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Unit 5 - Learning Outcome 3: Understand own responsibility for maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment The aim of this assignment is to demonstrate an understanding of tutor responsibility for maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment. To maintain a safe environment the tutor should make learners aware of health and safety procedures and facilities such as awareness of fire evacuation procedure, smoking policy, complaints procedure, safeguarding, nearest toilets, library opening times, car parking, nursery and so on. The tutor should also inform learners of additional support available known as signposting. The tutor can provide a supportive learning environment by gaining pre-knowledge of their learner so that the tutor can select appropriate learning resources and incorporate differentiation strategies. This knowledge can also help tutors to get the most appropriate building, room and equipment for their learners, so that no one is excluded from the learning environment. Ground rules give a learner clear instructions of what is acceptable behaviour in the learning environment. The tutor should always establish ground rules at the beginning of the teaching course and revisit them regularly throughout the course. These are often called ‘Learning Contracts’ and this can include acceptable behaviour, teachers expectations, attendance and punctuality. “All students require boundaries and rules within which to work. These must be made clear early on in the course. Setting ground rules helps everyone know their limits.” (Gravells, 2007:7) There are many methods and approaches that the tutor could use to establish ground rules, three of which are teacher imposed, learner imposed or negotiated. The best way is to negotiate as this will make the learners feel like they are their rules and if any are missed the tutor can then bring in policies and procedures of the organisation, for example using a student handbook. By doing this the tutor is including organisation rules and this will help make the learners feel safe in their learning environment. When agreeing the ground rules consequences should also be discussed so that learner knows what will happen if the rules are broken. For example the three stage process a warning, action then removal. There are various ways a tutor could get learners to come up with their own ground rules. Using a flipchart will get learners to discuss and bond as a group and it also means when feeding back it can promote negotiation. Using hand-outs with some suggestions can promote learners into a discussion and by using this method tutors can embed tutors rules. However this way can feel like the tutor is imposing rules on to the learners. By using one of the methods learners are developing and promoting appropriate behaviour amongst themselves. Some ground rules that learners may come up with could be: time management, listening, mobile phones are on silent, respect and confidentiality. Learners should then agree the rules and sign them like a contract and then placing these in their learner files they can be revisited whenever the learner requires. Another idea for the tutor could be to have the ground rules on the wall, so that it is visible at all times for learners. Although ground rules are necessary they are not always sufficient and therefore need to be revisited regularly and managed to maintain a safe and supportive learning environment. This will encourage peer interaction and makes the learner feel physically safe as well as emotionally and intellectually safe. Word count 548 Reference Gravells, A (2007) Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector Exeter: Learning Matters. Bibliography Atherton, J (2005) Teaching and Learning:  Ground rules for the class http://www.learningandteaching.info/teaching/ground_rules.htm (Accessed 13/04/13) Marshall, B (2012) Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector BTEC Level 3 (11th Ed) Harlow: A Pearson Company.