School Environment
School Environment
Grand Canyon University EDA-575
August 27, 2014
SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
My school is situated in an urban area. It is a residential section of Maryland that is less than 7 miles from Washington, D.C.. One of the main things that affect the community surrounding our school is gang violence. It only makes sense that the outside community would effect the inside community. “Due to the increasing recognition of the consequences of school violence schools are taking steps to reduce school violence” (Johnson, Burke, & Gielen, 2012, p. 92). The staff in my school works hard to lessen the effects of the outside community violence and keep the inside of our school violence free. Our shared vision of the school environment is to have it become a comfortable place where the students can take risks and feel supported. As a staff we strive every day to do our best by our students. We keep our school clean, well repaired, brightly decorated and reflective of our diversity. Through a grant sponsored by Wal-Mart a free breakfast is given to every student and every staff member. Our principal has used extra funds to provide the students with both an Art and a Technology teacher. Both of these positions are extras not funded by the school system and must be paid through her discretionary funds. The school community supports all of these initiatives because we want our school to be a place that students want to come to and want to learn in. The majority of the staff prides itself on the school environment and their part in it.
Johnson, Burke & Gielen say that six topics come up repeatedly when polling groups of students: “student behaviors, norms of behaviors, relationships with school staff, learning environment, school safety, and neighborhood environment” (2012, p. 97). Learning environment and neighborhood environment have been addressed in the previous paragraph. I will discuss the
Grand Canyon University EDA-575
August 27, 2014
SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
My school is situated in an urban area. It is a residential section of Maryland that is less than 7 miles from Washington, D.C.. One of the main things that affect the community surrounding our school is gang violence. It only makes sense that the outside community would effect the inside community. “Due to the increasing recognition of the consequences of school violence schools are taking steps to reduce school violence” (Johnson, Burke, & Gielen, 2012, p. 92). The staff in my school works hard to lessen the effects of the outside community violence and keep the inside of our school violence free. Our shared vision of the school environment is to have it become a comfortable place where the students can take risks and feel supported. As a staff we strive every day to do our best by our students. We keep our school clean, well repaired, brightly decorated and reflective of our diversity. Through a grant sponsored by Wal-Mart a free breakfast is given to every student and every staff member. Our principal has used extra funds to provide the students with both an Art and a Technology teacher. Both of these positions are extras not funded by the school system and must be paid through her discretionary funds. The school community supports all of these initiatives because we want our school to be a place that students want to come to and want to learn in. The majority of the staff prides itself on the school environment and their part in it.
Johnson, Burke & Gielen say that six topics come up repeatedly when polling groups of students: “student behaviors, norms of behaviors, relationships with school staff, learning environment, school safety, and neighborhood environment” (2012, p. 97). Learning environment and neighborhood environment have been addressed in the previous paragraph. I will discuss the
References: Gulsen, C., & Gulenay, G. (2014). The principal and healthy school climate. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 4293-100. Hemming, P. J. (2013). Spaces of spiritual citizenship: children’s relational and emotional encounters with the everyday school environment. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 18(1). 74-91. Johnson, S., Burke, J., & Gielen, A. (2012). Urban students’ perceptions of the school environments’s influence on school violence. Children & Schools, 34(2). 92-102. O’Brennan, L. M., Waasdorp, T. E., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2014). Strengthening bullying prevention through school staff connectedness. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(3), 870-880. Doi:10.1037/a0035957