Diary Keeping, Reflective Practice and Teacher Wellbeing with Dr Lucy Kelly
Release Date: 04/16/2024
Learning from Failure: The Biological Case for Embracing Mistakes
Psychology in the Classroom
In this episode of Psychology in the Classroom, Dr. Lauren Margulieux helps explore why failure isn't just a learning opportunity—but a biologically powerful one. Drawing on neuroscience, Lauren explains how our brains react to failure, the role of neurotransmitters like epinephrine and acetylcholine, and why moderate emotional discomfort can actually prime the brain for better memory and attention. We discuss: How to help students frame failure positively Why emotional regulation is key to learning Practical strategies for secondary teachers to support learning in the face of setbacks...
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The Perils of Perfectionism: Understanding Its Impact on Mental Health in Education
Psychology in the Classroom
In this episode we explores the impact of perfectionism on exam anxiety, particularly among neurodivergent individuals. Dr. Tracey Donachie, a lecturer in sports and exercise psychology, discusses the components and prevalence of perfectionism, highlighting its psychological and behavioral effects. Maciej Matejko, from the Re-Star Project, shares his perspective on perfectionism in relation to autism, while consultant Julia Gudinchet offers strategies for managing perfectionistic tendencies in individuals with ADHD and autism. The episode provides valuable insights and practical advice for...
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First do no harm: Universal Mental Health Interventions in Schools
Psychology in the Classroom
Summary In this episode is a NIHR Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, discusses her recent paper titled Where the authors ‘examine three areas: the types of potential harms and adverse events reported in school-based mental health interventions; the subgroups of children and adolescents at heightened risk; and the proposed explanations for these potential harms.’The conversation explores the rising mental health issues among young people in schools, focusing on universal interventions like mindfulness and CBT. Carolina Guzman discusses her scoping review on the potential...
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The Process of Learning is Uncomfortable
Psychology in the Classroom
This month Dr Katy Burgess, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Cardiff University, talks about her research into students’ learning - what they do and how effective they think this is - this is useful for us, as teachers, to understand how, what we are teaching them in school about learning and revision, is being interpreted and used by students. We discuss the best ways to revise but perhaps more importantly what we should be telling our students to get them to use more effective strategies. Plus additional thoughts on where we could slip retrieval practice when students don’t even notice...
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Peer Support for Neurodivergent pupils
Psychology in the Classroom
The NEurodivergent peer Support Toolkit (NEST) is a set of free resources for staff in mainstream secondary schools who wish to facilitate peer support for neurodivergent young people. The toolkit was co-created by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, neurodivergent young people and a neurodiverse group of adults who work with neurodivergent young people. The project was funded by the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre Scientific Advisory Board. In this episode Katie Cebula and Catherine Crompton talk about how the NEST came about, what it involves and how it could support pupils in your...
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RE-STAR - From Emotional Dysfunction to Emotional Burden
Psychology in the Classroom
This is the 7th podcast from the RE-STAR team and Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke and Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou share the findings from work package one. This episode explores how the RE-STAR team has collected qualitative data through innovative methods that really allow the voices of young people with ADHD and Autism to be heard. They also share the findings about the upsetting experiences of young people with ADHD and Autism, what these experiences are (and if you are a teacher you might be surprised) and the intensity of those emotional experiences and as well as how these differ for...
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Improving Mental Fitness in Schools with Vi Gandhi
Psychology in the Classroom
In this week’s episode Purvi (Vi) Gandhi shares her knowledge about implementing effective and evidence based strategies to improve mental health or mental fitness in schools. Vi has recently published a book 'A little guide for teachers: Student Mental Health' with lots of ideas of how teachers can support the mental health and fitness of the young people in schools. In this interview we discuss the language we use around mental health, why mental health is so important in school and how we can support our pupils to thrive and much more. If you would like to find out more about her...
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Reframing Mindfulness for Teachers
Psychology in the Classroom
On World Mental Health day 2024 Psychology in the Classroom discusses Mindfulness. We eschew the ‘Crystals and Muesli’ version and reframe it to ask how to be more attentive, calmer, more grounded, more aware, more responsive, less anxious. Willem Kuyken and Maggie Farrar join me to discuss, how we can make moments in our day to be mindful and how this can help us align ourselves better with our personal values. You can find the podcasts on the Myriad Trial into Mindfulness in schools via this link: https://changingstatesofmind.com/mindfulness-miniseries This is the link to...
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What have we learned about failure?
Psychology in the Classroom
In this final summary interview with Prof. Dr. Suzanne Narciss, we review all our learning about failure over the last few months. There is much we can do to encourage our students to learn from errors, including interactive formative assessment and feedback strategies, prompting reflection and adaptive strategies for dealing with errors and using other people’s errors. As teachers we need to help students overcome their fear of failure by creating a positive error climate and supporting students to develop a more positive error mindset. But this is an area that is challenging to research...
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What do parents communicate about failure?
Psychology in the Classroom
More than one in 10 children ‘almost always’ or ‘often’ fear failure. But where do they learn this from? This fear can often pass from parents to children. Parental communication about failures and setbacks plays a critical role in shaping a child's perception of mistakes. In her research Dr Elizabeth Peterson found that: Clear action plans without discussion of collaborative resources increased children's fear of making mistakes. When mothers acknowledged their child's emotions and discussed collaborative problem-solving, there was a notable decrease in the child's fear of...
info_outlineThe teaching profession is in crisis and whilst it can be an extraordinarily rewarding and it is also an exhausting profession so self-care is essential. As a regular diary keeper I was curious to find out just how this might be helping my own wellbeing. Dr Lucy Kelly is an Associate Professor in Education in the School of Education whose main research interest is reflective practice as a positive tool for educator wellbeing, and she is Principal Investigator for the 'Reimagining the Diary' project. Lucy talks about how our narrow concept of what diary keeping is could be a barrier to engaging with it, how it can many benefits and how we can engage with a broader and more creative concept of diary keeping.
If you want to find out more about Lucy’s work here are the links:
The Diary Toolkit: https://thediarytoolkit.com/
Reimagining the Diary (Book): https://www.johncattbookshop.com/products/reimagining-the-diary-reflective-practice-as-a-positive-tool-for-educator-wellbeing
More about the project itself: https://reimaginingthediary.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/