School Safety
Research has found that environmental variables such as levels of bullying, classmate relationships, and teacher support have an impact on students’ cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes, including their social-emotional skills, attitudes about self and others, social behaviors, and academic performance (Robinson et al. 2016; Strom et al. 2013).
A study conducted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) assessed strategies for increasing protective factors among youth and the impact these enhanced factors have on self-growth and educational outcomes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing Protective Factors Among Youth. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2009.
The study found that a greater health impact may be achieved by enhancing protective factors that help children and adolescents avoid developing multiple behaviors that place them at risk for adverse health and educational outcomes. Enhancing protective factors may safeguard children and adolescents from the potentially harmful effects of negative situations, such as exposure to violence. Protective factors include personal characteristics such as a positive view of one’s future; life conditions such as frequent parental presence in the home at key times (e.g., after school, at dinner time)[1]; and behaviors such as active participation in school activities[2]. The study further concluded that school connectedness is a particularly promising protective factor.
What Is School Connectedness?
In 2003, the Wingspread Conference was sponsored by the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health and the Johnson Foundation to bring together key researchers and representatives from the education and health sectors to assess the state of knowledge about school connectedness and its effect on health and education outcomes. Through an extensive review of research and in-depth discussions, the interdisciplinary group defined school connectedness and identified strategies in the Wingspread Declaration on School Connections[3] that can be implemented to increase it. School connectedness was defined as the belief by students that adults in the school care about their learning as well as about them as individuals. Because studies indicate that individual students’ feelings of being connected to school are influenced by their peers as well as by adults this publication has expanded that definition to include peer influence.
Why Is School Connectedness Important?
Students are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors and succeed academically when they feel connected to school. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health looked at the impact of protective factors on adolescent health and well-being among more than 36,000 seventh through twelfth grade students. The study found that family, school, and individual factors such as school connectedness, parent-family connectedness, high parental expectations for academic achievement, and the adolescent’s level of involvement in religious activities and perceived importance of religion and prayer were protective against a range of adverse behaviors. School connectedness was found to be the strongest protective factor for both boys and girls to decrease substance use, school absenteeism, early sexual initiation, violence, and risk of unintentional injury (e.g., drinking and driving, not wearing seat belts)[4]. In this same study, school connectedness was second in importance, after family connectedness, as a protective factor against emotional distress, disordered eating, and suicidal ideation and attempts. Research has also demonstrated a strong relationship between school connectedness and educational outcomes, including school attendance; staying in school longer; and higher grades and classroom test scores. In turn, students who do well academically are less likely to engage in risky behaviors. Compared with students with low grades, students with higher grades are significantly less likely to carry a weapon, smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and have sexual intercourse. Connectedness and attachment should no longer be seen as merely “soft skills,” but as essential variables in the equation for student success. Pro-social skills, adult modeling of behavior and relationship management, as well as classroom management strategies focused on developing safe and secure environments have all been proven to not only increase attendance rates and academic performance, but to reduce factors detrimental to student well-being.
Teacher–Student Relationships
Ample studies have supported the notion that teachers’ positive relationships and interactions with students play important roles in fostering student engagement (Roorda, Jak, Zee, Oort, & Koomen, 2017; Roorda, Koomen, Spilt, & Oort, 2011; Skinner & Pitzer, 2012; Woolley & Bowen, 2007)[5]. The salient impact of teacher–student relationships on student engagement is supported by a number of modern developmental theories, including attachment (Bowlby, 1982), social–cognitive, and self-efficacy theories (Bandura, 1986; Ryan, Stiller, & Lynch, 1994). According to the attachment theory, positive teacher–student relationships closely mirror parent–child relationships, enabling students to feel safe and secure in their learning environment, provides students with support to cope with demands in the schools, and provides scaffolding for important social and academic skills (Kremer, 2010). According to the social–cognitive and self-efficacy theories, students’ perceptions of their relationships with teachers have a significant impact on their interest in school and their self-efficacy, which in turn promotes their behavioral and emotional engagement in school (Ryan et al., 1994).
The Brain and Learning
Human intellect is multifaceted, and each individual human brain learns differently. The existing systems of learning assume that individuals should achieve the same level of learning within the same timeframes. The reality is that learning is unique for each of us, and it is impossible to place a definitive time table on knowledge attainment.
Classroom Learning-Process of the Brain[6] -
The brain memorizes information using various types of memorizing systems, and many of these operate in a semi-autonomous fashion. The best-known form of memorization is the declarative memory system, which involves information that can be declared and experienced in the student’s conscious awareness. Students can also learn or memorize things like motor skills using what is known as the non-declarative memory system. This requires memorization that does not involve a conscious awareness and so cannot be declared (Kandel, & Squire, 2008; and Medina, 2008).
The inputs to the brain of students during classes are captured by their senses and are initially processed in the thalamus, which is the central switching area of the brain. Simultaneously, these inputs are routed to other specific areas for processing: visual inputs are routed to the occipital lobe, language to the temporal lobe, and so on. Based on these instantaneous inputs, the brain immediately forms a rough sensory impression of the incoming information. If there is any threatening information, the amygdala is activated, and it will jump-start the rest of the sympathetic nervous system to enable a quick response (Jensen, 2008). Many of the new inputs are held in the frontal lobe for short-term memory for 5 to 20 seconds. If the inputs are considered relevant, the inputs are routed and held in the hippocampus.
If the new learning is deemed important, it is organized and indexed by the hippocampus and later stored in the cortex. The inputs are stored in the same lobe of the cortex that originally processes it and although the original processing takes place at lightning-fast speeds, the subsequent stages and storage process can take hours, days, and even weeks (Jensen, 2008).
The unfortunate fact for teachers is that students forget, very quickly, most of what they have been taught in class. Hermann Ebbinghaus (1913) became famous for uncovering that students forget 90 percent of what they learn in class within 30 days. He further showed that the majority of the forgetting occurs within the first few hours after class. (Medina, 2008). The inputs from the different sensory sources are registered in separate brain areas. The information is fragmented and redistributed the instant the information is encountered. (Livingston, & Hubel, 988; Robertson, 2003; and Medina, 2008). The process by which the brain brings all these fragmented pieces together to allow the students to remember the original information is called binding (Treisman, 1996; and Robertson, 2003). Medina (2008) writes:
The binding problem presents a difficult challenge because there is very little understanding about how it works. The more brain structures are recruited by the initial interest, and the more cues that are created in the brain at the moment, the easier it is to remember the transmitted information. Thus, students remember information when it is elaborate, meaningful, and contextual with meaningful real-world examples. The quality of the early moments of the learning experience by students determines the quality of the encoding of their brains, as the many cues that are created will enhance their capabilities to retrieve the learned information in the future.
Brain under Stress[7] -
Stress is the body’s reaction to a perception rather than to the reality of an actual event. It occurs when experience of an adverse situation occurs in such a way that control is lost, and the desired goals are compromised. There are, in general, two types of stress that students perceive. One type is useful stress (eustress), which occurs when the student feels moderately challenged and believes that they can rise to the occasion. The eustress releases chemicals in the brain such as cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine, which heightens the student’s perception, increases their motivation, and strengthens their bodies: all conditions that enhance learning (Caine, & Caine, 1991; and Jensen, 2008).
The negative form of stress (distress) occurs when students feel threatened by an emotion (such as danger, intimidation, embarrassment, loss of prestige, fear of rejection or failure, unrealistic time constrains, or perceived lack of choice). The initial recognition of uncertainty causes the amygdala to send a message to the hypothalamus, which begins the chemical cascade to the adrenals, and soon the glucocorticoids (e.g., cortisol) and amines (e.g., noradrenaline) prepare for the event. Cortisol provides a temporary source of energy, and for a short period (or even a few hours) it can be helpful. However, over the course of days, weeks, or months, chronically high levels of cortisol wreak havoc on the brain (Jensen, 2008).
During this prolonged state of cortisol inducement, the brain literally transitions from the cortex into the older, more automatic, mammalian and lizard brains. The lizard brain does not reason: it reacts automatically to any form of threat and it loses the ability to correctly interpret subtle clues from the environment, reverting to familiar, tried-and- true behaviors; it loses some of its abilities to index, store, and access information; it becomes more automatic and limited in its responses; it loses some of its ability to perceive relationships and patterns; it becomes less able to use higher-order thinking skills; it loses some long-term memory capacity; and it tends to overreact to stimuli in a phobic- like way (Caine, & Caine, 1991; Jensen, 2008; and Caine et al., 2009).
[1] School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing Protective Factors Among Youth. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2009 citing Kipke M, ed. Risks and Opportunities: Synthesis of Students on Adolescence. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 1999.
[2] School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing Protective Factors Among Youth. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2009 citing Resnick MD, Bearman PS, Blum RW, et al. Protecting adolescents from harm. Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. JAMA 1997; 278(10):823-832.
[3]Wingspred declaration on school connections. Journal of School Health 2004 2004;74(7):233-234.
[4] See Resnick MD, Bearman PS, Blum RW, et al. Protecting adolescents from harm. Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. JAMA 1997.
[5] Multilevel Associations Between School-Wide-Social-Emotional Learning Approach and Student Engagement Across Elementary, Middle, and High Schools. Yang, C., Bear, G. & May, H. (2018). School Psychology Review 47(1): 45-61.
[6] Brain-Based Learning: The Neurological Findings About the Human Brain that Every Teacher Should Know to be Effective. Degen, R.J. (2014). Amity Global Business Review. 9, 15-23.
Research has found that environmental variables such as levels of bullying, classmate relationships, and teacher support have an impact on students’ cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes, including their social-emotional skills, attitudes about self and others, social behaviors, and academic performance (Robinson et al. 2016; Strom et al. 2013).
A study conducted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) assessed strategies for increasing protective factors among youth and the impact these enhanced factors have on self-growth and educational outcomes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing Protective Factors Among Youth. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2009.
The study found that a greater health impact may be achieved by enhancing protective factors that help children and adolescents avoid developing multiple behaviors that place them at risk for adverse health and educational outcomes. Enhancing protective factors may safeguard children and adolescents from the potentially harmful effects of negative situations, such as exposure to violence. Protective factors include personal characteristics such as a positive view of one’s future; life conditions such as frequent parental presence in the home at key times (e.g., after school, at dinner time)[1]; and behaviors such as active participation in school activities[2]. The study further concluded that school connectedness is a particularly promising protective factor.
What Is School Connectedness?
In 2003, the Wingspread Conference was sponsored by the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health and the Johnson Foundation to bring together key researchers and representatives from the education and health sectors to assess the state of knowledge about school connectedness and its effect on health and education outcomes. Through an extensive review of research and in-depth discussions, the interdisciplinary group defined school connectedness and identified strategies in the Wingspread Declaration on School Connections[3] that can be implemented to increase it. School connectedness was defined as the belief by students that adults in the school care about their learning as well as about them as individuals. Because studies indicate that individual students’ feelings of being connected to school are influenced by their peers as well as by adults this publication has expanded that definition to include peer influence.
Why Is School Connectedness Important?
Students are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors and succeed academically when they feel connected to school. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health looked at the impact of protective factors on adolescent health and well-being among more than 36,000 seventh through twelfth grade students. The study found that family, school, and individual factors such as school connectedness, parent-family connectedness, high parental expectations for academic achievement, and the adolescent’s level of involvement in religious activities and perceived importance of religion and prayer were protective against a range of adverse behaviors. School connectedness was found to be the strongest protective factor for both boys and girls to decrease substance use, school absenteeism, early sexual initiation, violence, and risk of unintentional injury (e.g., drinking and driving, not wearing seat belts)[4]. In this same study, school connectedness was second in importance, after family connectedness, as a protective factor against emotional distress, disordered eating, and suicidal ideation and attempts. Research has also demonstrated a strong relationship between school connectedness and educational outcomes, including school attendance; staying in school longer; and higher grades and classroom test scores. In turn, students who do well academically are less likely to engage in risky behaviors. Compared with students with low grades, students with higher grades are significantly less likely to carry a weapon, smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and have sexual intercourse. Connectedness and attachment should no longer be seen as merely “soft skills,” but as essential variables in the equation for student success. Pro-social skills, adult modeling of behavior and relationship management, as well as classroom management strategies focused on developing safe and secure environments have all been proven to not only increase attendance rates and academic performance, but to reduce factors detrimental to student well-being.
Teacher–Student Relationships
Ample studies have supported the notion that teachers’ positive relationships and interactions with students play important roles in fostering student engagement (Roorda, Jak, Zee, Oort, & Koomen, 2017; Roorda, Koomen, Spilt, & Oort, 2011; Skinner & Pitzer, 2012; Woolley & Bowen, 2007)[5]. The salient impact of teacher–student relationships on student engagement is supported by a number of modern developmental theories, including attachment (Bowlby, 1982), social–cognitive, and self-efficacy theories (Bandura, 1986; Ryan, Stiller, & Lynch, 1994). According to the attachment theory, positive teacher–student relationships closely mirror parent–child relationships, enabling students to feel safe and secure in their learning environment, provides students with support to cope with demands in the schools, and provides scaffolding for important social and academic skills (Kremer, 2010). According to the social–cognitive and self-efficacy theories, students’ perceptions of their relationships with teachers have a significant impact on their interest in school and their self-efficacy, which in turn promotes their behavioral and emotional engagement in school (Ryan et al., 1994).
The Brain and Learning
Human intellect is multifaceted, and each individual human brain learns differently. The existing systems of learning assume that individuals should achieve the same level of learning within the same timeframes. The reality is that learning is unique for each of us, and it is impossible to place a definitive time table on knowledge attainment.
Classroom Learning-Process of the Brain[6] -
The brain memorizes information using various types of memorizing systems, and many of these operate in a semi-autonomous fashion. The best-known form of memorization is the declarative memory system, which involves information that can be declared and experienced in the student’s conscious awareness. Students can also learn or memorize things like motor skills using what is known as the non-declarative memory system. This requires memorization that does not involve a conscious awareness and so cannot be declared (Kandel, & Squire, 2008; and Medina, 2008).
The inputs to the brain of students during classes are captured by their senses and are initially processed in the thalamus, which is the central switching area of the brain. Simultaneously, these inputs are routed to other specific areas for processing: visual inputs are routed to the occipital lobe, language to the temporal lobe, and so on. Based on these instantaneous inputs, the brain immediately forms a rough sensory impression of the incoming information. If there is any threatening information, the amygdala is activated, and it will jump-start the rest of the sympathetic nervous system to enable a quick response (Jensen, 2008). Many of the new inputs are held in the frontal lobe for short-term memory for 5 to 20 seconds. If the inputs are considered relevant, the inputs are routed and held in the hippocampus.
If the new learning is deemed important, it is organized and indexed by the hippocampus and later stored in the cortex. The inputs are stored in the same lobe of the cortex that originally processes it and although the original processing takes place at lightning-fast speeds, the subsequent stages and storage process can take hours, days, and even weeks (Jensen, 2008).
The unfortunate fact for teachers is that students forget, very quickly, most of what they have been taught in class. Hermann Ebbinghaus (1913) became famous for uncovering that students forget 90 percent of what they learn in class within 30 days. He further showed that the majority of the forgetting occurs within the first few hours after class. (Medina, 2008). The inputs from the different sensory sources are registered in separate brain areas. The information is fragmented and redistributed the instant the information is encountered. (Livingston, & Hubel, 988; Robertson, 2003; and Medina, 2008). The process by which the brain brings all these fragmented pieces together to allow the students to remember the original information is called binding (Treisman, 1996; and Robertson, 2003). Medina (2008) writes:
The binding problem presents a difficult challenge because there is very little understanding about how it works. The more brain structures are recruited by the initial interest, and the more cues that are created in the brain at the moment, the easier it is to remember the transmitted information. Thus, students remember information when it is elaborate, meaningful, and contextual with meaningful real-world examples. The quality of the early moments of the learning experience by students determines the quality of the encoding of their brains, as the many cues that are created will enhance their capabilities to retrieve the learned information in the future.
Brain under Stress[7] -
Stress is the body’s reaction to a perception rather than to the reality of an actual event. It occurs when experience of an adverse situation occurs in such a way that control is lost, and the desired goals are compromised. There are, in general, two types of stress that students perceive. One type is useful stress (eustress), which occurs when the student feels moderately challenged and believes that they can rise to the occasion. The eustress releases chemicals in the brain such as cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine, which heightens the student’s perception, increases their motivation, and strengthens their bodies: all conditions that enhance learning (Caine, & Caine, 1991; and Jensen, 2008).
The negative form of stress (distress) occurs when students feel threatened by an emotion (such as danger, intimidation, embarrassment, loss of prestige, fear of rejection or failure, unrealistic time constrains, or perceived lack of choice). The initial recognition of uncertainty causes the amygdala to send a message to the hypothalamus, which begins the chemical cascade to the adrenals, and soon the glucocorticoids (e.g., cortisol) and amines (e.g., noradrenaline) prepare for the event. Cortisol provides a temporary source of energy, and for a short period (or even a few hours) it can be helpful. However, over the course of days, weeks, or months, chronically high levels of cortisol wreak havoc on the brain (Jensen, 2008).
During this prolonged state of cortisol inducement, the brain literally transitions from the cortex into the older, more automatic, mammalian and lizard brains. The lizard brain does not reason: it reacts automatically to any form of threat and it loses the ability to correctly interpret subtle clues from the environment, reverting to familiar, tried-and- true behaviors; it loses some of its abilities to index, store, and access information; it becomes more automatic and limited in its responses; it loses some of its ability to perceive relationships and patterns; it becomes less able to use higher-order thinking skills; it loses some long-term memory capacity; and it tends to overreact to stimuli in a phobic- like way (Caine, & Caine, 1991; Jensen, 2008; and Caine et al., 2009).
[1] School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing Protective Factors Among Youth. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2009 citing Kipke M, ed. Risks and Opportunities: Synthesis of Students on Adolescence. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 1999.
[2] School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing Protective Factors Among Youth. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2009 citing Resnick MD, Bearman PS, Blum RW, et al. Protecting adolescents from harm. Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. JAMA 1997; 278(10):823-832.
[3]Wingspred declaration on school connections. Journal of School Health 2004 2004;74(7):233-234.
[4] See Resnick MD, Bearman PS, Blum RW, et al. Protecting adolescents from harm. Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. JAMA 1997.
[5] Multilevel Associations Between School-Wide-Social-Emotional Learning Approach and Student Engagement Across Elementary, Middle, and High Schools. Yang, C., Bear, G. & May, H. (2018). School Psychology Review 47(1): 45-61.
[6] Brain-Based Learning: The Neurological Findings About the Human Brain that Every Teacher Should Know to be Effective. Degen, R.J. (2014). Amity Global Business Review. 9, 15-23.