“There is nothing either good or bad, but
thinking makes it so.”
--W. Shakespeare, Hamlet
Getting savvy about the role of
emotions in learning.
Mary Lynn Johnson
Harris County Department of Education
TSSSA—March 2006
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Select one word to describe your
emotional state right now
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Alive
Confident
Delighted
Empowered
Enthusiastic
Inspired
Reflective
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Overwhelmed
Confused
Conflicted
Discouraged
Frantic
Rushed
Worried
Session Content
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Impact of emotions on learning
4 Emotional states frequently in classrooms
Influencing emotional states
Emotional Intelligence
Categories of Emotions
Fear
 Joy/pleasure/happiness
 Surprise
 Disgust
 Anger
 Sadness
(Rozin, P., 1997)
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Generous
Antsy
Dislike
Numb
Startled
Disturbed
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Antagonistic
Manic
Flabbergasted
Thrilled
Melancholy
Shy
Emotions…
(Eric Jensen, Teaching with the Brain in Mind, 2005)
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Constitute the passion for learning
Help orchestrate our attentional priorities
Support either persistence or retreat
Are sources of information about the outside
world
Emotions, Cont.
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Evoke necessary empathy, support or fear
Associate our learning with either pain or
pleasure
Help us make meaning out of our learning,
work and lives
Push the pursuit of rewarded behavior
Emotions, Cont.
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Improve social problem solving
Provide incentives for desired social behavior
Allow us to enjoy and even celebrate our
learning success
4 Emotional States in Classrooms
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Fear/threat
Joy/pleasure
Sadness/disappointment
Anticipation/curiosity
Fear/Threat
Fear arises from threat perception.
3 Possible choices of action: Fight
Try to escape
Freeze
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Common Threat Experiences in School
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Peer pressure
Deadlines with consequences
Being forced to stay after school
Making reparations
Giving public apologies
Violence or perception of violence
Stress/distress
Distress
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Heightened excitability or arousal
Perception of the event as aversive
Loss of control
Teachers and Stress
Females tend to increase nurturing behaviors.
Males tend to show withdrawal and sarcasm.
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Joy/Pleasure
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Emanates from an area near the brain stem
Dopamine—the pleasure chemical—pushes
toward the front of the brain.
This state is essential for all learning.
Negative/Positive Emotions
Negative emotions during learning create an
association that may result in students
quitting.
Positive emotions during learning create a
great association in the brain.
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A positive emotional state…
…leads to improved flexibility in behavior and
judgment;
…releases high levels of dopamine leading to
greater flexibility in the executive attentional
system.
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Sadness/Disappointment
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Experienced in the lower half of the brain
Originates in the temporal lobes
Pain and sadness last longer than joy
Remembering negative biases cause us not
to repeat them
Anticipation/Curiosity
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Create a positive state of hope and vigilance
Increased activity in attentional areas of the
brain
“Appetitive” states
Highly motivating states
Influencing Emotional States
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They are ubiquitous.
They are connected.
They are not who we are.
They are transient.
Stable emotional states can be a problem.
Teacher Influence
Compelling questions
Role modeling
Celebrations
Physical activity
Engineered controversy
Purposeful physical rituals
Getting personal
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Emotional Intelligence--Defined
The capacity for recognizing our own feelings
and those of others, for motivating ourselves,
and for managing emotions well in ourselves
and in our relationships.
--Daniel Goleman, 1995
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5 Dimensions of EQ
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5.
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Self-awareness
Self-control
Self-motivation
Empathy
Relationship skills
Self-awareness
To promote, encourage students to:
 Reflect on their own emotional states
 Learn about emotions and theories of
emotions
 Determine the causes and effects of their
emotions
 Expand their emotional vocabulary
 Identify emotions as they experience them
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Self-control
To control their emotions, encourage students to
 Role-play emotionally-charged scenarios and ways
to respond
 Use inner dialog or “self-talk” to handle intense
emotions
 Sharpen decision-making skills
 Practice relaxation techniques
 Count to 10 when angry, to 100 when really angry
 Delay gratification
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Self-motivation
To improve self-motivation, encourage students to
 Set goals for themselves
 Monitor their effectiveness and modify their approach
 Persevere with projects and skills
 Visualize achievement
 Develop a sense of internal locus of control,
optimism, and efficacy
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Empathy
To nurture empathy skills, encourage students to
 Role-play being others in different scenarios
 Engage in perspective-taking: seeing the world
through the eyes of others
 Develop cognitive flexibility, examine multiple
perspectives
 Tune into the feelings of others
 Reflect on the effect of their behaviors on others
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Relationship Skills
To enhance relationship skills, encourage students to
 Engage in cooperative learning and develop social
skills in context
 Improve leadership skills through organization,
communication and inspiration
 Develop peacemaking, conflict-resolution, mediation
and negotiation skills
 Stretch communications skills (speaking/listening)
 Interpret the facial expressions and body language
of others
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Relationship Skills
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