Raising Bright Sparks: Book 7 -Social and Emotional Issues

By Michele Juratowitch

For some students, parents and teachers, the beginning of an academic year means different people (teacher, students and parents); new content and skills to be learned and the experiences that any new academic year will bring. For some students, the start of the academic year signals a range of significant new experiences, related to a move to a different educational environment.

Whatever an individual’s situation, it is really about what is made of the opportunities available. The limbic system – made up of several neural structures, including the amygdala and hippocampus, responsible for a variety of functions – is involved in the individual’s experience of emotion. Located under the brain’s cortex, the limbic system experiences emotions and selects the memories to be stored. Neurologist and teacher, Dr Judy Willis, refers to the importance of the limbic system in learning.

New beginnings – in any form – can be wonderful as eustress (the positive form of stress, generated by a little surprise and novelty) engages, motivates and enables learning to take place. In order to continue learning, or as Judy Willis maintains: “to hold the gate to learning open”, prompting the release of various neurotransmitters that assist the process of learning, it is important to create positive experiences and a state of well-being for students by building feelings of trust, support and confidence.

In contrast, learning that takes place through neuronal transmission becomes blocked when the limbic system is overloaded by stress, anxiety, fear or boredom. Dendritic growth and the synaptic connections that are necessary for new neural pathways to be established is thus restricted, limiting higher order thinking and the learning that takes place when new information is transmitted to the memory centre.

Feelings are temporary and may include sensations of various kinds; whereas emotions begin with our thinking and self-talk, are stored in the hippocampus or memory centre of the brain and have a significant impact upon learning. The patterns or habits of thought that an individual establishes will influence emotions and learning. It all begins with thought. Thinking is a process that can be adjusted. ‘Metacognition’ is just a fancy way of saying that we can think about our thinking. This is sometimes illustrated with a ‘thought bubble’ inside another ‘thought bubble’. By developing self-awareness and becoming conscious of patterns of thought, we can each adjust our thinking, altering patterns of thought to establish positive emotions that influence productive learning.

There is much that individuals cannot control; however it is possible to become aware of patterns of thought and adjust habits of thinking to positively influence the process of learning. A little eustress is a positive precursor to great learning taking place but dystress (i.e. the negative, excessive form of stress) causes personal distress by overwhelming the brain with negative emotions that impair a student’s ability to learn

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michele Juratowitch
• Release date: Mar 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9780992288273

Michele Juratowitch

Michele Juratowitch is Director of Clearing Skies and supports gifted children, parents, institutions and organisations through a range of services, including counselling and education programs, professional development, project management, consultation, advocacy, research and resource development. Through her work with GERRIC, at UNSW, Michele lectured in postgraduate courses for teachers, delivered and managed programs for parents and students. She was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study the needs of gifted children. Michele presents at conferences, writes articles regularly, wrote Study: The Simple Facts, co-authored Make a Twist: Differentiating curriculum for gifted students and Releasing the Brakes for High-ability [e-mail]

Book preview

RAISING BRIGHT SPARKS

BOOK 7

Social and Emotional Issues

by

Michele Juratowitch

Published November 2020

Copyright © Michele Juratowitch 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or copied in any form without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by Gredbrook Pty Ltd

Contact Clearing Skies at [e-mail]

http://clearingskies.com.au

ISBN: 978-0-9922882-7-3

Social and Emotional Issues

CONTENTS

Introduction:- Positive Emotions for Learning

Personal Skills

Struggle to Success

Hazards

Seasons

A Flying Start

Sleep, Rest and Relaxation

Constant Change

Coping with Stress

Stress and Resilience

Building Resilience

Grit

Non-Cognitive Traits

Easing the Burden

Choosing the Path

Strength, Talent and Character

Finding Happiness

Positive Emotions for Learning

Caution to Confident Competence

Student Aspirations

Competing Motives

Shaping Time

Intelligence is the New Black

Questions

Perfectionist or Optimalist?

Fear

Failure and Optimism

Tenacity

Normal

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Reflection Time

Hopeful Thinking

Positive and Permanent

Making a significant difference

Screening Screen Time

Adventures in Cyberia

Author

Introduction:- Positive Emotions for Learning

For some students, parents and teachers, the beginning of an academic year means different people (teacher, students and parents); new content and skills to be learned and the experiences that any new academic year will bring. For some students, the start of the academic year signals a range of significant new experiences, related to a move to a different educational environment.

Whatever an individual’s situation, it is really about what is made of the opportunities available. The limbic system – made up of several neural structures, including the amygdala and hippocampus, responsible for a variety of functions – is involved in the individual’s experience of emotion. Located under the brain’s cortex, the limbic system experiences emotions and selects the memories to be stored. Neurologist and teacher, Dr Judy Willis, refers to the importance of the limbic system in learning.

New beginnings – in any form – can be wonderful as eustress (the positive form of stress, generated by a little surprise and novelty) engages, motivates and enables learning to take place. In order to continue learning, or as Judy Willis maintains: to hold the gate to learning open, prompting the release of various neurotransmitters that assist the process of learning, it is important to create positive experiences and a state of well-being for students by building feelings of trust, support and confidence.

In contrast, learning that takes place through neuronal transmission becomes blocked when the limbic system is overloaded by stress, anxiety, fear or boredom. Dendritic growth and the synaptic connections that are necessary for new neural pathways to be established is thus restricted, limiting higher order thinking and the learning that takes place when new information is transmitted to the memory centre.

Feelings are temporary and may include sensations of various kinds; whereas emotions begin with our thinking and self-talk, are stored in the hippocampus or memory centre of the brain and have a significant impact upon learning. The patterns or habits of thought that an individual establishes will influence emotions and learning. It all begins with thought. Thinking is a process that can be adjusted. ‘Metacognition’ is just a fancy way of saying that we can think about our thinking. This is sometimes illustrated with a ‘thought bubble’ inside another ‘thought bubble’. By developing self-awareness and becoming conscious of patterns of thought, we can each adjust our thinking, altering patterns of thought to establish positive emotions that influence productive learning.

There is much that individuals cannot control; however it is possible to become aware of patterns of thought and adjust habits of thinking to positively influence the process of learning. A little eustress is a positive precursor to great learning taking place but dystress (i.e. the negative, excessive form of stress) causes personal distress by overwhelming the brain with negative emotions that impair a student’s ability to learn.[back]

Personal Skills

Martin Seligman, Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, introduced his colleagues to the concept of Positive Psychology when, towards the end of the last century, he was appointed President of the American Psychological Association. When I attended a course in Positive Education conducted by Martin Seligman, he spoke highly of Angela Duckworth, a former student and colleague, who taught psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, an academic whose main field of research has become known as ‘Grit’.

The research they conducted together indicated that academic performance really depends upon students’ self-control or conscientiousness. As a result of their research, Seligman and Duckworth concluded that students’ failure to exercise self-discipline was a major reason for students failing to realise their potential. Together, they maintained that self-discipline was more closely correlated with academic success than the more traditional measure of intellectual ability: their Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Based upon this research, these academics maintained that self-discipline was more predictive of successful academic achievement than their research subjects’ level of intelligence. Duckworth describes ‘Grit’ as passion and perseverance applied to long-term goals. Variously described as ‘stamina’, ‘tenacity’, ‘sticking with your long-term goals’, grit has been identified as a critical characteristic of individuals who succeed in achieving goals.

The Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) in the US., has been investigating the role of Social and Emotional Learning in developing the skills that are needed in order for students to achieve academically. Various skills have been identified, including: Self-Awareness (i.e. knowing when personal feelings are making it difficult to focus), Responsible Decision-Making (i.e. thinking about what might happen before making a decision), Relationship Skills (i.e. getting along with classmates), Social-Awareness (i.e. learning from people with different opinions) and Self-Management (i.e. finishing tasks even if they are hard). These so-called ‘soft skills’ have been identified as positively impacting upon students’ personal thriving, while buffering risks and contributing to students’ academic success,

Sometimes referred to as ‘non-cognitive skills’, these social and emotional skills have been identified as critical to the achievement of academic grades. Camille Farrington, at the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, together with several colleagues, identified that test scores measure content knowledge and academic skills; however students’ academic results reflect these items in addition to ‘non-cognitive factors.’

The OECD report, Skills for Social Progress: The Power of Social and Emotional Skills