ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors highlight some of the important issues to be considered when thinking through the psychological and physical environment and suggest ways to adapt teaching. They describe Abraham Maslow’s theoretical framework in the context of small group teaching (SGT) and focus on the following issues: stereotype threat, chilly climates, implicit bias, imposter syndrome, mindset theory, and the physical environment. The goals of SGT are optimized if students are physically, psychologically and socially comfortable and are spatially and temporally organized in appropriate ways. There are some obvious things relating to the physical environment of the SGT such as bad lighting, bad heating and bad acoustics; it needs to be a safe space in good repair; there has to be access for all. If one of the goals of SGT is to get people to talk, clearly the number of potential conversationalists involved will influence the degree to which this can be achieved for any particular individual.
