nature, but include anxiety,
sadness, loneliness, hopelessness, and worthlessness.
Impact on behavioral and
emotional problem:
In addition to being directly predictive of their
outcomes, student perceptions of the school’s climate may
offset or counteract the negative impact of risk factors that
elevate the probability of behavioral and emotional
problems. For instance, research has shown that student
perceptions of a high-quality school climate offset the
negative effects of a difficult temperament, self-criticism,
and low levels of self-efficacy. Such findings indicate that
although a perceived high-quality school climate is
advantageous for all students, it may be particularly
beneficial for students at-risk for negative outcomes.
How does school climate affect
student outcomes?
Knowing that students’ perceptions of school climate
are related to their behavioral and emotional problems is
important, but understanding the processes or mechanisms
that underlie this relationship is critical to developing effective
interventions to improve school climate. One of the
mechanisms that may explain how school climate affects
individual outcomes is school connectedness. School
connectedness is defined as student perceptions of belonging
and closeness with others at the school. Some researchers
consider school connectedness a component of school climate,
but others suggest that it is a factor that intervenes between
school climate and student outcomes to explain their
relationship.
How does school climate affect
student outcomes?
Given that student perceptions of the school climate
may counteract certain risk factors, understanding how
students feel about their school is an important first step
in decreasing the probability of negative student outcomes.
However, given the numerous components that comprise
school climate and the prohibitive nature of assessing the
perceptions of each one, research indicates that
interventions focused on increasing students’ sense of
connectedness or belonging to the school may be an
effective means of decreasing behavioral and emotional
problems.
How can school personnel increase
students’ sense of belonging?
Various ideas have been proposed, including:
 Increasing school safety and improving interpersonal relationships by
adopting violence-prevention and conflict-resolution programs;
 Increasing student, teacher, and staff acceptance of diversity;
 Treating students with care, fairness, and consistency;
 Promoting student decision-making skills, individual and civic
responsibility, and commitment to the larger school community; and
 Decreasing the emphasis on student competition.
 Improving students’ perceptions of school connectedness will not
occur overnight and likely will require an extended period of time. But
concerted effort can result in improved student behavioral and
emotional functioning and, in turn, increased academic motivation and
achievement.

Lesson 15 The School Climate

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lesson 15 The School Climate

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lesson 15 The School Climate

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

THE SCHOOL

 Appearance of the school building and its

 Quality of interpersonal relationships

You might also like