1. Establishing a Friendly Tone
‘Establishing a friendly tone’ is one of the five perspectives of Friendly and Fair Teaching (FFT). By teaching in a friendly manner, teachers create a positive learning environment. They deliberately set a good example and are accountable for it. They create a good atmosphere and provide opportunities to work together. In this way, everyone gets to know each other better.
Introduction: Establishing a Friendly Tone
I teach in a friendly manner and I find that most students follow my lead. By teaching with a friendly tone, I prevent disruptions. If a student does disrupt the lesson, I reinforce positive behaviour. The social aspect comes first in my lessons. When everyone is friendly, you feel at home.
1.1 Setting the Standard of Behaviour
With the framework, I ask my students to be kind and fair. I set a good example, and my students follow my example. This way, more attention goes to the lesson and the learning objective comes across clearly.
1.2 Communication Through Gestures
With body language, I give friendly and inaudible directions. If possible, I replace verbal directions with unambiguous gestures or signals. As a result, all attention goes to the learning objective. When I teach, I speak two languages synchronously:
- Verbal I give explanations.
- With body language I give directions.
1.3 Managing Emotions
We tend to copy each other’s body language. I take advantage of that when I teach. If the class is restless, I stay calm and don’t take over their restlessness. If the class is passive, I enthuse my students. I show my students an amount of energy appropriate to the situation with the expectation that they will copy my energy.
1.4 Building Relations
I give my students the opportunity to get to know each other in different roles. When we know each other well, everyone dares to be vulnerable.
