Schoolchildren often react emotionally in class. The subsequent reactions of teachers and children usually follow a set pattern, according to a study by Oldenburg education scientist Juliane Schlesier.
Every primary school teacher can tell stories about pupils who have difficulty controlling their emotions: Sometimes a child gets angry because they don't understand a task and starts to poke their neighbour with a pencil out of sheer frustration. Another child is afraid of maths and starts to cry because they have to do a calculation on the blackboard. Emotions and their regulation are a classic topic in educational research, reports Dr Juliane Schlesier, a junior researcher in Prof Dr Barbara Moschner's Empirical Teaching and Learning Research department. "However, the interaction between teachers and schoolchildren has not played a role in studies to date," she says.
In a study, the educational scientist discovered that teaching situations in which pupils react emotionally often follow a fixed pattern. Based on interviews with primary school teachers, the researcher developed a model to describe the interaction between teachers and schoolchildren. According to Schlesier, the results provide starting points for how teachers can better deal with difficult situations.
In her doctoral thesis, the researcher analysed interviews with 31 primary school teachers on the topic of emotion regulation. Students conducted the interviews under her supervision. They asked the teachers how pupils regulated positive and negative feelings, from joy, hope or pride to boredom, anger, fear, shame or hopelessness.
Interplay of emotions
Schlesier developed her model based on the results. According to this model, teaching situations in which children react emotionally often follow the same pattern. In response to a trigger - for example, a child is asked to complete a worksheet - it develops an emotion, such as anger or fear, as a result of its interpretation of the situation. If the child is able to regulate this emotion independently, they will fill in the sheet - albeit perhaps reluctantly. However, an inappropriate reaction for school lessons is also possible: for example, the child refuses to work or starts to shout. Teachers in turn react to this behaviour: they are often concerned about the cause of the emotional outburst, but at the same time have to deal with their own emotions such as helplessness or stress.
In order to calm the child's anger, they resort to various measures - they reprimand the child or send them outside, explain the task again, encourage the child or give them a hug. Depending on whether or not the child changes their behaviour as a result, the whole process can be repeated one or more times. In the end, such a situation can end positively for the child and the teacher - the child dares to do the task after all, the teacher is happy about it - or negatively: the child cannot be calmed down, may have to be picked up by the parents, the teacher is at the end of their pedagogical tether.
An analysis of the content of the interviews revealed that anger was the most common child emotion in the situations described by the teachers, followed by fear and sadness. In contrast, positive emotions such as pride, joy of learning or hope were much less common in the teachers' reports.
Recognising emotions better
Schlesier concludes from the results that it would make sense to include some kind of emotion lessons in the primary school curriculum, in which children can acquire emotional skills: "They could learn to better recognise and express their own feelings and show understanding for the feelings of others," says the educational scientist. Many studies have shown that emotionally competent children are more successful at school, often have a better relationship with their teacher and classmates and have greater self-confidence than schoolmates who have less control over their emotions.
In addition, Schlesier believes that prospective teachers should already learn during their studies how they can help schoolchildren to better recognise and manage their emotions. And: "Teachers also need more alternative courses of action when a child gets angry in class," she is convinced. Instead of isolating a disruptive child - as is often the case - it is also possible, for example, to distract them with other tasks or engage the whole class in a movement task for a few minutes. The researcher now wants to investigate which intervention options are the most successful.
