Learned Helplessness and Motivation: What It Means for Pupils Who Give Up
Why do some pupils stop trying? The learned helplessness research, its 2016 revision, attribution retraining, and practical classroom responses.
Writing
Psychology and Learning
The psychology behind how children learn, feel and grow, from attachment and motivation to memory and anxiety, linked to the research.
10 articles
Self-Determination Theory: Autonomy, Competence and Belonging in Learning
Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory explains what keeps motivation alive. What the research says about autonomy, competence, relatedness and rewards, and how to use…
The Adolescent Brain: What the Science Says and What It Doesn’t
Teenage brains are still developing, but not in the way popular myths suggest. What research on brain change, peer influence, social sensitivity and sleep…
Attachment in the Classroom: What the Theory Does and Doesn’t Tell Us
Attachment theory is everywhere in schools. What Bowlby and Ainsworth found, how a teacher can act as a secure base, and why attachment labels…
The Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding, Explained
Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and the idea of scaffolding are often run together. Where each idea came from, what good scaffolding looks like,…
Maslow’s Hierarchy in Schools: What It Says and How to Use It Sensibly
Maslow's pyramid is everywhere in education. What Maslow wrote, what the evidence supports, where it falls short, and how schools can use the idea…
The Double Empathy Problem: Rethinking Autistic Communication
Damian Milton's double empathy problem argues that misunderstandings between autistic and non-autistic people run both ways. The research behind it, and what it means…
Retrieval Practice and Spacing: Learning That Lasts
Testing yourself, spreading practice out and mixing topics feel harder than rereading, yet the evidence shows they produce stronger long-term learning. How to use…
ACEs and Trauma-Informed Practice: Using the Research Carefully
The ACE study changed how schools think about childhood adversity. What it found, what trauma-informed practice means, and why ACE scores should not be…
Helping an Anxious Child: Ideas from Cognitive Behavioural Research
Cognitive behavioural research explains why avoidance keeps anxiety going and how small, gradual steps help. Ideas parents and teachers can use, and when to…
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