“Ways to Deal with Students’ Emotional Needs!”

 

By Ms. Ma Ka Wai & Ms. Ng Chin Wing Karen

 

Have you ever noticed that your students are lonely, trapped, or scared? If so, you are sensitive to their feelings. According to Weiss (2000), when we have negative emotions, energy from our brains and our learning ability will be worsened. On the contrary, when we have positive energy, energy from our brains and our learning ability will be enhanced (Weiss, 2000). In this sense, it is of the utmost importance that teachers should be more aware of students’ emotional needs so as to foster their learning progress. Based on the hierarchy of need theory formed by Maslow (1943) and the stages of self-regulation set up by Cash (2016), there are a few stages teachers can follow and cater for students’ emotional needs.

 

The first vital stage is to cultivate a strong sense of safety inside the classroom. Teachers should familiarize their students with their daily lesson schedule and lesson objectives so that their students can have more readiness to focus on the lessons. Besides, assigning their students to sit comfortably can let them stretch and move around to participate in classroom activities. This can help facilitate a harmonious learning environment.

 

The next stage is to build a sense of belonging in the classroom. Teachers should guide their students to learn to listen, understand and express. Students should learn to listen to others with empathy. Besides, students should learn to understand others’ differences. They should realize that those differences make us all unique and important. One more crucial way to help students build a sense of belonging is to teach them how to express their ideas. They should feel at ease finding someone they trust to express their feelings and ideas in the classroom.

 

Another stage is to encourage students to foster their individual strengths. Through finding new things that they can learn from the lessons, they can try to build up their self-esteem with their small success. One small step can build a good foundation for their ultimate goal. Furthermore, teachers can help their students to be more aware of their own talent by inviting them to participate actively in group work and class discussions. Meanwhile, teachers should encourage their students to learn how to set a vision for the future. Once they set their own target, they can be encouraged to strive to achieve with their strength.

 

Once students go through the first few stages, students should be trained to demonstrate their abilities to maintain effective emotional management. They should be given chances to learn to be aware of others’ needs and feelings. Some service learning projects, leadership development courses or volunteering should be organized so that students can be trained to manage their emotions and care about others’ feelings. Moreover, some study strategies can be taught so as to lessen students’ pressure from their studies. In this way, training students to maintain effective emotional management can help adjust the ways students behave, make decisions and interact with others.

 

When teachers consider students’ feelings in the stages mentioned above, they will know more about how to encourage students to control their feelings positively at an advanced level. All the teachers in W F Joseph Lee Primary School are expected to guide their students to have positive emotion responses and enhance their learning ability. Our expectation is in line with our theme this year – hope. We hope our students will manage their emotions well and stay hopeful no matter which stages of self-regulation they go through.

 

References

 

Cash, R.M. Self-Regulation in the Classroom: Helping Students Learn How to Learn. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing, 2016.

 

Maslow, A.H. “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Psychological Review 50, no. 4 (1943): 370–396.

 

Weiss, R.P. “Emotion and Learning.” Training & Development 54, no. 11 (2000): 45.