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Exploring The Negative Effects of a Poor Classroom Environment

to Grade 11 Students Academic Concentration

(The Adverse Impact of an Inadequate Classroom Environment

on Students’ Physical, Mental, and Social Well-Being)

Pierre Jandricks A. Nicolas

Sto. Niño Academy Incorporated

English for Academic and Professional Purposes

Mrs. Daryl Joy C. Moral

November 22, 2024

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Adverse learning atmospheres can be damaging to students’ physical, social, and mental

development. Headaches, or eye strain may all be physically uncomfortable and cause the head,

body or eyes to become tensed, which interferes with focus and work efficiency. Losing sense of

motivation and cognitive engagement can lead to increased anxiety or stress in students due to an

uninspired or messy workplace. Because of poor environment, students are unable to be attentive

and active in their work. Emotions of rejection and anxiety, neglect and low self-worth can also

be induced by such a lack of social support and absence of inclusion. These social repercussions

also hinder students’ social development and their overall well-being. Therefore, a poor

classroom environment is said to affect learning and students’ growth which ultimately places a

lot of emphasis on the need for a cheerful and supportive environment during the learning

process. The purpose of the topic is so that students can explore the negative effects of a poor

classroom environment to their physical, mental and social well-being. With this purpose, not

only will it help students but also help the teachers to lessen their stress and hassle of their daily

lives. It will also help students understand why they should not study or learn in a poor

classroom environment knowing the negative effects they will get if they do. And this essay will

cover all the holistic effects that a poor classroom environment will bring to a student. Like poor

posture, eye strains and many more under physical attributes. And if we are talking about the

mental well being of a student, it can affect they're focus or concentration on certain subjects and

like mathematics and english, they can also lose motivation due to the bad or poor classroom

environment they are studying or learning in. And in the social attributes, the students can

experience peer pressure due to the bad or poor classroom environments the school deliver or

give them. And also, The Negative Effects of a Substandard Classroom Environment on

Students' Physical, Mental, and Social Health is the Thesis Statement of the essay.

The impact of a poor classroom environment can be classified into three things, physical,

mental, and social. And first on the list is the negative effects on the students physical well

being. In physical effects, we have 2 main points, seating arrangements and other effects that

affect the physical body of a student. First to discuss is how seating arrangement affect the

students
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academical concentration. A classroom seating arrangement is the physical layout of a

classroom, including the placement of chairs, tables, and other materials. It's a key part of

classroom management and is usually decided on at the start of the school year. A study

investigated the effect of changing the seating arrangement (Clusters Vs. Single Desks) on

logical reasoning, creativity, and theory of mind in children attending primary school. It also

explored individual characteristics like gender, loneliness, and popularity as potential moderators

in the seating

arrangement's impact on learning (Tobia et al., 2020). In this statement by Tobia, we can see

that a study has been done on investigating what are the effect of simply changing the the seating

arrangement from clusters to singles desks. And with that we can assume that when the seating

arrangment is in clusters the concentration of the students is far more off than when seated in

single desks. This study showed that the girls gave a higher level of concentration when seated in

singles desks than seated in clusters. And with that information, we can say that seating

arrangements can negativley affect students academical concentration in school. According to

(Rogers K., 2020) the data found using the participation tally charts and the pre‐ and post‐test

scores, the horseshoe layout resulted in the most participation during the whole group lessons

and the highest percentage increase from pre‐ to post‐test scores. Here we can see that the

horshoe layout was the most effective but they also tested other layouts but the horseshoe layout

still worked best, even more evidence that seating arrangements can actually and really affect the

acadamic performance of a student. Now we are gonna move how physical things affect us

physically like lighting and acoustics. Classroom lighting is important for student performance

and well-being. It should be designed to provide uniform brightness, reduce glare, and be

dimmable. Classroom lighting affects cognition, as proven in terms of academic achievement,

attention rates, working speed,productivity, and accuracy among other reported effects. LED

lighting, inparticular, appears to be the most suitable to improve psychological and cognitive

processes in the classroom (Jordi et al., 2020). Here we can see that good lighting is equal to

good productivity and academical concentration, so that means that if your classroom

environment has poor lighting, that equals to poor academic achievement, attention rates,
working speed,productivity, and accuracy. This just explains how such a small thing like lighting

in a classroom can affect this much in our academic achievements, attention rates, working

speed ,productivity, and accuracy. Moving on to acoustics, Let’s break down exactly what we

mean by classroom acoustics. In basic terms, it refers to the sound quality and noise levels in an

educational space. The quality of acoustics has a significant impact on the intelligibility of

speech and the ability of students to comprehend information. Essentially, classroom acoustics

play an important role in how students learn. Astolfi et al. (2019) The findings of this pilot

study, which involved 326 first graders in their own classrooms, suggest that long reverberation

times, which are associated with poor classroom acoustics as they generate higher noise levels

and degrade speech intelligibility, bring pupils to a reduced perception of having fun and being

happy with themselves. Here we can see that the students or pupils gets less happy and less fun

when the acoustic is poor in their classroom environment. This just explains that even acoustics

in classroom environment is very important. Now we are gonna go and move on to how

temperature can affect the students’ academical concentration. Classroom temperature is the

temperature of a classroom, which can have a significant impact on student learning and well-

being. It can affect our learning experience, comfort, health and teacher efficiency. A

relationship between classroom temperature and learning outcomes was developed. It predicts

the effects of changing the classroom temperature on the speed at which schoolwork and

psychological tests are performed. The relationship predicts that reducing temperature by 10 K,

from 30°C to 20°C, would increase the performance of schoolwork by 20% (Wargocki et al.,

2019). According to this research, temperature in a classroom can still affect the academical

concetration of students. You can see that in this study, the better the temperature, the better the

performance. But of course if vice versa, the worse the temperature management is, the worse

the students’ performance will be.

Moving on, we are now going to tackle what negative mental effects a poor classroom

environment will bring to students.A poor classroom environment can negatively impact

students' mental well-being by fostering feelings of stress, anxiety, and frustration. It can hinder

cognitive processes such as concentration, memory retention, and problem-solving. The lack of a
supportive or organized setting may lead to reduced motivation and a diminished sense of self-

worth, ultimately affecting academic performance. Moreover, negative classroom conditions can

increase feelings of isolation or helplessness, undermining students' confidence and emotional

resilience. Over time, these mental effects can contribute to a cycle of disengagement and

emotional distress, making it difficult for students to thrive both academically and socially.

Classroom environment is not only an important academic learning setting, but it also serves as a

motivational and developmental context for youth development (Wang, Degol, et al., 2020). It

explains here that the classroom plays a crucial role in your learning and success, not just

academically but also inspirationally and personally. It serves as a mechanism where learners not

only acquire knowledge but also refine key life skills including interpersonal communication,

critical thinking and emotional management. Expressive as well as a supportive environment

inspires motivation and hence the students energetically participate in their lessons chasing them

dreams like scholar pilgrims. It provides room for students to develop confidence, foster an

inclusive environment and cultivate a growth mindset that influences their approach towards

challenges. Rogers (2020) A positive classroom environment is proven to help students to

improve or encourage learning in any situation. A positive classroom environment will uplift a

student's learning experience, thereby creating a friendly, engaging, and favorable setting for

both academic and emotional growth. Such a classroom encourages students to participate

actively, take risks, and develop love for the act of learning. Positive classroom environments

have clear expectations and respectful interactions and provide feelings of safety in which

students can focus on the task without judgment or fear of failure. This gives students a feeling

of autonomy and a sense of competence in what they are doing and helps them to ask better

questions, engage deeply in the content, and take responsibility for learning. On the other hand, a

negative or mismanaged classroom environment can elicit quite the opposite effect and tend to

hinder learning. This can give rise to disorganization, disruptions, or a lack of support, which can

give rise to stress and anxiety, and subsequently distract a student's concentration. Under such an

environment, students will feel disengaged, unsupported, and disconnected from such an

atmosphere; consequently, their motivation dwindles and so does the ability to perform in class.

A loss of structure or respect within a negative classroom causes students to withdraw or not take

active participation in learning. Classroom environment and level of motivation have a direct

relation (Hafızoglu & Yerdelen,2019). a harmonious environment can bring about

a conducive atmosphere amongst and between the classroom members – student groups and

teachers, while a bad environment can cause a disruptive behavior, which would disorient the

teachers’ behavior and decrease the level of motivation.

Now we are gonna move to the next and last topic of our essay, the negative social

effects because of poor classroom environment. The social environment within a classroom

significantly influences students' learning experiences, especially in the context of English

language learning. Here are some insights into teacher-student and peer interactions within this

environment. The interactions between teachers and students not only aid in learning but also

help build confidence, alertness, and active participation among students. These interactions

make the class a more engaging and funfilled experience, which is particularly crucial in the

digital era where online learning often lacks these interpersonal dynamics (Joshi, 2023). In this

statement we see the positive effects of good communication between both parties. But if we go

vice versa we will see the negative sides of it like, without proper communication every thing

that will contrast that statement will happen. Peer interaction is a crucial part of the learning

process, especially in the context of language learning. It serves as a pedagogical tool in

communicative and online classes, facilitating group activities and discussions among students.

Through peer interaction, students can enhance their understanding and application of the

English language in a practical, interactive manner (Sato, 2022). Peer interaction is another

strong source for second-language learning. It helps students practice and apply their language

skills in authentic conditions. Co-activities, like group discussions, debates, or project work, help

the students to interact more closely with one another, using the target language to communicate,

share ideas, and solve problems, in both the traditional classroom as well as an online classroom.

This active engagement further cements the learning of language through the encouragement of

pupils to try new words, grammatical structures, and phrases in a nonjudgmental relaxed

atmosphere. In addition, peer interactions aid the development of social and interpersonal skills,

for instance, listening, negotiation, and teamwork, that help children communicate more

effectively. Students coming together to accomplish specific tasks help them learn other people's

perspectives, gain a sense of belonging, and foster an interest in furthering their language

learning efforts. Ultimately, peer interaction creates a richer, more interactive learning

environment, where students can apply language skills in practical contexts, leading to better
retention and more meaningful learning outcomes. That is why rich classroom environment is

good and poor classroom environment is bad. You can see how great it is to have a great

environment cause in contrast, a poor classroom environment will have the exact opposite effects

of the ones discussed

This essay discusses the negative impacts of a poor classroom environment on students'

physical, mental, and social well-being, emphasizing how such an environment can hinder

academic performance and overall development. A sub optimal classroom environment-

including poor seating, lighting, acoustics, and temperature-can have considerable impacts on

students' ability to concentrate physically. For example, poorly arranged seating settings,

including clusters of desks, create distractions and lower focus. Poor lighting and acoustics

reduce attention, academic achievement, and productivity. Uncomfortable temperatures have bad

effects on cognitive performance and overall comfort, meaning that less attention is paid to work.

The psychological effect of unmanaged classrooms on students may be exacerbated by increased

stress, anxiety, and frustration. Poor or unengaging environments can lead to decreased

motivation, hinder cognitive processes such as memory retention and problem-solving, and

lower students' self-esteem. Over time, these psychological effects can result in disengagement,

emotional distress, and a cycle of poor academic performance. Social dynamics in the classroom

are also related to the environment. Ineffective teacher-student and peer relationships can create

an isolative feel and hinder social development. On the other hand, positive peer interaction

encourages collaboration, confidence, and communication skills, which are very significant

aspects of language acquisition and social development. However, in a poor classroom setting,

students suffer from peer influence, social rejection, and inability to have meaningful

relationships with their peers. Conclusion Being sent to a school where the classroom

environment is negative affects students' physical, mental, as well as social development through

reduced motivation, low academic performance, and emotional stress. A supportive and positive

atmosphere is the classroom climate under which learning, wellbeing and growth take place. The

essay seeks to make emphasis that the conducive learning environment realized between both the

student and teacher directly relates to the institution's development and success of the students.
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