Stresses in the Classroom Situation; Another View on Children

Stress, like conflict, is something of a 'dirty' word. Being 'under stress' or 'in a conflict situation' is a state to be avoided. Conflict can mean something in a differently way. As a human condition common to us all with which we have to come to terms. In what follows shall use 'stress' in a similar way. 'stress situation' as a challenge to the individual demanding a change of behavior. All unfamiliar situations, for instance, are stressful in the sense of the word. At the same time they are interesting and exciting. Our self-esteem and self-confidence depends greatly on our ability to tolerate this kind of stress and to overcome it. Only if stress situations are beyond the limits of endurance, will they be harmful and result in disturbing behavior. the trouble is that these limits will vary from individual to individual. What might be an exciting challenge for one may be an insoluble dilemma for another. As the demand for change is a certain amount of stress, which in turn may lead to troublesome behavior? It seems therefore useful to examine in some detail those stresses for the child and the teacher that are inherent in the classroom situation, stresses that are a challenge to some, who adjust and grow through this challenge, but which may equally be too much for others

Areas of stress that challenge the child: the separation of the child from his family, particularly from his mother; the need to adhere to the demands of 'task orientation', in other words to focus on the tasks, that is the learning , and lastly, the demand to adjust to a large number of peers with whom the child has to share the attention of one adult, the teacher.

The effects of separation on the preschool child at hospitalization have been very lucidly demonstrated by Bowlby and Robertson and are widely accepted. However, little consideration is given to the possibility that similar, though less intensive, anxieties might exist at school entry. This is not really surprising for it is extraordinarily painful to watch a young child's distress. It is well known that nurses are inclined to deny the signs of unhappiness expressed by children in hospital, so it is not particularly astonishing that teachers and parents are often not fully aware of the child's distress when he first goes to primary school. The impact of this separation is more frequently recognized in nursery schools where the children are younger and mothers are often encouraged to stay with their child for the first few days.