There are many ways to promote positive interaction and collaboration between students. Several of these were bought up by teachers and students in the questionnaires. It is, for instance important to involve students in creating rules of conduct for the school, and conversations about the meaning of these rules. In several respects it has been shown important to implement core elements of dialogic education as a part of the learning process and to use teaching exercises in which each student is provided opportunity to make a unique contribution to the whole. Another aspect is to promote positive social peer role models. Safe environments for interaction with peers is important and related to this is also the wish from students and teachers to create opportunities, during schoolwork and breaks, to interact with students from other classes. Overall, it is found important to create routines for practicing pro-social skills and abilities – such as listening skills, empathy, understanding, social adaption, and how to initiate play or conversation with others.
If you want to know more:
Besides student-student interaction, there are several aspects of teacher-student interaction that are important for students’ well-being and learning in school. For instance, it has been found important to identify students’ strengths and show the students that you appreciate these. As a teacher, it is relevant to encourage students’ commitment and effort, be a bit personal and also use humor during class or before starting a class (without making fun of students). Moreover, the students found it important that the teachers are clear to the students about that the teachers care for them beyond their academic grades. It was also brought up that the teachers should encourage that students express social concerns to the teacher which are then to be handled with care. In prior research, it has been shown important that the teachers involve the students in meta-cognition about their learning process so that they are part of setting goals, discussing learning strategies and participating in evaluation their strategies and goals, which was also brought up in the questionnaire data.
If you want to know more:
The means for providing organisational prerequisites to support development of social well-being that were brought up in the data are also means for creating organisational prerequisites for supporting well-being in general. To do this, it is essential to create opportunities for school staff to discuss common well-being goals, establish routines to involve the whole school in the (pro-social) well-being work, and establish routines to follow-up on chosen well-being goals and methods applied to reach the goals.
If you want to know more:
There are several different definitions of inclusive education, and here we just settle with suggesting a few strategies that support a good social atmosphere for all students in school. Among such strategies it is important to differentiate teaching methods and content to suit different needs and knowledge levels. The students and teachers found it important to be involved in conversations about solidarity and kindness, and in practices aimed at helping fellow students. It is also important to develop and evaluate social and teaching strategies for involving students at risk of being marginalised.
If you want to know more: