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For generations, many people were taught that emotion was separate from, and perhaps less "productive" than, cognition. Students were instructed to set emotion aside, control it, and prioritize analytical thinking. More modern cognitive science, however, has demonstrated the interplay and extensive linkage between emotion and cognition. Consider this excerpt from How the Brain Learns 6e, © 2022, by renowned neuroscience researcher and educator David A. Sousa:
"When an individual responds emotionally to a situation, the older limbic system (stimulated by the amygdala) takes a major role, and the complex cognitive processes are suspended... before students will turn their attention to cognitive learning (the curriculum), they must feel physically safe and emotionally secure in the school environment."
In other words, the brain prioritizes survival, and will tend to a strong emotion before it will devote resources to critical thinking. The experiences of today's students, often hijacked by emotions as a result of constant exposure to disturbing information and/or their own challenges and traumas, highlight this truth about the brain. For example, a student whose family is in financial straits, under great pressure to succeed and lift the family out of poverty, may struggle with higher-level thinking out of a lack of cognitive bandwidth, despite their intelligence and ability.
Coaching work is not counseling or therapeutic work, and coaches must refer students to mental health professionals for help with working through traumas and high emotions. However, a coach can share information about how the brain works, and ask powerful questions that can help a student separate performance under emotional pressure from ability:
- What is taking focus in your mind, and how does that affect your performance?
- What actions might you take to settle your mind and increase your cognitive bandwidth for learning?
- Whose support gives you relief that helps you concentrate on your academic work?
- When you feel emotionally overwhelmed, what story are you telling yourself about who you are as a student? How can you rewrite that narrative in a more productive way?
- Identify an academic task that you feel you "should" care about but just don't in this moment. What is taking higher priority in your mind, and what are the consequences right now? How might you change the situation so that you move closer to the consequences you want to experience?
Grow as a coach with a LifeBound training.
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