EMOTION & STRESS IN LEARNING

The Role of Emotion and Stress in Learning

Joy Taylor
Education 547
Dr. Nicole Nicholson
September 6, 2015

EMOTION & STRESS IN LEARNING

The Role of Emotion and Stress in Learning

Sometimes its not the song that makes you emotional, its the people and things that come
to your mind when you hear it. - Anonymous. This quote encompasses the idea that the practice
of appealing to ones emotions plays a large role in the brains ability to retain information even
until their lifes end. This is one of the two points that really stands out when researching the
components of brain-based learning. The second point that emanates is the fact that stress can
have the opposite effect on brain cells, decreasing memory among other health issues. As an
educator I want to set up my students for life-long success, and in order to do that they must have
the ability to retain information; it is my duty to make sure I can facilitate that. There are so
many ways a teacher can appeal to his or her students emotions and reduce stress in the
classroom so they may retain important information for life. Educators must encourage the
building of neurons so their constituents can retain information for the long haul.
Emotions are highly involved with a persons ability to retain information long-term. David
A.Sousa writes in his book, How the Brain Learns, The interactions between the amygdala and
the hippocampus ensure that we remember for a long time those events that are important and
emotional. He also writes, Teachers, of course, hope that their students will permanently
remember what was taught. Therefore, it is intriguing to realize that the two structures in the
brain mainly responsible for long term remembering are located in the emotional area of the
brain. (19) From teaching experience I have found that students are naturally stimulated by
assignments, stories, music, and images if they can relate emotionally or feel positive emotions
when introduced to it. In understanding that using these techniques educators are actually
stimulating the brain to retain information better, it is necessary to do this on a daily basis. One
idea that really resonates with me is the use of memorizing with music. To this day I know how

EMOTION & STRESS IN LEARNING

to sing the Oscar Meyer bologna commercial due to an assignment given to me in the fourth
grade. The assignment was fun, stimulating and made us laugh. I also can sing the bible verse I
Corinthians 10:13 due to an assignment in my senior year of High School where I had to rap it
aloud. Again I laughed through it and have always remembered it as a challenging and fun time
while never forgetting the words. Creating assignments where students can share their talents
and have options that suit their taste gives them enjoyable moments that will help them
remember the information given.
On the opposite end of what I aforementioned, there is scientific evidence that stress reduces
the ability to remember by killing memory cells, among other physical, emotional and mental
problems. Jensen writes in his article, A Fresh Look at Brain-Based Education,
Chronic stress is a very real issue at schools: for both staff and students. Homeostasis is no longer a
guaranteed "set point." The discovery championed by neuroscientist Bruce McEwen is that a revised metabolic
state called "allostasis" is an adjusted new baseline for stress that is evident in the brains of those with anxiety
and stress disorders. These pathogenic allostatic stress loads are becoming increasingly, common and have
serious health, learning arid behavior risks. This issue affects attendance, memory, social skills, and cognition.

With this proof in mind, it is important for educators to do their absolute best to help students
feel safe, relaxed and in a light mood while implementing information each day. Many times
teachers can feel irritated, tired or even angry and then relay that emotion or stress onto their
students. It is important to begin each class by being calm and having a small exercise that sets a
peaceful tone within the classroom. This can be done by allowing students to listen to peaceful
music, viewing beautiful scenes from nature, writing about what is on their mind and coming up
with a solution to their problems, including letting them all know you are there to support them
in any way you can. Laughter is always a good way to begin. Students can be given jokes on
paper and then read them aloud to a partner. Laughter is great for setting a positive mood that

EMOTION & STRESS IN LEARNING

will endear any students to listen and learn for the class duration. In order to have learning
minds, a teacher help provide minds at peace.
Overall, by researching how the brain works, educators have scientific data to really
understand the best methods to use to give their students long-term benefits. Two of the most
important brain-based learning methods may be appealing to students emotions to create longterm memory and provide a stress-free environment to allow ultimate cognition and focus within
the classroom. Educators can best benefit their constituents so many ways by understanding how
the human brain works.

EMOTION & STRESS IN LEARNING

Works Cited
Jensen, E. (2008). A Fresh Look at Brain-Based Education. Phi Delta Kappan (89 no 6) 408-17.
Souza, David A. (2011) How the Brain Learns. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.