Emotions and Brain States LOVE Play

by Lisa Forbes

Before becoming an educator, I was first a mental health counselor. One of my very first counseling jobs was in an inpatient psychiatric hospital. The patients were struggling with severe mental health concerns – typically suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation, or some form of psychosis. It seemed that the longer someone worked there, the more likely they’d be to have negative views of the patients, didn’t believe patients or trust them. As a new counselor, this was disheartening for me – I didn’t want to become that. I wondered what was the breakdown and is there an antidote to professional negativity?

I’ve learned a lot from my work as a counselor and one thing is: I don’t think we can truly help someone until we are able to see the complexity of the human sitting in front of us. As a counselor, my effectiveness depends on my ability to see the humanity in people, their emotions, and attempt to understand their lived experience. And all of this is a choice and takes effort. Although education is different from counseling in many ways, it’s not all that different. Educators are in the business of human development. We are in the business of inspiring students to think critically, to grow and to expand their skill sets and mindsets. 

But oftentimes, I’ve witnessed academia being less than humanistic – the common and traditional approach we take to educating students demonstrates that…as well as some of the negative comments about students that I have seen. We need to consider why we teach in the way we teach and maybe see students in a different light. Of course we won’t be able to know our students’ stories on a deep and vulnerable level like a counselor would (and I don’t think we need that type of depth in education) but I do think we can see students more holistically and consider their emotions and brain states to challenge the ways we are static and ineffective in education. As well as considering how the status quo of academia may be limiting our effectiveness yet often goes unexamined.

We need to approach our teaching differently as well as see students differently –  beyond bodies in our classrooms. We have to understand our students on a humanistic level and consider how their brains work in the learning process. The traditional lecture-based mode of teaching does not produce the most optimal brain states for learning – the brain is poorly designed for formal instruction (Jansen & McConchie, 2020). I think formal education can actually make students passive, bored, and anxious. But, instead of blaming students, what if we attempted to see students holistically? What if we adjusted our approach to meet students where they’re at and design the learning environment to what they might need emotionally and to what their brains might need to learn best?

If we recall that the brain is the organ that drives all learning through the process called neuroplasticity (i.e., the brain’s ability to change, reorganize, and remap itself). Neuroplasticity is a vital consideration for academics (Jansen & McConchie, 2020) because we can either create an environment that optimizes students’ brain states for learning or we can create an environment that negatively impacts learning and minimizes neuroplasticity. And then depending on our awareness and our ability to take accountability – we can blame students for not being motivated and engaged learners. 

To enhance neuroplasticity and the learning process, there are various neurotransmitters that are responsible for strengthening that process. First of all, the stress hormone, cortisol, is actually detrimental to neuroplasticity so students who come to class with an anxious brain or who experience classroom environments that don’t soothe the anxious brain are fighting against the learning process (Jansen & McConchie, 2020; Taylor & Marineau, 2016). Dopamine is driven by joy, pleasure, and the reward response and higher levels of this hormone increase motivation, attention, and memory. Norepinephrine increases students’ mood and enhances their ability to concentrate by generating a sense of urgency and excitement. Acetylcholine is vital for learning as it is involved in memory and is released when we experience surprise and novelty. Oxytocin is released during social interaction and closeness with others. This neurotransmitter is important for learning as it increases students’ sense of safety in the environment and trust in others involved in the learning process. Oxytocin also lowers the threat that the brain perceives in the environment. For more on the citations used for this section: (Jansen & McConchie, 2020; Tang, 2017, Taylor & Marineau, 2016). 

So, if we can understand what neurotransmitters are responsible for and strengthen neuroplasticity, and if you know what types of experiences can release more of those neurotransmitters in students’ brains, you can better design your learning space and mode of education to support that process. Below is a compilation of the conditions and emotions conducive to brain-based learning and increasing the presence of those positive neurotransmitters.

• Novelty 
• Social connection
• Relevance
• Fun
• Play
• Engagement
• Humor
• Safety
• Variety
• Enjoyable activities
• Surprise
• Joy
• Alertness
• Motivation
• Curiosity
• Creativity
• Relaxation
• Excitement
• Focus/attention
• Effort
• Trust

*This list and information on neurotransmitters are a compilation from brain-based and play-based learning literature. See references below. 

If you can increase these conditions and emotions in a classroom, you might increase the presence of the joy, learning, and concentration neurotransmitters involved in learning. But if you think about a traditional or typical classroom in higher education, does it support novelty, social connection, fun, engagement, humor, enjoyable activities, surprise, creativity, curiosity, etc.? Maybe somewhat but I’d venture to guess academia needs a learning overhaul. Otherwise, why do students often consider learning to be a chore or burden? 

What’s worse, I think as faculty we often blame students for being bored or disengaged and we expect or hope that they will be curious, open, and excited. But, we have more influence over their brain states and learning stance than we think – we just have to take accountability for how we are influencing them. Jansen and McConchie (2020) believe educators often look at teaching as “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.” Essentially, I’m teaching them all of the facts and content they need to know but I can’t make them learn and when they struggle to learn we often blame the student. But what if we changed our perspective from you can’t make a horse drink to how can we inspire the horse to be thirsty (Jansen & McConchie, 2020). How can we inspire students to be more engaged and establish an environment that is more conducive to learning?

I’m pretty sure the answer is play but I might be biased. But, I’m also right. 

References 

Brown, S. (2009). Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul. New York, NY: The Penguin Group.

Hsu, A., & Malkin, F. (2011). Shifting the focus from teaching to learning: Rethinking the role of the teacher educator. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 4(12), 43.

Jensen, E., & McConchie, L. (2020). Brain-based learning: Teaching the way students really learn. (Third ed.). SAGE Publications.

Tang, Y. (2017). Brain-based learning and education: Principles and practice. Academic Press, an imprint of Elsevier.

Taylor, K., & Marienau, C. (2016). Facilitating learning with the adult brain in mind: A conceptual and practical guide (First ed.). Jossey-Bass. 

Wang, S., & Aamodt, S. (2012). Play, stress, and the learning brain. Cerebrum (New York, NY), 2012, 12-12.