anxiety

Is anxiety on the rise amongst our students? How should we as ethics teachers respond to incidents of anxiety or distress in our class – whether related to the topic under discussion or not?

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition for adults and young people alike. It was on the rise before COVID, but the disruptions of the pandemic, alongside a string of natural disasters, have exacerbated the stresses for many families, in some localities especially.

We are getting feedback via your very valuable post-class reports of some students being triggered by some ethics topics; or children coming into a class upset by previous incidents unrelated to the ethics lesson.

Here are some tips for maintaining ethics as a calm, supportive space for all students in the class, for looking after yourself and for managing specific incidents if they arise.

1. Prepare:  Read, annotate and perhaps rehearse the lesson with your students in mind; think about classroom management in terms of your students’ wellbeing.
2. Maintain clear class routines and rules and a reliable, supportive, fair teacher persona:  The ethics teacher has an important role in creating and maintaining a protective learning environment for every student:
   – keep to calm, clear routines and rules (eg set up a routine for how the children enter and leave the space, regularly reinforce the 6 ethics rules)
   – use grounding circuit breakers (eg deep breathing for 20 seconds; get them to focus on the external senses, such as ‘find something in the room that is orange’; make time for positive quiet reflection, eg ‘think about something you are looking forward to…’)
3. Stick to the script and use all the techniques of procedural questioning, with a focus on thoughts and reasoning rather than feelings.
   – Eg, invite differences of thinking eg ‘what would be an argument for this?’ This creates a certain distance for the students from any potentially upsetting subject matter and is a valuable aid to self-regulation for them.
4. Think about your classroom management strategies in terms of the wellbeing of each student.
   – Remember not to press any student to share their thoughts – being forced into the spotlight can cause anxiety. It’s fine if they just want to sit and listen.
   – Be aware that putdowns can be subtle. Watch for any negative interactions between the students and use your behaviour management techniques to prevent or stop them.
   – Again, if you notice heightened feelings, expressed verbally or non-verbally, use circuit breakers to bring the room back towards emotional equilibrium.
5. Know what to do if a student is explicitly distressed during the lesson.
   – Acknowledge their emotion (‘thank you for sharing’ – this calms the amygdala) but don’t invite or press them to go any further.
   – Don’t attempt to ‘explore their feelings’ or counsel them.
   – Ask them if they want to stay or take a break. Alone or with a friend? Your school may have procedures in place (eg, a pass or time-out cards) which allow students to leave the circle or leave the lesson.
   – Make sure that school procedures and any special needs of students in your class have been explained to you.
   – Know what the procedure is for informing the classroom teacher, school SEE coordinator or front office staff if no one is in the room with you. If they are in the room, immediately refer a distressed child to them.
6. Let the Department teacher manage the student’s distress away from the class.
   – Don’t take it any further yourself. That isn’t your role.
   – Your responsibility is to continue the scripted lesson with the rest of your class – use a circuit breaker to help the others refocus when resuming the lesson, then remember to anchor….
7. If, based on what a child has said in your class, you suspect they are subject to abuse, you must later report that to the principal, as you have learnt in your Child Protection training with Primary Ethics.
8. Check in with yourself too – look after your own wellbeing following a difficult incident.
   – While maintaining student privacy, you can talk generally to others about your own discomfort or upset.
   – Contact our Classroom Support Team (via EVIE) for an empathetic ear and advice for the future.
9. In the following lesson, don’t refer back to the incident. Don’t draw any attention to the student who was distressed by asking them – or others – how they are this week.