Guidance for students with anxiety

Fear of failure can prevent students from getting the best out of themselves. That's why we asked Denise Olivers from Learn4Life to share her knowledge about fear of failure with our student teachers. This is how we learned about the causes, forms, signals and guidance for students with fear of failure.

Fear of failure in education.

Recognizable? You've learned so hard before a test, but with the test in front of you, you suddenly know nothing. Or, you were so excited about a presentation to give in front of the classroom that you walked away trembling and sweating. In these situations, there is a good chance that you suffer from fear of failure, a common form of anxiety among students. Around 10-13% of primary and secondary school students suffer from it. That's about three students in each class. So not a few. To better understand fear of failure (and thus the students who suffer from it), our student teachers followed two training courses by Denise Olivers from Learn4Life. Based on her experience as a pedagogue/educational expert, she told us everything about, among other things, the causes and characteristics of fear of failure using practical examples.

How do I recognize fear of failure?

Fear of failure is a performance-based anxiety that results from too much or too little anxiety on the part of the student. To illustrate this, we looked at the graph of Dodson's Law. You can see this in the image on the right. The curve shows the relationship between anxiety and performance. The graph has the shape of a mountain. On the left side of the mountain, performance is low due to a lack of tension or excitement that prompts a student to make an effort. On the right side of the mountain, the performance is low for another reason. After all, students on the right side of the curve experience too much anxiety to perform well. Students can have a fear of failure on both sides of the mountain. Very useful to know, because it allows us to better recognize fear of failure among students. However, if we really want to do something with it, we have to ask ourselves: how is fear of failure caused?

Various sources.

Important to know, Denise emphasized, is that fear of failure is not innate. Although genetic predisposition plays a role, environmental factors are the most influential in the development of fear of failure. Parenting is one of these factors. Fear of failure develops by letting go of a child too much, protecting them too much, or setting too high expectations. What fewer people may know is that school influences are also important. A competitive atmosphere, an unsafe feeling, or a lack of structure at school can all lead to fear of failure. So there are various causes. Fear of failure can also express itself differently from person to person. This applies not only to children, but also to adults. While one person slams shut or asks a lot for confirmation, the other becomes a perfectionist or sensitive to criticism. All these causes and manifestations are important. Only by being aware of this can fear of failure be recognized. Very important for our student teachers. After all, we strive for an environment where the student feels supported. Parents and school are also important for this, so only together can we overcome fear of failure. Fortunately, Denise also told us what techniques we can use for this.

From anxiety to healthy tension.

Let's take a look back at Dodson's law. It tells us that fear of failure can result from a level of tension that is too high or too low. Denise explained to us in a very practical way how students can change this. The graph is a mountain and we want to reach the top. Overcoming fear of failure is therefore a matter of walking up the mountain. But why do we want to end up at the center of the graph? Denise explained this to us by telling us that in the middle of the mountain, you have just the amount of excitement you need to perform well. At the top of the mountain, the fear of failure is therefore not completely gone. However, the fear has become so small that it is no longer in the way. Getting to the top of the mountain is not easy. There will be setbacks that will cause you to end up a little lower on the mountain. So it's a matter of turning anxiety into healthy tension. I think any student can do this. Especially now that we've learned the 5G schedule. This is what Denise gave us to deal with thoughts and feelings.

Addressing thoughts and feelings.

The 5G scheme consists of five parts. Together, these parts provide insight into a situation of fear of failure. Each part represents a word with a 'G', namely event, thought, feeling, behavior and effect. Denise explained to us that we can use this schedule if, for example, a student has had a panic attack during a speech. By doing exercises together, we clarify the Gs of the situation. What was the event? For example, classmates laughed at you. What were your thoughts and feelings about this? For example, you were ashamed and thought that your classmates would think you were stupid now. What was your behavior? You started crying and you walked away. Finally, what was the result? You couldn't give your speech. By asking the 5 G's questions, the situation becomes clearer and we can do something about it. To do this, Denise taught us a number of exercises. A first exercise we can use is to ask ourselves if the situation was really as bad as it was in your experience. We can also focus on positive and helpful thoughts instead of fearful thoughts. We do this by writing down your strengths and what you are proud of. It became clear to me that supervising students with fear of failure does not aim to remove the fear of failure; the goal is to learn how to deal with it.

I've learned a lot from Denise's training courses. That's how I found out that fear of failure is much broader than I thought, with many possible causes and characteristics. With what I have learned, I, together with other student teachers, can now help students with fear of failure a lot better. But of course, it's also useful outside of my work at Studied. If someone around me is affected by this, I can also help better. So all in all, Denise has taught and inspired us a lot again.

Interested in counseling a student with a diagnosis or behavioral characteristics of anxiety?

Check www.studied.nl and contact us.