Legend Series #2 - Neil Curry (University of International Studies)

For the second in our series of the most-listened-to interviews produced by our contributing editors, we revisit the interview by Kate Maher with Neil Curry from the University of International Studies. The topic they discussed was cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

The topic being discussed follows on from the work we looked at in the last podcast, as it calls for teachers to become more aware of and apply teaching practices that are generally not covered by standard teacher training. While Professor Tokuhama-Espinosa looked at mental framing, this interview covered how CBT and other efforts to appreciate the mind's role in learning and improvement are now firmly within the required understanding of teachers.

In the good old days, when I was training to be a language teacher, we focused mainly on tasks and testing, on methodologies and their application. At this level of consideration, the individual student is a token of the class, not necessarily an individual who requires particular or specific attention. When I moved on from conversation school classes to university-level courses, such an approach became lacking. When conversations are to be had about student anxiety and the identification of problems students have severally or student populations have jointly when interacting with classroom activities, the diagnosis has to be precise, yet the prescription flexible enough to allow for individual differentiation.

To the interview…

Although the interview is discussed mainly in the Japanese context of the paper it covers, the points raised are relevant to both in-class and self-motivated learning. When we are set the task of learning something or put in a classroom with the intent of being taught something, people react in different ways. Neil introduces the context of the Japanese classroom for listeners who may not be familiar with it:

(14:25) The Japanese classroom is much more stressful in terms of the pressure that students feel from the other students in the class. They feel that they're being watched … they're being judged on their performance and what they say, and how they act … when I was at school, of course we do to some degree, right, but but here it does, it does seem to be very strong. And people are very wary about taking risks and being embarrassed. I think maybe maybe more so than some other places. So it's especially relevant in this context. And I think it's especially important that students do feel confident when they're when they're speaking. And they can feel free from this, this feeling.

These feelings of being observed and judged are not unique to Japan. However, when this context is being investigated, one must identify the specific problems being considered.

In his introduction, Neil lays out two important points about the study and application of Cognitive Behavioral Theory. It is not enough to consider it something that happens to other people, but recognize it is a natural reaction we all have. One must also recognize that it is not, as with any consideration of the mind in application, a binary state: stress or otherwise is not an ‘on’ or ‘off’ position of the mind but a spectrum of reactions on a variety of metrics.

In relation to classroom activities from the perspective of the teacher, Neil continues:

(20:10) This is why I believe it's really important to start this kind of conversation early on. Reflection, mastering how to reflect on what you're doing can take a lot of time. Because we're not all naturally reflective, or we don't always know how to really reflect on, on learning processes. So, if you start this early, the, the the ideas and the ways of doing it, begin to get framed. So, hopefully, after students been doing it for a while, by the time they get to the third, the fourth years, they should hopefully be able to better understand learning processes and better interpret.

Essentially, from the teacher's position in any classroom, the application of this approach begins before a student even enters the classroom. The instructor should encourage reflection from the beginning of the course, possibly not actively at first, but by building time into the lesson for students to take in what is passing before them. Once this class mood has been established through a cognitive approach, class time can be used more explicitly for its application.

Neil also makes the point that it is not only the students who should be considered when addressing classroom stresses:

(27:06) [T]

he other very common behavior that you see, which also has to be addressed a lot of the time is, is comparing one's own abilities to other peoples. And I see students do that a lot, though, they'll come so everyone else in the class is better than me. And so I feel like I can't speak. You see that a lot. And not just especially for freshmen, but even even the fourth years, what your parents say stuff like that. And so, again, it's, they have to kind of learn how to change that view, to stop making that kind of comparison.

Again, comparisons are not inherently negative and can be seen as natural occurrences in activities where hierarchies are likely to develop. What should be encouraged is if comparisons are being made, they should be with where the students used to be and the progress they have made, rather than their skills and scores relative to their colleagues.

Having an open and ongoing dialogue about awareness of the mental barriers that can arise in the classroom context is a very positive and practical discussion, one which I enjoyed relistening to and thinking about how it has affected my student counseling activities and ways I approach the education of my children. Where stresses and other mental effects of study are likely to occur and can be considered a natural reaction to the environment, it is always helpful for instructors, students, parents, and others in the process to keep mental health as an important part of learning strategies.

Go on, have a listen….