The Role of Responsive Classroom at Primary Day
Neil Mufson, Head of School

You probably know that Primary Day uses the research-based Responsive Classroom approach as the backbone of all we do at school. You may wonder, though, what Responsive Classroom is and why we use it as the foundation undergirding all the learning that goes on at PDS.

In a nutshell, Responsive Classroom pulls together from numerous research studies those practices that create the most successful, positive classroom and school culture. These practices build structure and predictability for our young learners, and this leads to positive learning attitudes and habits as well as the strongest student experience and achievement.

Responsive Classroom asks teachers to very mindfully construct a supportive, nurturing, and developmentally appropriate classroom environment in which all routines and activities are carefully modeled, implemented, and reinforced. Everything from morning meeting to recess, from group work to closing circle is intentionally facilitated in order to build a collaborative classroom in which our young learners develop confidence, competence, kindness, and voice. Students become reflective learners who gravitate to “just right” learning — that which builds on skills and knowledge they have developed and challenges them to reach for the next level. 

Responsive Classroom theory guides teachers in the creation of inviting, engaging, but not overly cluttered classrooms. Teachers use language that is also mindful, positive, calm, and warm. They break the day up into developmentally appropriate periods of time and activity that alternate between energizing and calming. A positive social and emotional climate is also modeled, reinforced, and fostered. There is a great emphasis on effort, practice, stretching, and growth. A positive, natural, and consistent discipline environment relies on modeling and age-appropriate natural consequences.

In the past few months, as I have visited the schools to which Primary Day sends its students, I have uniformly heard about how well prepared our children are for their next school experiences. Other schools frequently remark that they can “tell a PDS student” from their attitude towards learning and others, as well as their level of achievement and community-mindedness. This notable success is attributable to many factors, but chief amongst them are the exceptional talent and dedication of our faculty, the consistency with which they implement developmentally attuned practices such as those of Responsive Classroom, and the extraordinary partnership between home and school that is a hallmark of the Primary Day experience.