Collective emotional atmosphere in mathematics lesson based on finnish fifth graders’ drawings

Abstract

The aim of this study, based on pupils' drawings, is to find out what kind of collective emotional atmosphere dominates in fifth-graders' mathematics lessons. Pupils' (N = 136) drawings were analyzed using a holistic evaluation of emotional atmosphere during mathematics lesson. Even though the collective emotional atmosphere in mathematics lesson is positive in the total data, there are large differences among the different classrooms. In most of the classrooms the emotional atmosphere could be described more or less as ambivalent (there are both positive and negative facial or other expressions). In two classrooms the emotional atmosphere could be described as positive and only in one as neutral. The differences between the classrooms are thus large. Based on our data, it can be said that asking pupils to do drawings is a good and many-sided method to collect data about the collective emotional atmosphere of a teaching group.

Impact of Teacher’s Actions on Emotional Atmosphere in Mathematics Lessons in Primary School

“…We have earlier published our findings on the distribution of collective emotional atmosphere during third grade mathematics lessons in the classes of nine teachers and during fifth grade lessons in the classes of eight teachers, based on a summary of the holistic evaluation of the individual pupils' drawings (Laine et al, 2013;Laine et al, 2015). From this data, we chose those five classes which had had the same teacher from the third to the fifth grade.…”

“…(3) It is negative when all the drawn persons are sad or angry or think negatively, some can be neutral; (4) It is neutral when all facial or other expressions are neutral; and (5) It is unidentifiable when it is impossible to see any facial or other expressions. Examples of the analyses can be found in Laine et al (2013) and Laine et al (2015). In this study, we used only three categories, namely Positive (1), Negative 3, and Other, which was combined from the rest of the categories (2, 4, and 5).…”

“…In a three-year research project carried out by the Department of Teacher Education at the University of Helsinki in 2010-2013, primary school pupils' drawings about mathematics lessons were collected in one of the background studies. As part of an analysis of pupils' drawings, we have earlier looked at the kind of emotional atmosphere that dominated in these third and fifth graders' mathematics lessons (Laine, Näveri, Ahtee, Hannula & Pehkonen, 2013;Laine, Ahtee, Näveri, Pehkonen, Portaankorva-Koivisto & Tuohilampi, 2015). In the third grade classrooms, the emotional atmosphere was mainly positive and in the fifth grade, the atmosphere was more negative, although there were large differences between classrooms.…”

Puppet as a Pedagogical Tool: A Literature Review

“…Evans et al (2009) present three differentiable components of the classroom climate: academic (pedagogical and curricular elements of the learning environment), management (discipline styles for maintaining order), and an emotional component (affective interactions within the classroom). The emotional atmosphere includes psychological (level of an individual) and social (level of a community) dimensions (see Hannula 2011;Laine et al, 2015). The psychological dimension of the emotional atmosphere (level of an individual) looks at the individual experiences that occur in the class, such as emotions, thoughts, goals, beliefs, values, and motivational orientations (Hannula, 2011;Laine et al, 2015).…”

“…The emotional atmosphere includes psychological (level of an individual) and social (level of a community) dimensions (see Hannula 2011;Laine et al, 2015). The psychological dimension of the emotional atmosphere (level of an individual) looks at the individual experiences that occur in the class, such as emotions, thoughts, goals, beliefs, values, and motivational orientations (Hannula, 2011;Laine et al, 2015).…”