The Emotional Learner

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    • A Model of Student Anxiety

      (a work in progress) Why do some students seem to suffer more with anxiety than others? Limited amounts of stress are good for us (especially if we need to escape from a dangerous situation). This acute stress is often fleeting, involving a complex biological and behavioural mechanism that can increase motivation and cognitive function. But…

    • A Self-efficacy Primer

      The roots of Self-efficacy lie in the work of Canadian social psychologist Albert Bandura and his social-cognitive theory of behaviour. Bandura defines self-efficacy as ‘beliefs in one’s capabilities to organise and execute the causes of action required to produce given attainment’ (Bandura, 1977). Originally applied to clinical settings, interest in self-efficacy has spread to other…

    • Some Anxious Thoughts

      I’ve been thinking about anxiety lately. At a time when many students in England will be sitting or about to sit their mock exams (my own son included), it seemed like a good time to raise the issue again. None of us are strangers to anxiety and, indeed, some anxiety is actually beneficial to us.…

    • Applying Attribution Theory To The Classroom

      Attribution theory is a psychological concept about how people explain the causes of an event or behaviour.

    • From Target Grades to Growth Goals

      Target grades have always been one of my great education bugbear’s, both as a teacher and as a parent. As a teacher, I have also found them to be just as restricting as they are motivating.

    • Schema theory and the nature of learning

      Human knowledge is about much more than single concepts or hierarchical structures. Our long-term memories are awash with all sorts of information, from memories related to our own lives to current affairs, theoretical concepts and partially understood ideas.

    • Using Cognitive Reappraisal in the Classroom

      Cognitive reappraisal is an adaptive strategy that helps to encourage emotional regulation by restructuring our beliefs about a situation we view as inherently negative.

    • Belief and Action: Revisiting Mindsets

      Any discussion surrounding the creation of some kind of learning identity can often take a backseat in favour of other aspects of the learning process. Certainly, the other aspects are more than suitable topics of discussion and I would never deny the importance of memory and other cognitive processes.

    • Personality and the Big 5

      We all, I suspect, hold some common sense idea about personality without having to know very much about the science that underpins it. We might be able to spot an introvert or extrovert, although perhaps we just think of them as excitable or reserved. You might even have taken a test that purports to be…

    • The Introvert in the Classroom

      In a world full of noise the quiet ones often get left behind, their voices drowned out by the cacophony of braver, bolder and more confident children. In a culture where extroversion appears so highly valued, it is all too easy to neglect the introverts, viewing them as merely shy and in need of encouragement…