ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some of the beliefs held by the teachers and relates these to their styles of teaching, and considers the broader issue of the prevailing ethos of their classrooms. It looks at teacher talk and pupil talk from classrooms with this positive ethos, where there was a good ‘feel’ within the classroom, and discusses examples and incidents that would appear to promote, control and maintain the atmosphere within the classroom. Mrs Stevenson’s comments frequently referred both to her pupils’ need for success and their emotional vulnerability, and her classroom practice showed some ambivalence. Mrs Law was aware that she reacted to pupils’ behaviour more strongly than many other teachers dealing with special educational needs and said that she felt comfortable in doing so because she treated her own children in the same way. The chapter concludes with a discussion of classroom ethos and its role in facilitating learning, by engendering confidence, value and respect for all pupils.
