How Educators Can Enhance Learning and Retention by Reducing Stress

Many times I have been told that a class is low ability and cannot learn, only to be amazed at the ability of the children to understand the concepts being taught and explain it back in their own words. Yet what I do isn't difficult - in many ways it's almost embarrassingly obvious. That said, having been asked to contributed to the conversation on reducing classroom stress, this article is my heartfelt response.

To start with, a relaxed teaching environment accelerates learning because the human mind is more able to learn when feeling loved and secure. Classroom stress lowers when we, as educational practitioners, remain cognisant that our students are children and youth. When young people are greeted warmly, like a loving parent would, positive changes begin; conversely, when greeted by a practitioner who has a warring or embattled mindset, the opposite occurs. My personal approach is to let the class filter into the room with a warm greeting and let them know to get themselves ready as I am getting myself ready. The students are not expected to be quiet until the lesson is introduced. There is no lining up, no dominating posture. When children see a blend of warmth with confidence and competence they relax into a dynamic more like the parent-child relationship and the educator truly is in “loco parentis.” In this environment jokes and reassuring interactions between teacher and pupil are natural, cheekiness is an opportunity to bond (instead of a challenge to the authority of the teacher). Though the expectations for students to be on task and listen when asked to remains, silence as a measure of effective classroom management is absent; it is replaced by an understanding that children will talk and wiggle. In such an environment students gain trust in their educator, a key factor in learning, knowing that time to move and speak (to behave naturally) are built into the day. However, beyond being a warm practitioner, lets look at some more concrete ideas for stress reduction in learners.

In test taking and assessments I always remind students that the test is a measure of the effectiveness of their learning and that learning is a responsibility shared by the student and teacher. Students are reminded that the paper will be used to figure out how better to help the learning process and to identify concepts in need of further development. It is important for students to know that learning is something that happens when the dynamic between teacher and learner is right. In an absence of fear and reproach learning is faster and information retention is better, lessons seem to go more quickly and kids genuinely look forward to the next lesson. That's when learning becomes collaborative.

Stress can be greatly reduced by the teaching methodology itself, and as a science specialist, I will use science teaching as my example. I always start with the concept relevant to the lesson; children as young as 3 - 6 can understand such concepts. Once this level of understanding is triggered, even children with low self-confidence start to feel empowered and begin to listen for the next part. Also, given the neural map we build in the brain when effective learning occurs, the memories formed are stronger and more meaningful. The teaching is then delivered in layers of what the students would have understood at different ages – bringing as many of them as possible on the learning journey. As a final stage new vocabulary is used, introduced in a friendly way, meanings explained. Once the class has had a chance to ask questions they are asked to write on the topic in their own words (key words may be provided), draw diagrams, or generally be creative about showing what they have understood. As such the children are given the opportunity to cement their learning and the teacher can check for any misunderstandings in need of a new explanation. Much learning stress comes from the fear of not understanding, of appearing foolish, and this stress left unchecked leads to many students deploying a highly effective but ultimately damaging method of reducing such fears – to not try, not listen, to resist the teacher. As such we can see that negative behaviours in students are stress responses, and are a direct measure of the effectiveness of the teaching, the appropriateness of the learning environment and/or other needs of the child being left unmet.

Expectations of children and youth must take into account what the human brain can accomplish; when it comes to focusing about twenty minutes is the productive maximum, though it varies between individuals. When breaks such as watching a video, a question/answer session or a chance to move around the room with a purpose are embedded into the lesson, learning is accelerated and retention of information improved. The brain needs time to digest new ideas before moving on. Such teaching shows greater respect for the students and greater professionalism on the part of the teacher. We are not simply “repeaters of facts,” but professionals with a focus on pedology. We understand that brains are not computers capable of constant “input,” that learning is an interactive process and that brains function differently when a person feels loved and accepted compared to states of stress and fear. The relaxed brain will keep on working on an intriguing problem even when the child (or even adult) is at play – hence the phenomena of “sudden ideas/brainwaves” when otherwise distracted. Thus we can start to value the place of play and sport in the learning curriculum beyond the requirements of weight management and muscular development.

A lower stress environment emphasizes helping children to understand both their own emotions and those of others, not as separate lesson, but during normal interactions and modeled by empathic adults. Such positive role modelling becomes followed by pupils – their behaviour becoming naturally calmer and conducive to a learning environment. When thinking of the learning environment the educator must keep in mind that children have different needs from adults and different needs from one another. Whilst the middle aged adult may enjoy sitting for hours, the child needs to move – and so it is with their needs in mind that our programs of learning should be developed. Children feel less stress when they are enabled to follow their passions as learners rather than feeling that they must “ingest” and “regurgitate” certain facts to be valued a learner and warrant praise. The same is true of our species throughout life – work is stress when forced and passion when pursued. When educators hold the 'reins' of learning too tightly we induce a stress state, robbing the learner of the chance to feel the natural drive of following a passion.

When we reduce stress, bullying within the classroom reduces also. When we teach warmly and with empathy we show the right role model and that is always going to be more important that what we say. If we teach in a “crime and punishment” methodology rather than seeking to understand and solve the problems of children (using our understanding of their psychological and physiological needs), we lock the entire school environment into a negative cycle. When the school operates as a functional family we are in a virtuous cycle of self esteem improving, independent learning, understanding of emotions, creativity and respect for all. With inclusion education, which understands group dynamics in children, we abandon ideas of “bully and victim” in favour of empathy education. We acknowledge that the ability to bully lies in us all but we can all make better choices and feel better about ourselves; we acknowledge the genuine hurt and feelings of harmed child in a way that starts to heal their sense of self worth and importance as a member of the “family” that is the school. Students learn how to ensure their classmates feel included and their sense of being a good person is reinforced.

Nutrition is a major factor in child stress and learning in deprived areas. Children arrive at school hungry or on a breakfast of sugared pop. These stressed out and hypoglycemic children enter the push and pull of sugar crashes and spikes, unaware of why their moods are swinging. They have poor concentration and over time come to see themselves as stupid, the negative cycle of such poor care harming their self esteem and often leading to hostility (especially in boys). For such children a wholesome breakfast with adults to listen to any issues at home or school is vital, these children need to feel loved and cared for above all other considerations. We are entire beings, physical and mental heath combined, and only when we put that understanding into education will we make huge leaps for the better. We would not expect a hungry dog to attend an obedience class or a malnourished bird to fly. We need to nurture the deprived child or youth before any level of expectations are fair.

Children are educated by everything they see, hear and feel; evolution has made us hyper-alert to our environments even when we appear not to be. Our students can be stressed by hearing the media talk of climate issues or geopolitics; they may be stressed by popular culture encouraging premature sexualisation; they may be stressed by violence on television both real and fiction. In our current political climate muslim and immigrant children will be stressed by the politics of our times either subliminally, consciously or both. In short we need to be mindful of the definition of stress – to be worried about things we are powerless to change – and calm children with ways the situations/problems can be resolved.

A stance of praising children who spot a mistake their teacher has made demonstrates that we all make errors, that it's normal and indeed a wonderful learning opportunity. In addition our reaction demonstrates emotional robustness and mental flexibility (important to mental health). It is healthy to laugh at the self and move on, modelling is effective teaching. Relationships can be likened to mirrors - what we give out is reflected back. I've been in schools where negatively talking of students (with use of expletives) had become normalized by staff, and when I teach my lower stress way in the same school the students become excited to enter the classroom and say, “Yay, we have the nice teacher,” “Lessons go faster with you,” and “I understand what you say, I don't understand my usual teacher.” This reaction isn't simply a nice bi-product – it is a sign that they have trust, are more relaxed and ready to learn. The students have realized that they can learn when the teaching is appropriate and are empowered.

And finally, but by no means least, when combating stress in children we need to acknowledge the issues of stress in teachers. Most communication is via body language, tone of voice – subliminal cues. The presence of more learning helpers in the classroom reduces stress, as such volunteering should be encouraged in all levels of schooling. Team teaching benefits staff and pupils, modelling positive interactions, enhancing camaraderie. Only a well rested teacher who teaches with love and passion, warmth and a drive to help children can achieve the task children and youth need for positive development.

To quote Alexander Den Heijer, “When a flower fails to bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.” Let's fix the learning environment, the kids are amazing.