Interview: How Does Classroom Stress Affect Learning?
The Wall Street Journal recently carried a report about a study that found that students are often affected by the stress that adults working with them are experiencing. In a time when education "reform" and budget cuts often seem to be making schools more stressful, this seems like a very significant issue. I wrote to one of the researchers, Catharine Warner, and asked her to explain more. Here are her answers.
What were the key findings of your study?
We find that just as adults' workplaces can affect their well-being and stress levels, so also does children's "work" at school. The classroom environment, particularly a lack of material resources and teachers' perceived respect and support from colleagues, is associated with children's learning and emotional problems. Specifically, fewer material resources and lower levels of perceived respect are associated with more problems, as rated by children's teachers.
How did you make these discoveries?
These findings are part of a larger project examining children's mental health within the school context. We used