In the article,The Neuroscience of Joyful Education, Judy Willis discusses the importance of joy and comfort from the classroom and the positive effects it has on learning. Creating an atmosphere that focuses on positive experiences and joy eliminates boredom or anxieties that can make students have a negative feeling towards learning. Neuroscience continues to prove that making learning fun and a positive experience can be a crucial part of a child’s education and development.

Image retrieved from Images on Google.com on 7/11/17

Many education theorists (Dulay & Burt, 1977; Krashen, 1982) have suggested that students retain what they learn when the learning is connected with strong positive emotion. Cognitive psychology studies provide evidence that shows how stress, boredom, confusion, low motivation, and anxiety can negatively impact learning (Christianson, 1992). In this article, the author stated that “neuroimaging studies and measurement of brain chemical transmitters reveal that students' comfort level can influence information transmission and storage in the brain (Thanos et al., 1999)”. Information flows freely through the brain and higher levels of cognition is achieved when students are engaged and feel motivated (Willis, 2007). On the flip side, the brain blocks information from entering higher cognitive memory and storage when it is in a stressful emotional state. The video below discusses the role emotions play in learning and how establishing a positive classroom climate can help the learning process for students.

Video embedded from youtube.com on 7/11/17

Responsibility as Educators

I believe that all educators try to make their learning environments positive and welcoming to all students. However, with expectations of test scores and increased performance for all students, we may sometimes forget to make learning fun. It makes sense that students retain information better when they are having fun and enjoying their learning experience. I think back to my education and the moments I remember from early elementary. I remember singing the months of the year in Spanish, playing competitions as we learned math facts, and learning how to conduct electricity through a hands on science experiment. I remember all those things because they were fun and I had a positive experience as I was learning. Do I think this is an easy task as an educator? Not always! Our students deal with situations everyday that are out of our control. My mind immediately goes to that student(s) that has to walk into school each day with stress and negative experiences following them from home. Their mind is already at a heightened emotional state from stress and anxieties they face from their everyday life. As educators, how do we ensure that we make positive experiences and joy for students that experience so much stress at home? How do we make our classroom their safe haven where they can feel comfortable and have the opportunity to have positive learning experiences? The answer is…WE TRY! We try to recognize the hardships students face outside of school, support their social and emotional needs at school, and create a learning environment that makes them feel confident and cared for to promote a positive learning experience for them.

References

Christianson, S.A. (1992). Emotional stress and eyewitness memory: A critical review. Psychological Bulletin, 112(2), 284–309.

Dulay, H., & Burt, M. (1977). Remarks on creativity in language acquisition. In M. Burt, H. Dulay, & M. Finocchiaro (Eds.), Viewpoints on English as a second language. New York: Regents

Krashen, S. (1982). Theory versus practice in language training. In R. W. Blair (Ed.), Innovative appro

Thanos, P. K., Katana, J. M., Ashby, C. R., Michaelides, M., Gardner, E. L., Heidbreder, C. A., et al. (1999). The selective dopamine D3 receptor antagonist SB-277011-A attenuates ethanol consumption in ethanol preferring (P) and nonpreferring (NP) rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior, 81(1), 190–197.

Willis, J. (2007). The Neuroscience of Joyful Education. Retrieved July 11, 2017, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/4141/the-neuroscience-joyful-education-judy-willis-md.pdf.