VIEWS & OPINION
Turning emotional highs and lows at school into a more positive experience
Comment by SARAH A. WALKER, Assistant Professor School of Education | Faculty of Social Science and Health at Durham University
In the hustle and bustle of a typical school day, emotions can run high – whether a student is overjoyed after acing a test to the disappointment of losing on the sports field. Or perhaps emotions that bubble under the surface when teachers are faced with having to work through difficult issues with a student, or the challenge of difficult parent-teacher conversations. But what if there was something practical that we could do – strategies we could use to turn these emotional highs and lows into a more positive experience for everyone involved? Extrinsic emotion regulation strategies are things we
say or do to try and make other people feel better (or worse!) and have been shown to benefit the relationships between people (Walker et al., 2023). The idea that we can influence the emotional experience of someone else is something that educators, students, and parents could greatly benefit from, especially in moments of heightened emotions (Walker et al., 2024).
Extrinsic emotion regulation is all about trying to influence someone else’s emotions through our actions and words (Nozaki & Mikolajczak, 2020). Think of it as emotional teamwork, where we help manage each other’s emotions as we try to steer them towards a more positive and productive state (Nozaki & Mikolajczak, 2020). In an educational setting, this might mean a teacher helping to ease a student’s test anxiety by reminding them how hard they’ve worked (valuing the students’ contribution), or a colleague offering support by listening to another teacher who is facing a challenging situation (listening receptively to a colleague), or perhaps helping teachers to navigate difficult conversations with caregivers (Nozaki & Mikolajczak, 2020), and how to know when to use some humour to lighten the mood, when to listen, and when to make suggestions that will directly change the situation a student or caregiver is facing (direct action strategy).
But why should teachers, who already give so much intellectually and emotionally, invest in understanding and applying extrinsic emotion regulation strategies in their work? Put simply – the impact on the learning environment. When teachers are able to influence the emotional climate in the classroom, they provide a safe and supportive space for learning to thrive (Goetz & Hall, 2013). When students feel understood and supported, it makes them more likely to engage and participate in their own learning (Goetz & Hall, 2013).
The benefits of extrinsic emotion regulation extend beyond the well- being of the students or parents; they also significantly contribute to the emotional health of teachers themselves (Zhang et al., 2022). Teaching comes with challenges from the intellectual to the physical to the emotional, and like the rest of society, educators are facing their own emotional challenges as well. Developing the skills to effectively influence the emotions of those around them, teachers can contribute to a more positive and less stressful working environment (Phillip & Schüpbach, 2010). This will not only help to reduce burnout and attrition from the workforce, but can also foster a sense of camaraderie and support among colleagues; arguably an invaluable asset in education. When teachers model effective intrinsic emotion regulation strategies (how someone manages their own emotions), they demonstrate essential life skills to their students (Purna & Prawitasari, 2019), and these lessons should be no different when a teacher models effectively managing the emotions of other students, colleagues, and caregivers. This teaches students that emotions can be managed and that we can all play a substantial role in positively influencing the emotional well-being of those
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around us (Purna & Prawitasari, 2019). This lesson, which is valuable in its own right, helps to prepare students for the emotional complexities beyond the classroom (Purna & Prawitasari, 2019). Three strategies have been shown be especially helpful in making someone feel better (MacCann et al., 2023; Walker et al., 2023):
• Making someone feel valued. This is reminding them that they are important, that you value their hard work and dedication and that you have noticed their efforts.
• Listening. Receptive listening is actively listening to what someone tells us, and using techniques, such as summarising their experience to show you hear them and are interested in what they have to say.
• Using a little bit of humour at the right time to boost the other persons positive emotions and help to reduce their negative emotions can be a useful tool to make someone feel better.
There are many more strategies we can use to make someone feel better including directly changing the situation that is causing negative emotions when we have the ability to do so, or helping someone see a situation from a different perspective.
Extrinsic emotion regulation has enormous potential to be a powerful tool in the education toolkit – one that can contribute to the transformation of classrooms into environments where emotional well-being is a priority alongside academic achievement. Developing our skills to navigate and manage the emotions of others, teachers not only enhance the learning experience for their students and create a supportive network for parents and colleagues but also contribute significantly to their own emotional well-being (Reeck et al., 2016). At a time where education is constantly changing resulting in, among other things, increased emotional challenges and stress, considering how to best influence the emotions of one’s colleagues, students, and caregivers provides an excellent opportunity to guide us towards a more empathetic and supportive educational journey.
References
Goetz, T., & Hall, N. C. (2013). Emotion and achievement in the classroom. In J. Hattie & E. M. Anderman (Eds.), International guide to student achievement (pp. 192–195). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. MacCann, C., Double, K. S., Olderbak, S., Austin, E. J., Pinkus, R., Walker, S. A., ... & Niven, K. (2023). What do we do to help others feel better? Eight extrinsic emotion regulation processes linked to affective and interpersonal outcomes.
Nozaki, Y., & Mikolajczak, M. (2020). Extrinsic emotion regulation. Emotion, 20(1), 10–15.
https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000636 Philipp, A., & Schüpbach, H. (2010). Longitudinal effects of emotional labour on emotional exhaustion and dedication of teachers. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 15(4), 494–504.
https://doi.org/10.1037/ a0021046
Purna, R. S., & Prawitasari, J. E. (2019). Trait Relations: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism with Teacher Emotion Regulation. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(9), 33-38.
Reeck, C., Ames, D. R., & Ochsner, K. N. (2016). The social regulation of emotion: An integrative, cross-disciplinary model. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(1), 47–63.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.09.003 Walker, S. A. (2024). You, Me, and Us. An examination of self- and informant-reported extrinsic emotion regulation processes in romantic couples. (Doctoral dissertation).
Walker, S. A., Pinkus, R. T., Olderbak, S., & MacCann, C. (2023). People with higher relationship satisfaction use more humor, valuing, and receptive listening to regulate their partners’ emotions. Current Psychology, 1-9. https://
doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04432-4
Zhang, K., Cui, X., Wang, R., Mu, C., & Wang, F. (2022). Emotions, illness symptoms, and job satisfaction among kindergarten teachers: The mediating role of emotional exhaustion. Sustainability, 14(6), 3261.
March 2024
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