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Students, especially as they get older, are often quite pessimistic. They often think that they can’t learn, that the teacher will not like what they’ve written, and that they will fail the unit test. This is often seen as a typical behavior for young people and is just dismissed. However, recent research suggests that this pessimism may have negative effects on students and is something that should be tackled by schools rather than simply dismissed.
Pessimism and Optimism Research
A study conducted on 3,620 individuals during the COVID 19 pandemic found that high levels of pessimism were associated with fewer healthy behaviors during the pandemic such as washing hands, mask wearing, and social distancing. The researchers used data that had been collected before the pandemic about the personality of participants. They were asked questions about their levels of optimism with questions like “In uncertain times, I usually expect the best.” During the pandemic, the researchers looked into the habits and behaviors of the participants and compared that data to the data on their levels of optimism and pessimism from before.
The findings were that having a more pessimistic outlook reduced the healthy behaviors of the participants and that higher levels of optimism were associated with greater wellbeing and physical activity. More pessimism leading to a lack of preventative measures makes sense. If a person feels that a situation is hopeless or always fears the worst, they will often not bother trying their best as they feel doomed no matter what. Most interestingly, being more optimistic was not only associated with better habits, but also a feeling of more social support and even a desire to keep healthy with physical activity.
According to the researchers, “people who are more optimistic and less pessimistic worried less, were less stressed and lonely and were more resilient. This was partly because these people engaged in more physical activity and perceived more social support and less strain from their relationships.” (Oh, et al.) More optimism led to more healthy behaviors and a feeling that they had support and that things would be ok.
The researchers suggested that it was not specifically the optimism that led to feeling better, but that the optimism led to better behaviors which led to feeling better. “people with lower pessimism mentioned changing their behaviors to adapt to the situation, meeting with people on Zoom more frequently and exercising at home. It was these changes in behaviors like exercising more that partly helped people’s well-being.” (Oh, et al.) So it is not necessarily just a naturally occurring optimistic outlook that is important, but the habits these individuals had developed which led to their more positive outlook.
However, it could also be that these two things work together. More optimism leads to more healthy behaviors which leads to more optimism which leads to more healthy behaviors. This positive cycle can be self reinforcing and be very beneficial in the long term. Similarly, however, pessimism can lead to less risk taking and less effort put into self-care which will inevitably lead to more pessimism. So simply being optimistic is not immediately going to lead to better outcomes, but in the long term, it will lead to better habits that will increase wellbeing. The effects are not instantaneous and based on a single event or measure, but the result of a culmination of habits over time.
Student Learning with Pessimism and Optimism
This research highlights the need to ensure students are as optimistic as possible in school in order to help foster healthy habits of mind and body. Students often have very bad habits. Many are physically inactive, socially isolated, and very pessimistic. Though much of this is the fault of society or their home environments, schools often aggravate these issues by the way classes and schools are organized. It is important for teachers to think of ways to help their students develop good habits and not have policies in place that increase pessimism.
Assessment Retakes
One way to reduce pessimism is to reduce risk and pressure. It is quite common for teachers to only give one chance on tests, quizzes, and projects. This increases the risk of failure and can paralyze students with pessimism. Giving students the chance to retake assessments is a fantastic policy as it will directly reduce pessimism and increase optimism as they know that even if they fail, they can try again.
Some teachers may feel that this is making school too easy and is a weak policy. However, giving students chances to retake assessments actually requires them to do more work rather than making it easier. By giving students another chance on tests and papers they will be spending more time with the course content which will lead to better retention. If they can not retake, why would they review or look over that content again, at least until the next cumulative assessment.
In addition to the increased time studying and working with course materials during the retake, this new research suggests that reducing the pessimism of students will actually lead them to studying more the first time and reduce their need to retake in the first time. If they do not allow the pessimism to take over and make them feel like studying is hopeless, they will put more effort into learning in general.
To take this idea to the next level, teachers could even make retakes mandatory for students who do not achieve at a satisfactory level. This will have multiple positive effects. Firstly, students will be less likely to avoid studying as they know that the results of not studying enough will be that they are required to do another test. This will lead them to study more so that they can avoid the additional assessment. Secondly, however, it will also teach them an important lesson in life about failure.
While sometimes in life there truly is one chance to get something right, the vast majority of times, failure is simply a roadblock in the path to success. If you fail a job interview, it is true that you don’t get a second chance at that job, but there will always be another job interview with another company. So while it can make sense to sometimes have assessments where students are only given one chance to help them learn that they don’t always get second chances, it is also important to teach students the dangers of giving up after failure.
When you fall down, you have to get back up and go again. This is the essence of optimism. Pessimism is the fear that consequences are permanent while optimism is developed by knowing that failure is not the end. While it may be more work to have to grade another assessment from some students, this life lesson is too valuable to skip. Retakes will improve students’ approaches to learning, increase their pass rate, and teach them that failure is ok and that hard work and trying again is what leads to success.
Socialization in Class
Another thing that teachers can do to help increase optimism is by making the classroom a more social place. This does not mean that students should be given time to just hang out, but that the classroom should not be isolated students in desks listening to the teacher and taking notes for eight hours a day. Traditional teaching techniques are not only less effective, but do not allow for any social interaction except by asking the teacher questions.
The aforementioned research suggested that one of the key factors in the wellbeing and optimism in the participants was their increased social interactions. The social interactions were not even in person, but simple video calls, however, they were still important in helping people realize that they are not alone in their struggles. Students also need this social support during class and it can not be provided by the teacher.
Turn and talk activities and group projects are not uncommon in many classrooms. These types of activities give chances for students to talk about course content with a peer, see that they aren’t the only one struggling, and give and receive social support and encouragement. Teachers can not provide this as they do not struggle with course content and working with the teacher alone can often lead to increased feelings of pessimism as they may feel stupid when they can not understand something the teacher is explaining. Matching them with another similarly leveled student can not only allow students to support each other academically, but can also help them see that they are not the only one having difficulty.
It is important to be very careful when pairing students, however. Putting a high performer with someone who is struggling with the basics is often a recipe for disaster, especially for the struggling student. They will not only slow down the high performer, but also feel more hopeless as their classmate seems to understand so easily and they are absolutely at a loss. While sometimes pairing a strong student with a weaker student can be a great opportunity for the strong student to practice teaching and deepen their understanding, if the strong student does not have a supportive personality, this will not occur.
Generally it is best to put students with similar ability levels or matching personalities together. This will allow them to act as social support as well as an academic partner. Allowing students to slowly unpack course content together can help them see that they can achieve success with their hard work. The teacher should not always just give information and teach from the front of the classroom, but put the responsibility on the students to slowly work to unpack information. These small successes, though much slower than just telling the students the right answers and having them put it in their notes, create more resilient students as well as more optimistic students.
Model the Optimism You Want to See in Your Students
Lastly, it is important that, much like COVID, optimism and pessimism are both infectious. Teachers are people like everyone else, and can get frustrated, burnt out, and feel like things are hopeless. Though it is important to not always bottle up your emotions, the classroom is not the place to be expressing feelings of hopelessness, especially when it is about students themselves.
Students are very perceptive and they know when a teacher feels they will not be successful in a class. Knowing that your teacher thinks you are hopeless is a guaranteed recipe for pessimism in a class. Because of this, teachers need to be very careful how they express their frustration with students. It can be ok to let a student know that you are disappointed in them, that they have made you angry, or that they are not doing well in the class. However, these interactions always need to be couched in the context of expecting better from the student.
If the teacher uses words like “You always do the same thing” or “I know this is not your area of strength”, this signals to the student that the teacher does not think the student is capable of performing well. Instead, teachers should be positive, highlight the things that the student has done well, and give students lots of chances to retake, putting in more effort. If students truly believe that their teacher has hope for them, they will be more likely to try and reach that expectation. If they think that their teacher has no hope for them, they will also often fulfil that expectation as well.
Conclusion
While teachers can not completely change a student’s personality or outlook on life, there are things that can be implemented in the classroom to help students develop a more positive outlook. This increased positive outlook will result in students developing better approaches to learning as well as helping them learn that they can be successful even in areas where they struggle.
Giving students chances to retake assessments will teach them that failure is not the sign to give up. Instead, it will teach them that when they fail, it is not the end, but just one bump on the road to success. Retakes are one of the most vital steps a teacher can take to reduce students’ pessimism and increase the amount of time students are putting into coursework.
Teachers can also ensure that class time includes lots of turn and talk activities and group projects. These are not just helpful to reduce teacher talking time, but are important for students to develop social networks and share struggles. Students who work together will learn that they are not the only ones struggling and that by working together they can achieve small successes piece by piece.
It is also important to remember that the teacher’s attitude, energy, and outlook is absorbed by the students. While teachers are humans and need to have places to vent, this should be with other teachers or administrators and not in class with their students. Students need to believe that their teacher is optimistic about their chances if they are to be optimistic themselves.
Reducing pessimism and increasing optimism will help students develop good approaches to learning and increase their wellbeing in school. Students who believe they can succeed are more likely to study. Students who believe they will fail will not try. Teachers should do their best to create an environment of optimism to help students develop these self reinforcing positive cycles.
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