Help Children Regulate their Emotional States for Better Learning

Emotional states (fear, disgust, sadness, frustration, anger, anxiety, curiosity, joy) are created and regulated throughout our bodies and they take processing priority in our brains. Simply, put our emotional states play a key role in influencing our behaviors. Likening our emotional states to weather, Jensen (2003) emphasizes their unstable nature: “States create ‘weather’ conditions in our brains at every moment…this weather usually changes every few seconds” (p.1); however, unlike the weather, he maintains that we have some control over our own emotional states and the states of others.

This is good news for educators and parents. Through careful observation we can learn to read children’s emotional states which better positions us to help them move, if necessary, into a state more conducive to learning.  You might begin working towards this goal by carefully watching a single person and making a prediction about their emotional state; then, use the person’s behavior to check your prediction. Though there are numerous possible emotional states, Jensen has created a guide focusing on four common ones (fear, joy, sadness, and curiosity). For those less experienced in identifying and confirming others’ emotional states, learning to recognize these four basic emotions first, may be a good place to start.

Once you have identified the emotional state(s) of your learner(s), you can evaluate whether present states are likely to support the learning activity you aim to engage them in. Let’s say for instance, that you observe multiple stressed-out learners. Though low levels of stress, a corollary of fear, can be conducive to learning, too much anxiety can increase the likelihood of making mistakes and even kill brain cells (Jensen, 2003).

Though we are unlikely to be able to ameliorate extreme anxiety in others, and should not entirely avoid sparking small bouts of productive stress (i.e. “healthy concern”), we can and should attempt to prompt a change in state if we notice that students’ stress levels are beyond what we consider to be adaptive. A tight neck, shoulders, or back, lip biting, and rapid blinking are a few visible signs that can suggest someone is over-stressed. Students may also openly articulate that they are stressed-out, nervous, or anxious. Calming the group, or inspiring a state of well-being, may be required before moving them into a more intellectually curious emotional state.

Three emotional states Jensen maintains are conducive to learning are summarized below along with a few activities he suggests can prompt these adaptive states. If you find this information helpful, I urge you to explore his book, Tools for Engagement: Managing Emotional States for Learner Success, in its entirety.

The State of Well-Being: According to Jensen this state represents inner peace. He maintains that “it may be the best state to elicit from students” (p.101). To help learners enter a state of well-being you might:

• Play calm familiar music.
• Offer each learner a sincere compliment.
•  Lead students through a brief series of slow gentle stretches.

The State of Anticipation: This state encourages learners to want to know more. It is a higher energy state that can engage millions of neurons. To help learners enter a state of anticipation you might:

• Invite them to take several deep breaths with you.
• Use anticipatory language (e.g., In just a few seconds we will…; When the music stops be ready to…).
• Help learners set an achievable personal goal for the learning session.

The State of Enthusiastic Confidence: This state involves the learner a) acknowledging that she or he knows something valuable and b) taking pride in that knowledge. A state of confidence promotes feeling good about and being reassured by one’s accomplishments. Jensen maintains that this state is critical; how much students actually know “isn’t nearly as important as their perception of how much they know” (p. 118). To help learners move into a state of enthusiastic confidence you should:

• Build in lots of repetition. Incorporate a variety of learning experiences that enable students to actively practice that which you expect them to be able to do as much as needed (practice time will vary by person).
• Support learners in making their own decisions about the duration of their learning experiences. This can be accomplished by offering choices; some many need to repeat the same exercise. several times, while others will look for experiences that extend their learning after one exposure.
• Permit learners to engage with material in their preferred modality (e.g., visual, auditory, kinesthetic). This will better enable them to convince themselves that they really can do it!

 

Jensen, E. (2003). Tools for Engagement: Managing Emotional States for Learner Success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.