Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Why focus on the negative?
So in the powerpoint yesterday I posed a question: Why do you think researchers started with the negative emotions first? And do you think it is important to consider the positive emotions? If we could really understand, completely understand the implications of negative emotions and how they work, would it be important to know about positive emotions? Love to hear your thoughts.
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BTW: When a question is posed in the lecture materials- please feel free to post a response on the blog. It isn't up to the discussion leader to start this. Anyone can. Remember everyone needs to participate regularly on the blog each week. Review the syllabus for grading information about participation and ask me if you have any questions.
ReplyDeleteThank you for clearing some things up!
DeleteWith regard to negative emotion and how it affects the learning process, I think that researchers started here because of negative emotion's ability to impair thinking. While positive emotion also plays a role in learning, I don't think it has the ability to shut down a student's thought process the way that negative emotion does. When a student experiences a true feeling of anxiety or feels threatened, those negative feelings consume the mind and leave no room for the student to successfully learn or participate in class. For example, if a student doesn't feel safe in the classroom then he or she is most likely concentrating more on the negative feelings being fostered by feeling unsafe rather than the material he or she should be learning.
ReplyDeleteThis probably doesn't sound very scientific, but what I am trying to say is that negative feelings create thoughts that "take up space in the brain", narrow the thought process to focus only on those feelings, and ultimately impair the thinking and learning process. On the other hand, positive thoughts don't impair thinking and learning - they enhance it. I know that when I feel anxious or stressed, those thoughts and feelings consume my mind and seem to block my productivity. I don't want to think of anything but those negative feelings and what bad things might happen because of them. So while I think that positive emotions are definitely important in the classroom and in the learning process, I think that negative emotions create much larger issues that can ultimately impair student learning.
I believe researchers focused on negative emotions first because those emotions tend to hinder the learning process. People of all ages experience stress and anxiety. In turn, these emotions can create barriers in brain pathways. It was stated in the text that high levels of stress can contribute to students not being able to access their working memory. I see this in students often. When they become confused or unsure of a lesson, they have a difficult time recalling information. Negative emotion limits what students can learn. By learning more about these emotions, researchers and educators can try to create ways to maximize learning for students in the classroom. Negative emotions, such as stress or anxiety, are associated with the fear of the unknown. If a student is not comfortable in their learning environment, the negative emotions will limit the amount of information a student will retain. If students do not feel safe in certain situations, it does not allow them to tap into their ability to think critically. By focusing on the negative emotions, researchers are able to better understand ways to cope with these emotions and maximize learning in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I think that it is equally important to understand the effects of positive emotions in the classroom. Zadina stated that positive emotions “drive learning”. By studying the positive emotions, and its effects on the brain, researchers and educators can create safe, secure learning environments in the classroom. Using positive techniques, such as giving students more control in the classroom, allows the students a chance to create happy learning experiences. Positive experiences lead to happy feelings towards learning. When students feel safe and happy in their learning environment, they are more likely to be able to cope with stress, think critically, and become motivated.
Ashley, I agree that studying positive emotions in the classroom gives teachers the opportunity to create a safe place for the students. I think that it is so important that students go into a classroom thinking that this is a safe and enjoyable environment. I think it makes the students more likely to succeed and participate. If the students are harboring negative emotions and the classroom environment feels unsafe or stressful to the students, the students are much less likely to succeed in learning new material. I also think that it is important for teachers to look at situations through the eyes of the students. Situations that may not seem stressful or likely to cause anxiety to a teacher may not seem the same to a student. I think teachers should always strive to make the students feel safe; however, I also think that challenging the students is very important. If students are in a safe and comfortable learning environment, they will have a positive attitude toward challenging or difficult problems rather than feeling like they will fail.
DeleteHonestly I think focusing on the positive emotions is more important than focusing on the negative ones. I think it is important to understand why students may have negative emotions, but in my experience it is more important to focus on the positive. During undergrad I took a course on leadership and one of the biggest components that I took away from that class was emotional intelligence and how it is more important to focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses. I think this can be applied to students. Encouraging students to get better at what they are good at will not only improve them even more, but it will also boost their self esteem. When on the other hand, if a student tries and fails over and over again at something that he or she is not good at then it brings him or her down and can make that student feel like a failure in turn making him or her feel inadequate.
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe that even the most reclusive and unwilling students will respond better to positive reinforcement rather than constant negativity from his or her teachers.
Shelli - I like the idea of focusing on strengths. Have you read any of the StregthsFinder books by Tom Rath? They cover the same concepts that you mentioned, that we need to know our strengths and then work on improving those instead of always focusing on our deficit areas. It comes with a fun quiz too which gives you a list of your top strengths.
DeleteI am finding that my thinking aligns with Ashley’s. I have been thinking a lot about this over the course of the week. I have some incredibly challenging boys this year with a lot of emotions going on. It manifests as anger, but after our readings I am starting to think it might be rooted in fear. Either way I have spent countless hours this week talking with coworkers and pondering how to help these struggling students. I can honestly say my students who are happy and high functioning get a fraction of that emotional energy and time. I think that researchers spent more time initially studying negative emotion because it was where the demand was. Research has been targeting negative disorders for much longer than positive behaviors because people with negative emotions want help. They are the ones reaching out. However, the tide is turning and we had started focusing more on the individuals who are doing well to see how we can use that to help students who are struggling. I like what Shelli said about focusing on strengths. I think if we spend all of our time dwelling on our negative emotions they overwhelm us and we can’t move forward.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear about the students that are dealing with such fear that it is effecting their learning. Maybe if there was a way that the positive students could somehow encourage these negative students to not let fear effect them so much. I think kids need encouragement not only from their teachers and parents, but their peers too. I actually just remembered that I once had a teacher that had a quote of the day and a different student would read it every day and we would discuss it as a class for a couple minutes. They were always encouraging quotes and it was a great and uplifting way to start a class and everyone always had good insights to share with the class.
DeleteIn my opinion, researchers started with negative emotions first out of a good intention of wanting to cure all these overwhelming emotions such as stress and fear that really do effect a person throughout all phases of life. I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to fix these problems in our lives, and I think it is often our first instinct. However, I think sometimes we can get so fixated on fixing things out of our control in order to decrease stress. However, it never really comes to mind that maybe I can't take away the stress by fixing the problem, but instead I can look at the problem another way and look for better outlooks in life to deal with the problem alternatively. I think it is SO important to have a positive outlook in not only life situations, but in school too. So far in my short time of student teaching, I have seen a number of students become so defeated and overwhelmed at the start of learning something new that they give up and don't want to try. I have even observed teachers preface something with "now today's lesson will be really hard" trying to get students to pay more attention. However, I immediately noticed students give up before they even gave a decent attempt at the assignment. I think prefacing a lesson with "today's lesson is going to be fun and you will learn a lot, so you need to open your mind and be prepared to use your brain" is a lot better than "today's lesson will be hard". Just witnessing how something as simple as wording can effect a child's emotions makes me realize how important this research is. Even if they new everything about negative emotions, I think looking at the positive emotions side of things will give some new or different knowledge to researchers and educators.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your comments about the way a teacher prefaces a difficult lesson. I think that when students hear "it's going to be really hard," they shut down before they even begin. They become scared to take a risk rather than just jump in and explore the material. It's amazing how such a simple statement can be so powerful as to how the students approach new material.
DeleteI think it is always easier to look at the negative, as a society we have kind of been conditioned to it. The common question when giving positive and negative information is “Do you want the good news first or the bad news?” People tend to opt for the bad news first because I believe it is more enticing then the good news or we want to show that in a bad situation there is always hope to make it better. I believe the researchers started with the negative emotions first to show us where the root of our students negative emotions often stem from. With the understanding of knowing what creates negative emotions in our students and in ourselves we are able to then try and prevent these stressful situations as much as possible to prevent these negative emotional reactions. We have to realize that many times we as teachers tend to be the source of our students negative emotional responses such as increasing anxiety without knowing we are actually contributing. As a society we often search for finding a solution to the problem we are facing when we really should be looking at ways to prevent said problems from accruing. Of course in many cases this is not possible as the text mentioned in the case of someone who is suffering from PSTD.
ReplyDeleteIt is very hard to solve problems when we are unaware of the source. I thought that starting the chapter with negative emotions then moving to positive emotions was helpful because I was able to pinpoint areas I need to change as far as my teaching style is concerned. Understanding the impact of a positive environment can assist our students in the learning process. I believe it is important to understand the implications of positive emotions as it is with negative emotions. This way we are able to teach our students that some stress and anxiety can be used in a positive way to promote higher-order thinking and a drive for learning. Students need to understand that they are in a safe environment that promotes searching for positives before negatives.
Morgan Walker
Meredith,
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about defeated students. I think so often that I spend time targeting the defeated attitude, rather than getting him focused on something he can do, something positive.
I agree with what a lot of people have shared on here, that as a society we are constantly looking for ways to cure problems. I thought that the TED talk posted on this week's Moodle was a great perspective on how health and wellness topics are actually often more geared towards "illness" topics.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 3 Zadina lists "events" that are linked to high stress and PTSD, one of which is poverty. At the schools where I work over 95% of our students qualify for free or reduced meals. Obviously circumstances are very different for each child, but I think it's important to know how our students' out-of-school experiences can impact their in-school experiences, and what we can do to provide a learning environment that considers all of these factors.
The prominence of research on negative emotions as opposed to positives ones is not surprising to me. I believe the same is probably true with anything that is considered 'abnormal.' Students with normal frontal-lobe function and a propensity for self-regulation can typically make it through school. They can make average to above-average grades and can graduate.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the research and spending on different ends of the spectrum. According to Time Magazine, schools in the United States spends over $8 billion dollars educating students with intellectual disabilities. Alternately, our country only spends $800,000 on educating gifted children. Gifted students can typically get through school, make average or good grades, and graduate without incident, just like positive-emotion children.
As a teacher of Talented students, I find it more difficult to find research pertaining to teaching Gifted and Talented students than to find research on students living with disabilities. In watching the TED Talk with Shawn Achor (which made me feel positively awesome!), I feel that a multitude of positive emotion research is absolutely necessary. The 'Happiness Advantage' theory should be a call to action for scientists to research best practices for positivity as this allows the brain to be productive and rewarding!
-Jamie Hipp
I find myself agreeing with Amy’s point on the subject. Negative emotions are absolutely detrimental to the student’s ability to focus and learn. Her explanation of negative thoughts taking up space in the brain reads a lot like Zadina’s views on anxiety on p. 67. In my limited experience, students who experience negative emotions are less likely to focus on the work at hand. One example of this last semester occurred when a student was misbehaving, causing a disruption in class. After being corrected several times the student became upset and completely shut down. The situation was remarkably similar to the one described in the opening paragraph of Zadina ch. 3. As I began to read that chapter I hoped to find some answer to the question, “What else can I do?”
ReplyDeleteIn regard as to why researchers focus on negative emotion I would think it’s simply easier to gauge than positive emotions. A student might look completely docile and a teacher would have no way of knowing if the student is listening calmly, enjoying the subject matter, or if he/she is even paying attention at all. While if a student is not enjoying a lesson, their discontent is more likely to manifest itself in their disposition or disruptive behavior such as I experienced last semester. Maybe I’m missing the point entirely.
I also find it interesting what Zadina says about anxiety causing inward awareness (67). This is the only type I was aware of before I read the chapter. I never considered anxiety to be a positive for test taking. It never seemed to help me but it’s hard to be objective.