CLASSROOM CLIMATE AS A PART OF CONTEMPORARY DIDACTICAL APPROACHES

To achieve successful teaching in the 21st century school, teachers must change their didactical approaches in order to create a stimulating pro-activeness in a pleasant classroom climate for better development of student's achievement. A classroom climate in the present research means the combination of variables within a classroom that work together to promote learning in a comfortable environment. In the present research, classroom's climate will be evaluated, and what kind of influence different didactical approaches have on the atmosphere in the classroom. The classroom climate of two 6th grade classes at a lower secondary school will be studied: a class with traditional methods of teaching and a class with innovative methods, as regards searching for ideas, monitoring the students' progress and giving instructions. Students in both classes filled out a questionnaire with thirteen statements, which included three dimensions of a classroom atmosphere: personal relationship, contribution to the class and research work. The results confirmed a change in the perception of the classroom climate, depending on different innovative didactical approaches. The values of individual dimensions are higher in the class with innovative methods, which was confirmed with a better atmosphere in this class and an increased activeness of the students. When introducing changes in an educational process, it is necessary to establish a positive classroom atmosphere.