THE ROLE OF RESEARCH IN QUALITY EDUCATION & TEACHING PEDAGOGY

Let me first state Some Areas of Research. Research on effective teaching strategies; on student motivation; on technology in education; research on inclusive education; on assessment strategies; on curriculum design; research on collaborative learning; and on the role of emotions in learning. These are just SOME of the areas of research,

By Brig Sanjay Agarwal, Distinguished Professor, SRM IST.

The ROLE of Research. THIS research provides evidence-based solutions to educational problems and helps teachers make informed decisions about teaching methods. Research helps teachers identify and understand the needs of their students. and provides a basis for curriculum development and design.

Research also provides teachers with insights into how to create a positive learning environment that fosters student engagement and motivation. Research helps teachers understand the unique needs of diverse student populations and develop strategies to support their learning. It provides teachers with evidence-based strategies to promote critical thinking, problem-solving, and other important 21st-century skills. Research also provides teachers with insights into how to promote creativity and innovation in their students, and how to create collaborative learning environments.

Ultimately, research supports evidence-based decision-making in education, helping policymakers develop effective policies and programs that improve student outcomes.

Two important issues.

The First: In Serial 2 above, I have referred to a study on the benefits of cooperative learning. Here, Sugat Mitra and his extensive, pan-India ‘Hole in the Wall” experiment done about 20 years ago are relevant. His TED and other talks highlight the essentials, and indicate the importance of and possibilities with cooperative, collaborative learning; more so in the absence of a formal teacher. The children were able to learn how to operate a computer with no teacher! Two of his talks can be seen here and here.

The Second: I want to end by reminding you of the beautiful Sydney Poitier movie of 50 years ago, “To Sir, with Love”. A “coloured” engineer doesn't get a job, and he is forced to accept a teaching job, teaching rowdy children in London’s East End. And how he does a wonderfully successful job about it. Even giving up an engineering job, when he finally gets one.

Research is an important foundation upon which we structure policies, curriculum and teaching pedagogy. The proof of the pudding is in the consequent outcomes on student learning and the impact on the psychological well-being of all stakeholders.

1. "Creating Inclusive Classrooms: Effective and Reflective Practices" (Hornby et al., 2019) discussed the importance of creating a welcoming and supportive classroom environment for all students.

2. "The Benefits of Cooperative Learning" (Johnson et al., 2007) analyzed the benefits of cooperative learning in classrooms and found that it can improve student communication and teamwork skills.

3. "The Impact of Hands-On Activities on Student Achievement and Engagement in Science" (Liu et al., 2011) found that hands-on activities in science classes improved student achievement and engagement.

4. "The Power of Feedback" (Hattie and Timperley, 2007) discussed the importance of providing timely and specific feedback to students to improve their motivation and academic performance.

5. "The Effects of Digital Tools on Student Learning" (Means et al., 2010) analyzed the impact of digital tools on student learning outcomes and found that they can improve student achievement and engagement.

6. "Promoting Positive Emotions in the Classroom: An Evidence-Based Approach" (Brackett et al., 2012) discussed the importance of creating a positive and supportive classroom environment for students' social and emotional well-being.

7. "Project-Based Learning in STEM Education: A Review" (Huang et al., 2021) analyzed the impact of project-based learning on student engagement and found that it can improve student motivation and achievement.

8. "The Formative Assessment Process in the Classroom: Evidence from Empirical Research" (Black and Wiliam, 1998) provided evidence that formative assessment can improve student achievement and motivation.

Buddha

Outburst of words, a flushed face, pounding heart are the symptoms that I am sure we all must be painfully familiar and have experienced many a times in life. The underlying emotions behind these symptoms is ANGER.

Simply put, Anger is a “short madness” that sets us on the path to self-destruction – “very like a falling rock which breaks itself to pieces upon the very thing which it crushes”. Definition is scary, isn’t it?

Anger is the most natural and automatic response to pain – physical and emotional. We feel anger when we don’t feel well, feel threatened, experience some loss or feel rejected/dejected. It is an ancient part of our defence mechanism that allowed us to survive, adapt and defend and is mostly there to protect us. Anger helps us to fight or flee from danger; motivates us to find solutions to problems. So then, is Anger good or bad? Let’s delve deeper –

Anger, like any emotion, conveys a message, tells us if a situation is upsetting, threatening or challenging. Its neither good nor bad. Anger becomes a problem only when it is displayed excessively, when it is harming self or others. Anger can range in intensity from annoyance to range, from person to person. Anger can cause us to behave in fashion we wouldn’t otherwise behave. While it is perfectly normal to feel angry when we are mistreated or wronged, truth is likely to have a negative impact on the way people see us, impair our judgement and get in our way of success too.

Psychology of anger

Understanding the psychology of anger can provide insight into Anger. Our interpretation or reaction to a situation can depend on lot of factors in our life –

 Our upbringing and childhood

 Past experiences

 Current circumstances

Consciousness about how and why we interpret and react to situations can help us cope with our emotions better. It can also help us find productive strategies to handle our anger.

Roots of anger–

1. Feeling Of Righteousness – The feeling that ‘I am right’ is the root cause of anger. We cannot get angry if we think we are not right. Righteousness is a perceptionwhich can be subjective.

2. Unfulfilled Desires – Frustration is bound to set in if our deep desires remain unfulfilled and frustration raises anger.

3. Being Tired – Physical and mental tiredness, high stress levels that we are carrying fuel the anger.

Expression of anger

Anger hits differently to different people, some might scream, some might hit an object or another person, some might resort to self-harm to let out their anger. Expressing anger healthily is important for our mental health. There are two ways people express their anger –

1. Verbal – Raised voices, insulting and hurt words, being abusive, snapping, shouting, yelling, name-calling, sarcasm are ways to express anger verbally.

2. Non-verbal – Frown, clenching fist and jaws, scowl, lashing out at other person or object, inflicting self-harm, withdrawal, becoming quiet are ways to express anger non-verbally.

We may see a combination of both the expression as well.

What are the 3 types of anger?

Anger can be classified in 3 types –

1. Passive Aggression – When people bottle up their emotion inside them to avoid confrontation, it is passive aggression. Sulking, becoming silent, procrastinating or seemingly being busy are signs of passive aggression Remaining calm externally but harbouring negative feelings internally will typically end up in unhealthy expression of anger later.

2. Open Aggression – Bullying, fighting, becoming physically or verbally abusive, accusing, sarcasm, criticism, self-harm, lashing out are all signs of open aggression.

3. Assertive Aggression – Opening up to resolution, being flexible and patient talking, listening, voicing out confidently in a calm voice are signs of assertive aggression.

Why do we get angry?

Individuals have their own triggers for anger, some common situation for anger to set in where we feel –

• Threatened or attacked

• Frustrated

• Powerless

• Irritated

• Criticised unnecessarily

• Not being treated fairly/injustice

• Not respected

• Rejection/Dejection/Betrayal

• Interference

• Grief/loss our reputation and even disciplinary actions that reduces productivity and job performance.

Downside of anger is –

Anger only distracts us for a while but does not take away the vulnerability, we must remember -

• Anger cannot make pain disappear, it only distracts us from it.

• Anger does not resolve or address the issues, it does create new problems, including social and health issues as a result.

Uncontrolled anger causes more harm than good. Instead of suppressing or wrongly expressing it, we must mindfully lean into it to see what anger is teaching us.

Strategies to control anger

We can have completely unique triggers based upon our learnings from the people and world around us. Many times we use anger as replacement for other emotions that we do not want to deal with it e.g. emotional pain, fear, loneliness or loss. Anger can be used to protect ourselves from a frustrating situation.

How does anger impact our lives?

Anger can have a major impact on our life;few things that can happen –

1 Physical Effects - An increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones results in long-term health issues such as heart disease and stroke. Chronic anger can weaken the immune system thus increasing the risk of physical illnesses.

2. Psychological Effects - Not managed properly, anger can lead to frustration, irritability, tension and stress. Anger may escalate into depression and anxiety, impacting overall well-being.

3. Strained Relationships - Anger leads to conflicts and misunderstandings which impacts and strainrelationships. Feeling of resentment, mistrust and hurt sets in At workplace, it can result in damaging

Finding ways to control anger is essential. When we allow anger to take control of our lives, it can affect everything we have. Learning to control anger and express it appropriately will help us in building better relationships, achieving our goals, and lead a healthier, more satisfying life.Here are a couple of coping mechanisms that can help -

1. Identifying The Root Cause: Identifying the root cause of your anger and understanding the emotions behind the anger certainly helps. Important is to know if the anger is masking other feelings like embarrassment, loneliness, shame, fear, insecurity, anxiety, vulnerability. Identifying the root cause ofanger will help us communicate our anger better, which will lead to constructive action and further resolution.

2. Do Not Bottle-Up: Bottling up the emotion will result in a sudden and intense outburst when its least expected. Expressing anger assertively instead of aggressively is the key.

3. Avoid Triggers: If we are quick to become angry, it’s useful to try to identify and avoid our triggers. If we are often triggered when having a conversation with a particular person or about a particular topic, we must avoid them or that topic until we’ve learned how to have better control over our anger.

4. Think Before You Speak: Allowing ourselves few moments before we say something in the heat of the moment which we might regret later, helps. We must collect our thoughts together and allow others involved in the situation to do the same as well. Once in control, we must address the concerns clearly and directly without trying to control the situation and hurting others.

5 Identify Possible Solutions: Instead of focusing on what made us angry, identifying what can be the possible solution, works. Few things are just out of our control thus we need to be realistic about what we can and cannot change. Getting angry does not fix things and might make things worse.

6 Forgive: Forgiveness is a powerful tool. We will be engulfed by our own bitterness if we allow anger to crowd over positive feelings. Forgiving someone who made us angry might help us learn from the situation and strengthen our relationships with people.

7. Cognitive Restructuring: Focus on expressing rational rather than irrational thoughts is crucial. We must avoid using ‘always’ and ‘never’ in our thoughts and conversations. These terms make us feel like our anger is justified making it worse. Managing anger doesn't mean one should never get angry. In fact, it involves learning how to acknowledge, cope with, and express our anger in healthy and constructive ways.

How anger helps us?

Anger is a substitute emotion too in some cases. People often express anger so that they don't have to feel pain. It makes them feel better to be angry than it does to be in pain which may be an conscious or unconscious action. Anger helps people in many ways -

• Distraction – Someone in pain will think about pain whereas someone with anger will think about harming self or others who caused them pain. Transforming this pain into anger results in an attention shift from self-focus to focus on others.

• Temporary Protection – Anger temporarily protects us from dealing with the real feeling be it pain, embarrassment, fear or guilt etc. It helps hiding the reality that we find a situation frightening or scary. Anger also helps to duck the need to work on resolution temporarily.

• Feeling of Righteousness – Getting angry also creates a feeling of righteousness, justification and moral superiority. When we are angry, we are angry with a cause. No one will get angry with anyone unless they feel they have been harmed by others. Justified or unjustified anger, the feeling of righteousness associated with anger offers a powerful boost to self-esteem.

Value adds of anger –

1. Protection - Anger as one of our most primitive emotions,is there to protect us from danger. Anger can trigger the body’s fight or flight response in unfavourable situations.Anger drives us to be extremely vigilant about threats and sharpens our focus, motivates us to fight back against the danger.

2. ManageBoundaries - Anger is a powerful indicator to understand our own boundaries. It indicates that something wrong either is done to us or our loved ones. It indicates that changes are needed and motivates us to protect our boundaries. Anger is an instigator for growth.

3. Raising Alert - Anger is experienced when we are denied rights, face disrespect or exploitation. Anger alerts us to injustice, motivates us to reach out and strive for what we deserve. It inspire us to fight for righteousness.

4. Achievement of Goals - Anger pushes us towards our desired goals and objectives. Anger gets triggered when we don’t get what we want hence indicating we have moved away from our desired objectives. Anger pushes us to strive for achieving our goals and rewards.

4. Provides Insights - By tracing the trail of anger and digging down deep to address the source of anger, we can get an insight into ourselves. Unfolding the layers of deeper issues which are hidden, we can address the blockage that results in anger and can free ourselves from miseries.

6. Anger Energizes Us - Anger guards us from hurt and provides us the strength and aggression to overcome fear and threats. Anger serves as a positive force and motivates us to take a stand and find solutions to the challenges we face. Important is that anger should be divorced from the inclination to harm.

7. Anger Can Lead To Self - Improvement–Anger, if used constructively, results in positives. It leads to self-change. If we know our triggers that make us angry we can consciously work on them to improve and bring in changes in us.

Mild and moderate anger helps and directs us to move forward positively, however, extreme anger can be detrimental to our well-being and relationships.

Summary

Anger elicits responses from three zones -

1. Psychological Response – that causes an enhanced sense of power couple with lack of reason, clarity, and judgment;

2. Physiological Response – that causes gush of adrenaline, increased heart rate, and other physical indices;

3. Cognitive Response – where you either express or repress your anger, or calm yourself.

An ancient Roman philosopher beautify broken down anger management as a 3 step process –

1. Find ways to avoid the anger triggers.

2. Learning to control anger when the emotion strikes.

3. Express your anger in an appropriate way

In reality, anger is the spark that sets us on fire and we burn others on the way as well.

It would be most appropriate to end this article with a metaphor : Anger, like a fire, is a primal force. When left unchecked, it can be destructive, yet when managed and used wisely, it can be a beneficial and powerful instrument that leads to enlightenment.

~ Mark Twain

Author Dr. Neeta Pant PhD in Clinical Psychology, Honorary PhD in Social Work Senior HR Professional, Executive Life Coach, POSH & amp; POCSO Enabler, Soft Skills Trainer, Master Hypnotist, Graphologist