I approach this topic with some trepidation; it’s one that causes students, parents and teachers a good deal of anxiety – high stakes examinations. For better or worse, these loom large in High School life, and are a part of the educational and sometimes professional landscapes from this point onwards. We know that regardless of how well prepared any student is, examinations themselves are stressful situations. And even though we also know that 99% of the time students meet or exceed their expectations, the 1% weighs heavily on all our minds.
So I was very grateful to the parent who forwarded me a fascinating New York Times Magazine article (you know who you are – much appreciated!). Titled Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure While Others Fall Apart? authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman (authors of the excellent Nurture Shock) analyze why some people go to pieces under pressure while others thrive in competitive, stressful situations. The suggested neurological mechanisms are a matter of debate, but the phenomenon identified is one that teachers and parents will recognise – that under pressure some students flourish and some wilt; that is, some kids are warriors, others are worriers. And in fact, now I come to think of it, I can recognise the categories from my own childhood and indeed professional experiences.
The article describes several things that are totally consistent with what we know from other studies; most importantly, that it’s the stress itself that is the problem, but our attitude towards it. In one experiment, it was found that the presence of stress hormones was an advantage for students who believed that “people who feel anxious during a test might actually do better.” Another fascinating study investigated the physical way students respond to stress. The conclusion (see the article for detail) was that some students responded to stress by adopting a “threat state” (shoulders hunched, rubbing their hands, stamping their feet) and others by adopting a “challenge state (shoulders back, chests open). The difference, physically was as much as two liters of extra blood a minute to the brain. Enough to make a difference, it is argued, and the right stance is something that students can learn to do, with practice, and with conscious attention, reflection and support. This latter effect is particularly interesting, as virtuous cycles can be set up where a student succeeds ‘despite’ stress, and so finds it easier to manage the stress next time, and therefore has further success and so on.
So what are the implications for us here? Nothing startling, I think, and two things that are re-assuring. Firstly, we shouldn’t seek to help our kids avoid the stress; instead we need to we repeatedly emphasise that nerves are inevitable for many, that stress can help them do well, and with hard work they always have the capacity for improvement. And secondly, we need to scaffold them through stressful experiences, working with them to plan ahead with specific strategies, helping them reflect on what works for them, and making the situation itself a learning experience. There’s a good reason we have ‘resilience’ as a quality in the profile we seek to develop in all our students.
What’s particularly encouraging is that it seems that academic competition can, when used well, benefit Warriors and Worriers equally. Bronson and Merryman argue that “the Warriors get the thrilling intensity their minds are suited for, where they can shine. The Worriers get the gradual stress inoculation they need, so that one day they can do more than just tolerate stress – they can embrace it. And through the cycle of preparation, performance and recovery, what they learn becomes ingrained.”
