Education Shortform
Emotions & Learning
In a nutshell.
A real trend in education today — and an important one — is to pay more attention to the mental health and wellbeing of students.
Learners can’t be at their best if they are stressed, anxious, or suffering from psychological disorders. Schools and universities are increasingly aware of the need to treat people as unique, complex, and in need of support. Better counselling is available than in the past, and this is also easier to access and less stigmatised (if you are a student and think you might be suffering from a mental health problem, contact your institution — they will be able to help).
Emotional factors also affect learning directly.
Consider what learners enjoy, what they are motivated to do, what makes them curious, and whether they are willing to stick in and persevere. All of these behaviours involve emotion. Getting emotions right in the classroom can mean that students remember more and are better motivated!
For more on these issues, check out a book by Marc Smith called ‘The Emotional Learner’.
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This is one of a series of shortform education articles. You can download a simplified summary of my ‘A–Z of Educational concepts’ here.
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