Special education researcher Iman Jakala told Sham: Fear of schooling is related to evaluation anxiety, and alleviating it begins with supporting parents and providing a safe school environment.
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Special education researcher Iman Jakala said in an interview with the Duma news network that the fear some students feel as an approach to studies is not necessarily related to their weak academic preparation, but may arise as a result of anxiety about the evaluation situation itself, fear of failure and striving for perfection or unsuccessful academic experiences.
Jakala explained that the fear of learning stems from the intersection of psychological factors such as insecurity and comparison with others, and family factors represented by the pressure to achieve high grades and a connection between success and family satisfaction, in addition to educational factors that include fear of exams, excessive focus on grades and the use of reprimands.
The researcher explained that high anxiety affects the student's cognitive processes, such as attention, working memory and information retrieval, since preoccupation with the possibility of making a mistake takes away part of his ability to concentrate, making his performance in studying lower than his actual level of preparation despite his good knowledge of the information.
Jagala pointed out that linking the student's self-worth to academic achievements leads him to consider a low grade as evidence of his weakness, and warned that this belief leads to a decrease in self-confidence and avoidance of class participation, and emphasized that the grade measures performance in a specific situation and does not represent the student's comprehensive judgment.
The researcher confirmed that the family has an essential role in alleviating anxiety by avoiding comparison between children, not linking the parents' satisfaction with the grades, encouraging effort and organizing studies, listening to the children's fears and assuring them that mistakes are a natural part of learning and do not mean failure.
Jackala pointed out that teachers can reduce the fear of studying by providing a classroom environment free of threats, taking into account individual differences, avoiding reprimanding students in front of their peers and replacing it with constructive guidance that helps them correct their mistakes, and make them feel that studying is an opportunity to know their level of progress.