The Need for Moral Support in Schools

School Environment and Personal Development

School is an environment that instills knowledge on learners with an aim of making them better individuals in the society. The environment created in such learning institutions should be encouraging and allow for personal development. In this regard, the administrators should take into consideration the need for moral support to the learners to impart the educational skills. With the wake of technology, the systems put in place should be flexible and give room for innovation; thus, allowing for sharing of ideas and building a competitive world. Besides, best methods of teaching should be imposed to allow children to be involved in the day to day activities (Jones et al., 2013). As such, they would feel motivated in the process of learning and make them attain maximum knowledge. Therefore, it is vital for the school administrations to consider the factors that differentiate children to enable them learn effectively in various environments without infringing their freedom.

The Impact of School Environment on Culture and Behavior

The environment set in the schools determines the culture and the behavior that would be portrayed in students. Therefore, it is upon the teachers to create a better learning atmosphere that is aimed at promoting the development of the pupils to become better individuals in the society. According to Gee (2012), social culture is dependent on the way students interact in their day to day activities in the learning institutions. It is; thus, the mandate of the administrators to put into place regulations that allow teachers to engage learners positively and give room for interaction between them (Mancini et al., 2006). Schools that resemble prisons have brewed a culture of hostility among the stakeholders involved. Hatred between the students and the teachers is created in such an institution and the learners are not free to engage their tutors positively. Besides, in the setting, students are not given room to have social interactions; thus, cannot borrow ideas from others (Jones et al., 2013). As a result, they lack moral support and are not motivated in their studies. The learners have a tendency of engaging in harmful habits such as drug abuse to ease pressure; worse of, the conditions can lead to high rates of suicidal attempts as the children may fear reporting their concerns (Foà et al., 2012). Therefore, aggression can result from restricted conditions imposed on students, which may affect outcomes of education.

Authoritarian Leadership and its Impact on Learners

Despite the need to allow students to achieve a sense of belonging, confidence, and desired freedom, majority of the educators have demonstrated authoritarian mode of leadership that infringe the rights of the pupils. As Lominé (2012) argues, the teachers impose strict rules at the expense of the freedom of the learners; thus, making them to form counter-normative reactions. In some instances, the learners are not given the opportunity to show their concerns and it makes them be demoralized. Besides, some of the teachers do not recognize the opinions of the students and consider their views to be superior that must be followed regardless of the flaws they may possess. As a result, learners are left with minimum choices and are forced to cope with the harsh situations created; though, developing negative characters (Beem et al., 2004). Some of the teachers have been authoritative in the sense that they demand respect from the pupils regardless of how they treat the children. Although the way of leadership may be effective in instilling respect into the students, adverse effects may accompany them, including inability to have free thinking and proper ways of making critical decisions (Willingham, 2009). The type of leadership possesses negative effects to the learners as they are tortured mentally and their motivation is deteriorated.

Moving Towards Student-centered Learning

Learning is a vigorous process that entails a lot of engagements and the urge to set things on the right track. Every individual involved in the process should have the opportunity to give his/her views on the topics of discussion. In such a manner, it becomes easier to understand one's weaknesses and strengths; thus, making it possible to engage the person in a productive manner (Kazak & Polat, 2018; Vermette, 2014). The traditional education whereby, the educator was at the center of all the activities is in this case not effective. In essence, with more innovations taking place in schools, the system that is teacher-centered may not be relevant as it does not give room for the pupils to take part in the discussions. Therefore, there should be an interaction between the teachers and learners with the need to promote hands-on skills. Beem et al. (2004) maintains that through involvement of various stakeholders, the educators are able to identify the weaknesses in every pupil and help them develop effectively. The latter makes the traditional education irrelevant since it does not easily recognize the capabilities of the learners; thus, it becomes hard to impart knowledge in an effective manner that addresses various weaknesses.

Active Involvement of Students in the Learning Process

Notably, active involvement of students in the entire process of learning is vital in the need to achieve excellence in studies. In this sense, educators apply various alternative methods to promote the latter. For instance, the teachers allow the pupils to develop self confidence that makes them become committed towards attaining their set goals. This technique unlocks self-reliance and the learners develop belief in the activities they undertake, which makes them attain perfection in them. Besides, the involvement of the individuals in active learning is promoted through creation of a studying process that is active and allows for collaboration between the learners as stated by Hattie (2012). The latter can be achieved through creation of discussion groups and monitoring the process closely to guide the activities. The cultures of the institutions should also take into consideration the diversity of the backgrounds of the learners. As such, one would not feel neglected and will engage others positively without considering the differences that may exist between them, for example, financial background, race, gender, and others. In addition, schools should create various support services that allow students to attain help whenever necessary. Therefore, through realizing the potentials of the pupils, providing various forms of support services, and making them have a free environment for collaboration, the students would be motivated and they would enjoy the learning process.

Creating a Balanced and Motivating Environment

The changes to be effected in the school atmosphere should take into consideration the effect it may cause on the overall motivation of learners. For instance, if the administration makes a free environment that promotes self reliance and collaboration among the students, morale would be imposed and everyone would have the need to achieve success. The condition created must be in line with the factors that motivation is based on, such as better services besides social amenities that most of the teenagers prefer (Hattie, 2012). Notably, it has been evident that restricted environments lead to depression among the students. As a result, they develop aggressive characters, which show lack of morale in the studies. In most of the cases, the students engage into disruptive activities and may drop out of school if they cannot handle the pressure (Gee, 2012). On the other hand, if the environment does not set clear rules, the learners may not be guided well and may be disrespectful. Therefore, it calls for a balance in the atmosphere created. The latter should allow for development of various efforts of learners and make them productive. Besides, a social culture should be encouraged whereby; they interact freely and engage in productive discussions to aid in their studies. As a result, they would enjoy the process and would have the urge to excel.

Motivational Strategies for Enjoyable Learning

In summary, students have a tendency of being motivated if given the opportunity to have free choice and interactive discussion with others. Therefore, the administrations should create atmospheres in schools that make every stakeholder enjoy the process of learning. Studying should identify the weaknesses the pupils have and design measures towards increasing their capabilities. Innovations can only be achieved if the environments in schools give room for free thinking and decision making. The latter can be achieved through closer student-teacher relationship and promotion of hands-on skills among the learners. Therefore, the authoritarian modes of leadership that reduces the morale of students should be eliminated to create a fruitful engagement that attracts success. Overall, the enjoyment of learning is based on the motivational strategies that the teachers device to allow for the mental, social, and physical abilities of the pupils to thrive.

References

Beem, A. L., Brugman, D., Høst, K., & Tavecchio, L. W. (2004). Students' perception of school moral atmosphere: From moral culture to social competence. A generalizability study. European Journal of developmental psychology, 1(2), 171-192.

Foà, C., Brugman, D., & Mancini, T. (2012). School moral atmosphere and normative orientation to explain aggressive and transgressive behaviours at secondary school. Journal of Moral Education, 41(1), 1-22.

Gee, J. P. (2012). Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling. routledge.

Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. Routledge.

Jones, J. L., Jones, K. A., & Vermette, P. J. (2013, April). Why Don't Students Like School? Willingham, Perkins, and a Comprehensive Model of School Reform. In The Educational Forum (Vol. 77, No. 2, pp. 199-206). Taylor & Francis Group.

Kazak, E., & Polat, S. (2018). School administrators’ instructional leadership behaviors, intergenerational atmosphere, and intergenerational learning in schools. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 16(4), 441-462.

Lominé, L. (2012, May). The social purposes of Business education: educational perspectives from the International Baccalaureate. In 19th EDINEB Conference.

Mancini, T., Fruggeri, L., & Panari, C. (2006). An extention of the school moral atmosphere construct, and its association with aggressive behaviours in secondary school. European journal of psychology of education, 21(2), 209.

Vermette, P. (2014). ENGAGING teens in their own learning: 8 keys to student success. Routledge.

Willingham, D. T. (2009). Why don't students like school?: A cognitive scientist answers questions about how the mind works and what it means for the classroom. John Wiley & Sons.