What is a Safe, Welcoming Learning Environment? 

A safe and welcoming learning environment can only flourish when students feel safe in class and experience a positive atmosphere. In a safe, positive learning environment, interpersonal relationships are key. This means you foster good rapport with your students by adopting an approachable, accessible attitude. It also means promoting mutual contact and understanding among students.  

Why Invest in a Safe, Welcoming Learning Environment? 

A safe, welcoming learning environment built on mutual respect and clear involvement contributes to your students’ well-being and sense of belonging (i.e. the feeling of being seen and valued as part of a group or learning environment). Students who feel good about themselves can learn more effectively and are less likely to drop out.  

With just a couple of small tweaks, you can promote your students’ well-being and mutual contact from the start and throughout the academic year.   

How to Build a Welcoming Learning Environment, Boosting Your Students’ Well-Being? 

Set the Tone Right from the Start 

• Use an icebreaker in your first class. It will make it easier for students to connect with one another.  
• Set clear rules for what you expect from students 
  • Communicate clearly about expectations regarding participation, assignments, deadlines, and communication, ...  
  • Make it clear to students how and when they can contact you with questions during (throughout, during the break, right after class...) and after class (by email, during office hours, on the discussion forum...). 
  • Make it clear to them that, ultimately, the responsibility for learning rests with them. You are only there to guide them.   

Foster an Open Atmosphere in Class and Be Approachable 

Do not be judgmental of students' questions or answers, as this may create a negative atmosphere that is detrimental to the learning environment. It will lead to lower student participation in class and declining learning achievements. You don't want to end up in a learning environment where students are afraid to ask or answer questions:  

• respond understandingly to wrong answers.  Explicitly appreciate every answer.  
• Try to work out the reasoning behind an incorrect answer.   
• emphasise both the correct and the incorrect elements of the answer.  
• take the blame by saying something like: “My question wasn't entirely clear” or “Clearly, I have not explained that correctly”.  

Some students, especially first-year students, may find it hard to ask or answer questions in a group or in person.   

• When you ask a question, give them time to think. A few seconds of silence are perfectly natural and allow the students time to reflect.   
• Make your questions gradually more difficult. Start with a simple question and then make them more complex.  
• Allow students to think things over in pairs when you have asked a question. It will make it easier for students to answer because it will feel like a group answer. 
• Adopt an open and friendly body language when you ask a question. Nodding is a good way to encourage students to answer.   
• Use Wooclap to collect answers and discuss them with the class.   
• Activate the Ufora discussion forum as an additional communication channel for you and the students, and for the students to communicate with each other.   
  • Communicate about expectations clearly: will you answer the questions, or will students be expected to answer each other’s questions? What is the deadline for asking questions?  
  • Bring structure to the forum: use topics by theme/   
  • Allow students to post their questions anonymously (use ‘options’ and choose ‘allow anonymous posting’ when you create the forum or a topic) 
  • Create a ‘Miscellaneous’ section where students can contact each other or ask questions that are only loosely connected to the course unit.  
• Give them the opportunity to approach you before or after class, or during the break. For instance, take your time gathering your things.  
• Address straggling students after class. Ask for their feedback on your class or assignments. Adopting an open attitude will make it easier for students to ask questions. 

Be Human 

• Keep your finger on the pulse to gauge students’ well-being. Do not ask an open question, such as ‘How are you all doing?’, but make it specific: “Are you able to keep up with the (online) lessons?’ “Are you managing to process everything?”  
• With large student groups, you could set up a poll with some questions/statements about how they feel. You can then use the poll results to send an encouraging message to the group, reassure them, or give them some tips.  
• Share a personal anecdote once in a while, either as an icebreaker or as an inroad into the course content.  
• Maintain eye contact with students at various points around the lecture hall. You will come across as less aloof and formal.  
• Pay close attention to your students and read their reactions to see whether they are following your exposition. Consider addressing them: ‘It seems my explanations are causing confusion. Can you tell me what the problem is?’ This shows you are ready to anticipate any ambiguities that arise.   
• Although this is challenging in large student groups, it pays off to learn your students’ names by heart. It will reduce the distance and make interaction smoother.   

Actively Involve Students in Class 

• Ask your students to work on the learning content together (on-site as well as online). Do this early on in the first year. It will help students break down barriers and get to know one another, fostering a sense of belonging.   
• Use short quizzes (Wooclap, DUGA, Kahoot, Socrative, Mentimeter) as a learning or conversation starter, or introduce teaching methods such as think-pair-share to make the content more accessible. The latter will give students the opportunity to discuss questions in pairs before sharing their answers with the group.  
• Acknowledge students who actively participate in class. Focus on their involvement rather than the correctness of their answers.  

Let students Know They Are Not Alone   

Some students have a high threshold for discussing problems with their lecturers and fear being judged. Make sure students know where to go and direct them to the appropriate channels for advice or support. If you cannot help them right away, you can at least help them indirectly. 

• Make sure you know where students can go, too. Our referral chart lists all available options. 
• Focus on well-being in class by adding a slide referring to the “Wel in je vel” website to your class slides. Refer to it at the beginning of class or during a break. You will find sample slides here.  

Address Students and Ask for Their Feedback 

How did they experience your class? Are there elements that need adjusting? 

• Various items in the study programme and course feedback by students gauge how students experience the learning environment in your course unit. Think of elements such as approachability, teaching style and attitude. These survey results can also give you feedback.