Effective Teaching for Anxious Learners: Seen, Safe and Supported

Aims to elevate learner anxiety from a pastoral concern to a pedagogical reality, enabling teachers in primary and secondary school settings to build a new perspective on and support anxious learners who may display challenging behaviours. This book explores the relationship between anxiety and common classroom problems such as unhelpful behaviour, work avoidance and learning loss. It promotes the philosophy that it is a teacher's role to 'support not fix' learners with anxiety and other mental health concerns by adopting effective pedagogical strategies. Despite not being recognised as a learning difficulty, anxiety can be something that makes learning very difficultfor pupils. Learners with anxiety have the right to be seen, feel safe at school and have their needs supported. This book provides teachers with a toolkit to cultivate a professional mindset that recognises behaviour as communication and that anxious pupils have the capacity to learn. It also delves into the neuroscience of anxiety, with text backed up by pertinent theory.. Written by a practicing classroom teacher, this book is packed with illustrations, quotations and humour as well as opportunities for critical reflection and tried and tested strategies, advice and reassurance.