Why teachers need to understand Anxious Learners

Lilian Surgeson is author of Effective Teaching for Anxious Learners – seen, safe, supported, published 2024, Critical Publishing, ISBN ‎ 9781915713483

I could tell you that I decided to write this book because of the recent global pandemic, but actually that is not really true. Since the lockdowns, professionals working in education and care settings have become acutely aware of the breadth and depth of the anxiety currently being experienced by young people and children in the UK, but this has been lingering for much longer than that.

The current anxious explosion can be traced back to 2008. The prolonged periods of uncertainty and chaos caused by the pandemic and lockdowns functioned as a catalyst, bringing us to crisis point. Teachers have been left to pick up the pieces, with the additional skills and information they need to do it effectively. The lockdowns may seem to be a long way behind us now, but the effects are still being felt in schools. A friend of mine, who teaches mainstream English, recently told me that she was seriously considering leaving the profession because of the strain of having to deal with anxious learners day in, day out without any real idea what to do to help or how to do it. She said she was exhausted from trying to remain patient and in her words ‘mindfulness kids out of their behaviour issues.’

I have been aware for a while that I have an unusual skill set that makes me adept at working with anxious learners. First and foremost, I am an anxious learner myself. Having lived experience of anxiety gives me an insight into the terrifying hold that it can have over you. If you have not experienced it, I imagine it can be quite bewildering to witness, and also how difficult it must be to see the resulting behaviours as the involuntary results of illness rather than wilful bad behaviour.

As well as being an anxious learner myself, I have also had the privilege of an eclectic career. As well as a number of years as a mainstream maths teacher, I have also taught learners in special educational settings both for learners with cognitive difficulties and alternative provisions for those with social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

 However, perhaps the most significant experience was the three years I spent running educational provision in residential care homes. During this time, I worked with the ethos of social care, which is quite different from that of education. In this way, I was able to develop a unique perspective on the importance of educational achievement in improving outcomes for some of the most vulnerable children in the country.

I have been pleased to see the increasing importance of learner wellbeing in education, but a few years ago I realised that for many teachers it remained something separate from what happened in lessons. Mental health support and intervention is vital but as teachers our role is to support, not fix, our anxious learners.

Understanding how to deal with anxiety attacks, in the same way that we are able to deal with asthma attacks, nose bleeds, allergies and other medical emergencies, would be a good place to start. My experience has taught me that as a teacher, you can make a massive impact on anxious learners – through pedagogical strategies and coping mechanisms.

However, you can only do this if you understand how anxiety effects the brain and body, and what can be done to help. I have been meaning to write this book for quite some time. In the aftermath of the pandemic, I decided that it was something that might be needed.

Lilian Surgeson

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