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
I demonstrate the behaviour I ask of everyone with the framework myself: friendly and fair. My students usually adopt my attitude. 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.
