Putting anxiety to rest

Gita Nambiar

Learning difficulties are pervading classrooms at all levels, beginning from kindergarten to high school. While these difficulties have been around for many decades, they were overlooked by parents and teachers until now. However, today awareness has grown manifold and we are able to identify these problems in children from as early as three or four years of age. At that age, learning the alphabet, correlating sounds to letters or phonics and blending sounds can be challenging for a child with learning difficulties. Similar challenges can be seen with numeracy as well. If not identified and addressed at an early age, these difficulties get compounded and the child develops deficits in reading and writing. Older children will struggle to read, write, spell, and comprehend text. Many of them will find math equally onerous. Difficulty with paying attention, also exacerbates learning in the classroom. Poor memory, inability to organize and be responsible for their belongings, inability to follow instructions precisely are some of the other symptoms that impact learning. As a result of these difficulties, slow learners find it hard to learn other subjects as well and their overall performance declines. The outcome of coping with these challenges is that the child is always anxious and attending school becomes an ordeal.

Anxiety is a feeling of fear or uneasiness. In the school setting, it can manifest in different ways in children. Unlike adults, children struggle to communicate their feelings, or are unable to recognize what they are feeling. It is therefore up to the adults to identify what emotions the children are experiencing. Anxiety makes some children tense and restless. This can prompt them to disturb other children around them. In some cases they are aggressive towards their peers. Others may withdraw from what is happening around them and lose themselves in a world of their own. Children who have poor coping skills may avoid going to school or make excuses to avoid school work. They lack the motivation to study.

For a child with learning difficulties, processing deficits makes classroom learning overwhelming, where they are unable to comprehend what the teacher is teaching. Due to this, the child develops a fear of tests, they realize that they are not at par with their classmates and are unable to perform as well as them. A feeling of being different from their peers can induce anxiety. For the same reason, such children are subjected to ridicule and bullying as well. All of this lowers their self-esteem. The child also has social and emotional difficulties that come from an awareness of their own shortcomings.

At the beginning of every academic year, the teacher welcomes a mixed bag of students. There are those who will sail through the year almost effortlessly. Then there are the average students who face some challenges, but are resilient enough to overcome the obstacles that may come their way. And there are the strugglers, who lag behind and consistently perform poorly. The teacher can identify these children fairly early in the year. However, it is the wise teacher who makes it a point to understand the reasons that lie behind their below average performance. The child could be having learning difficulties, where processing the information provided by the teacher poses challenges.

For such children, their effort does not match their outcome and there is a gap between academic potential and academic performance. The earlier these factors are identified, the easier it becomes to help the child overcome anxiety and traverse the school year with calmness and confidence.

The teacher has a crucial role to play in alleviating anxiety in students. Firstly, she needs to be aware of the prevalence of these problems among the children. I have often heard teachers complaining to parents during PTA meetings, “Your child is very distracted, he disturbs the other children. His marks are very poor; he is lazy and has to work very hard if he is to be promoted.” Teachers and parents may not realize that there could be underlying reasons resulting in this kind of behaviour and performance.

There are numerous ways in which teachers can help such children overcome their fears and anxiety.

• They can make the workload easier for these children by giving them simpler questions during tests and assignments.
• In some schools, a separate question paper is prepared for children with such difficulties. If the child is unable to complete the assignment, the same questions can be reviewed in class the next day.
• While giving tests, extra time can be allotted. Even during board exams, children are given extra time or provided with a scribe to complete their exam.
• Changing the seating arrangement in the classroom could help, where the academically weaker children are made to sit closer to the teacher, preferably in the front rows, so that she can keep an eye on them and see that they are paying attention.
• To ensure that the child understands the instructions given by the teacher, she can ask them to repeat the instructions back to her and also note them down in their diary.
• Giving daily schedules helps these children maintain a set routine, which also helps in keeping them calm.
• It is not easy for the class teacher to pay individual attention to each of these children in the classroom. In such cases, she can recommend remedial intervention, where these children are pulled out of the class and are assisted by a special educator in the school.
• The teacher can sensitize the children in her class by talking to them and explaining that some children have genuine difficulty in reading and comprehension. That it is not nice to ridicule or bully them. She should encourage them to be empathetic and understanding.
• In this context, the buddy system also works well, where an academically brighter student sits with a weaker one and assists him with his studies. The latter gains confidence when they interact with someone their own age.

Embarrassment and humiliation in school, caused by peers and teachers, can also lead to emotional issues. The child may feel ineffective and stressed. In order to enhance the self-esteem of anxious children, they can be motivated to achieve mastery in other areas, like art, craft, music, sports, etc. Every child has some talent, which may not be easily discernible, so it is up to the teacher or parent to identify it and encourage them to develop it. When they do well in one of these areas of their choice, it gives a definite boost to their confidence. They feel that they can also be ‘good’ at something.

Children may also experience low self-esteem due to parental pressure and high expectations, particularly in the board exam years. It can cause debilitating anxiety, sometimes leading to drastic outcomes. Teachers are also under pressure to produce good results, and hence they come down harshly on students who do not perform well in academics. It is a difficult period for the academically weak children, and teachers would do well to be encouraging and invite them to seek their assistance in resolving their problems and clearing doubts. From my own experience with such children, talking to them in a calm and composed manner, asking about their problems and their future plans, teaching them strategies to make learning easier, help in improving their self-esteem and focusing on performing better in their examinations. For older children, journalling has proved to be effective in reducing stress.

There are instances where the symptoms of anxiety are quite severe and the teacher is unable to help the child. In such cases, the parents can be advised to seek professional help.

Taking students on fieldtrips and educational tours also help children with difficulties relax. In certain schools, teachers are allowed to conduct classes outside the classroom, perhaps under a tree or in the garden. It becomes a fun time for children and makes learning more exciting. Stepping out of the four walls of the classroom can bring down stress levels. Teaching relaxation techniques like deep breathing and yoga help children calm themselves, simultaneously improving focus and cognition. If these are done on a regular basis, it has far reaching and positive consequences.

It is heart-wrenching when your student asks you, “Ma’am, am I dumb?” One can understand the conflict and self-doubt in the child’s mind. Whatever the cause, the inherent anxiety in the child comes to the surface. As teachers, if we can offer reassurance and comfort and assuage their anxiety, we have set them on the right path to achieve resilience and higher self-esteem. These children will then be equipped to face the world with a calmer and more positive approach to life.

Gita Nambiar worked as a special educator, and later as the Branch Head of ‘Prayatna’, a centre for children with learning difficulties, for 14 years. She is now working as a freelance special educator and helping children with difficulties in English, math, science, and social studies. She enjoys working with children, and their progress, however small, gives her immense satisfaction. She can be reached at gitanambiar2010@gmail.com.