Design programs that foster students' positive emotions and reduce negative emotions to support subsequent relationship quality and achievement¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 5 claims (3 for, 2 mixed) · 7 studies (3 quant-synthesis, 2 review, 1 design, 1 theoretical), q2–q4 · 3 of 7 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article's authors propose that the strongest practical application of their findings lies in intervention programs targeting students' emotions. They write that "The direct application of these results might be in the design and implementation of programs intended to foster students' positive emotions and to reduce their negative emotions", noting such programs could also test the causality of the observed associations. Because initial emotions predicted later relationship quality and achievement more strongly than the reverse, emotion-focused programs may pay off in both better achievement and better student-teacher relationships.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Programs must target students' discrete achievement emotions (e.g., enjoyment, anger, boredom) rather than relationship quality alone, given the asymmetric strength of the reciprocal paths

Constraints¶

• The observed associations are longitudinal and not necessarily causal; the authors state intervention programs could serve as a test of causality

Target Learners¶

• secondary school students (grades 10–11 in the study)

Target Learning Goals¶

• fostering positive academic emotions such as enjoyment
• reducing negative academic emotions such as anger and boredom
• supporting student-teacher relationship quality and achievement

Affordances¶

• Control-value theory of achievement emotions (Pekrun, 2006); no wiki page yet

Claims¶

• School meditation programmes foster small improvements in well-being, more consistently reducing negative outcomes than promoting positive ones [~W]
• Studies of emotional training of aspiring and practicing teachers report positive outcomes for dealing with emotions and reducing stress and burnout [+W]
• Universal school-based SEL programs improve students' behaviour, with a small and, in recent randomised trials, negligible effect on academic achievement [~W]
• Co-regulation strategies were reported to create a safe, positive classroom climate and to help youth manage emotions [+W]
• A practice brief reviewing self-regulation interventions reports substantial benefits of mindfulness programs for cognitive and emotional regulation, stress and mental health in adolescents and young adults [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Design classroom practices and interventions that change students' goal foci to foster adaptive emotions and reduce maladaptive emotions
• Design instructional environments to foster positive academic emotions: improve instruction quality, grant calibrated autonomy, match expectations to capabilities, increase success opportunities, and foster cooperative interaction structures

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Goetz, T., Bieleke, M., Gogol, K., van Tartwijk, J., Mainhard, T., Lipnevich, A. A., & Pekrun, R. (2021). Getting along and feeling good: Reciprocal associations between student-teacher relationship quality and students' emotions. Learning and Instruction, 71, 101349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2020.101349