Examining Exams: School, Stress, and the Impact on Young Minds
South Africa · CPD points & talks · Psychologists
This year, I feel like I've relived exams. Witnessing the emotional toll of this time of year on children and teenagers has given me a window of insight into the pressures and expectations that exams can bring. Even where parents feel they adopt a liberal stance and avoid putting undue pressure on children, many children are aware of being evaluated and fear disappointing their parents or feeling disappointed in themselves when confronting a report card that does not live up to their expectations.
For some children whose living circumstances are filled with stress and uncertainty, reaching a clear and focused mindset which would enable them to absorb and retain information is near impossible. These are the children who find themselves achieving well below their academic potential, with stressors scrambling the mind and precluding the focused attention required.
In his writing about thinking, Wilfred Bion links the capacity to think and link ideas to the experience of emotional containment. A child who lacks a sense of containment and emotional security also often lacks the internal holding space in which ideas can land, be linked together and retained in a meaningful way.
For many teenagers, the mathematics exam looms large. I can imagine high school students across the country, staring at a convoluted maths problem while the invigilator crosses numbers off the blackboard to indicate the diminishing time available to complete the paper. This is the stuff of nightmares - literally, it is not uncommon to hear of adults who completed high school decades before, dreaming about feeling unprepared for their final maths examination. For those learners who really struggle to master this subject, the imagined relief of dropping the subject conflicts painfully with the threat of closed doors and lost career opportunities. Indeed, the maths monster dogs many a teenage mind.
Some influential modern psychologists, including Howard Gardner and Robert Sternberg, argue that the education system needs an overhaul. Gardner puts forward the idea of multiple intelligences, arguing that the school system tends to privilege linguistic and mathematical intelligence over other equally important kinds of intelligence. His theory invites reflection on whether our education system nurtures the entrepreneurial spirit, the creative mind, and the intrepid inclination. Sternberg suggests that we are in a self-perpetuating cycle of recycling the same kinds of assessments and entrance requirements which were relevant 50 years ago, and he doubts whether these correlate with the skills required to adapt to and thrive in the world.
The education system and its methods of assessment are issues which are important to think through and debate. What seems important for now is an awareness of the demands of exams and assessments on children, and a mindful attitude towards whether we can offer the emotional provision required for children to thrive emotionally and intellectually.
Calabash · South AfricaCalabash Articles · South AfricaCalabash Partners · South AfricaCalabash Contributors · South AfricaCalabash Speakers · South AfricaCalabash Talks · South AfricaCalabash Sign up · South AfricaCalabash Sign in · South AfricaChildren, Teens & Families CPD talks · South AfricaDialectical Behavioural Therapy CPD talks · South AfricaCognitive Behavioural Therapy CPD talks · South AfricaArticle · Working with Impilo: The Experience of Assessing Parents for Adoption · South AfricaArticle · Medication for Anxiety · South AfricaArticle · Cleaning during COVID-19 Pandemic · South AfricaFairy Tales CPD talks · South AfricaCerebral Palsy CPD talks · South AfricaSupervision CPD talks · South AfricaTalk · Sensory & Emotional Regulation 3: Sleep & arousal · South AfricaTalk · The Developmental Hierarchy of School Readiness · South AfricaTalk · Family Constellations Therapy: Core concepts & practice · South AfricaTerms of Use · South AfricaAbout Contributors · South AfricaUploading a Talk · South AfricaCalabash · AustraliaCalabash Articles · AustraliaCalabash Partners · AustraliaCalabash Contributors · AustraliaCalabash Speakers · AustraliaCalabash Talks · AustraliaCalabash Sign up · AustraliaCalabash Sign in · AustraliaImago Relationship Therapy CPD talks · AustraliaTherapy Modalities CPD talks · AustraliaMood Disorders CPD talks · AustraliaArticle · Going Deeper Than Diets: Rethinking Relationships with Food and Weight · AustraliaArticle · Tips to ensure neuroplastic changes in therapy · AustraliaArticle · Sleep changes through the lifespan · AustraliaDepression CPD talks · Australia CPD talks · AustraliaVision CPD talks · AustraliaTalk · Language Discordance and the Associated Ethical Dilemmas · AustraliaTalk · Let's Talk about Gender and Sexuality · AustraliaTalk · New ways of Approaching Borderline Personality Disorder: Insights on Trauma & Addiction · AustraliaAbout Contributors · AustraliaHow It Works · AustraliaUploading an Article · AustraliaCalabash · New ZealandCalabash Articles · New ZealandCalabash Partners · New ZealandCalabash Contributors · New ZealandCalabash Speakers · New ZealandCalabash Talks · New ZealandCalabash Sign up · New ZealandCalabash Sign in · New ZealandMood Disorders CPD talks · New ZealandAustralian Counselling Association CPD talks · New ZealandNeurodiversity CPD talks · New ZealandArticle · The Recovery Bus: A warning about addiction · New ZealandArticle · DBT and CBT: Demystifying Differences · New ZealandArticle · Schema Therapy · New ZealandConfidence CPD talks · New ZealandTechnology CPD talks · New ZealandBlank CPD talks · New ZealandTalk · Emotionally dysregulated clients: Supporting Families - 4. Walking the middle path · New ZealandTalk · Criminal Minds: Understanding criminal behaviour · New ZealandTalk · Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: Mindfulness - the "what & how" skills · New ZealandAbout Contributors · New ZealandAbout Calabash · New ZealandUploading a Talk · New ZealandCalabash · United KingdomCalabash Articles · United KingdomCalabash Partners · United KingdomCalabash Contributors · United KingdomCalabash Speakers · United KingdomCalabash Talks · United KingdomCalabash Sign up · United KingdomCalabash Sign in · United KingdomPersonality CPD talks · United KingdomImago Relationship Therapy CPD talks · United KingdomAustralian Counselling Association CPD talks · United KingdomArticle · Reflections on CPD · United KingdomArticle · Tips for student supervision · United KingdomArticle · Literature & Mental Health · United Kingdom CPD talks · United Kingdom CPD talks · United KingdomDizziness CPD talks · United KingdomTalk · Family Constellations Therapy: Core concepts & practice · United KingdomTalk · Use of low-tech tools and devices in Hand Therapy : The hand and fingers · United KingdomTalk · Neuropsychological Assessment · United KingdomAbout Calabash · United KingdomPrivacy Policy · United KingdomUploading an Article · United KingdomCalabash · United StatesCalabash Articles · United StatesCalabash Partners · United StatesCalabash Contributors · United StatesCalabash Speakers · United StatesCalabash Talks · United StatesCalabash Sign up · United StatesCalabash Sign in · United StatesPsychodynamic Therapy CPD talks · United StatesClinical Issues CPD talks · United StatesPersonality CPD talks · United StatesArticle · How my therapist missed my diagnosis: a patient’s experience of PND · United StatesArticle · Loss and Gain during COVID-19 · United StatesArticle · Why Would a Baby Need a Psychiatrist · United StatesConfidence CPD talks · United StatesFathers CPD talks · United StatesNeurodiversity CPD talks · United StatesTalk · Emotionally dysregulated clients: Supporting families - 1. The distress cycle · United StatesTalk · Supporting People through Grief, Loss & Bereavement · United StatesTalk · A Brief Introduction to the Enneagram · United StatesHow It Works · United StatesAbout Partners · United StatesUploading an Article · United StatesCalabash · CanadaCalabash Articles · CanadaCalabash Partners · CanadaCalabash Contributors · CanadaCalabash Speakers · CanadaCalabash Talks · CanadaCalabash Sign up · CanadaCalabash Sign in · CanadaMood Disorders CPD talks · CanadaDialectical Behavioural Therapy CPD talks · CanadaPersonality CPD talks · CanadaArticle · Confidentiality and Consent when working with Adolescents · CanadaArticle · Medications for ADHD · CanadaArticle · SAPC Dialogues: Challenges and Innovations · CanadaPsychotherapy CPD talks · CanadaCanada CPD talks · CanadaBPPV CPD talks · CanadaTalk · Functional Neuroanatomy · CanadaTalk · Addressing Structural Racism · CanadaTalk · Neuropsychological Syndromes · CanadaPrivacy Policy · CanadaAbout Contributors · CanadaAbout Partners · Canada
Psychologist in Sydney