Psychological characteristics of the student (sample). Anxiety as a psychological characteristic of preschool children
Introduction
shyness anxiety teacher preschool
Relevance.In the context of the development of emotions and feelings of a person, such a feature of development as shyness is considered. Helping a child overcome shyness is more difficult than preventing its development is an important and common task for both teachers and parents. With age, a shy child already develops a certain style of behavior, he begins to be aware of his “lack”. Practice shows that adults do not always use an individual approach in working with shy preschool children, they do not know the peculiarities of pedagogical interaction with this category of children. Therefore, it is so important to identify the features of pedagogical interaction with shy children, aimed at preventing and overcoming shyness in preschool children. This determined the problem of our study.
The anxiety of a child largely depends on the level of anxiety of the adults around him. High anxiety of the teacher or parent is transmitted to the child. In families with friendly relations, children are less anxious than in families where conflicts often arise. An interesting fact is that after the divorce of the parents, when, it would seem, the scandals in the family ended, the level of anxiety of the child does not decrease, but, as a rule, increases sharply.
Purpose of the study: to identify the features of the methods and means of pedagogical influence aimed at overcoming shyness in children of older preschool age.
Object of study: shyness as a personality trait.
Subject of study: features of the teacher's work with shy children of older preschool age.
The purpose, object and subject of the study determined the need for setting and solving tasks:
Conduct a theoretical analysis of the psychological and pedagogical literature on the problem under study;
to explore the features of pedagogical work with shy preschool children;
Hypothesis:it is assumed that the competent work of the educator will help overcome anxiety and shyness in children.
Research methods: study and analysis of psychological, pedagogical, methodological literature and best practices on the problem of anxiety and shyness in children.
theoretical basisthe works of the following Gurevich Yu., Galiguzova L.N., Gasparov E., Karpenko V. and others served.
1. Theoretical foundations of shyness and anxiety in preschool children
.1 Shyness in preschool children
Shyness in preschool children is such an internal position of the child if he pays too much attention to the opinions of other people. The child becomes overly sensitive to the judgment of people around him. Hence - the desire to protect himself from people and situations that potentially threaten criticism about his appearance or behavior. As a result, the child tries to keep a low profile, avoid relationships that may draw undue attention to his personality.
Embarrassment can be regarded as a voluntary deprivation of one's freedom. It is like a prison where prisoners are deprived of the right to freedom of speech, freedom of communication, and so on. Most people experience embarrassment in one way or another. It is a certain natural protective device that allows you to assess the possible consequences of an act before it is committed. Usually shyness in children goes along with low self-esteem. Even apart from the fact that shy children can appreciate some of their qualities or abilities, in general they are extremely self-critical. One of the reasons for low self-esteem is too high demands on oneself. They are always a little short of the level that they demand from themselves.
The ideal relationship between parents and children should develop in preschool children individuality, a strong confidence in their own importance. When love is not given free of charge, if it is offered in exchange for something, for example, for “correct” behavior, then the child will suppress his own “I” and self-respect with every act. The message of such a relationship with a child is obvious: you are only as good as your achievements are, and you will never jump above your head. This is how feelings of love, approval, and acceptance are made into consumer goods that can be traded in exchange for "good behavior." And the worst thing is that with the slightest misconduct, you can lose them. And an insecure, shy person perceives this order of things as absolutely normal: he allegedly does not deserve better. Whereas a person who is given unconditional love, even after several failures, does not lose faith in his primary value.
Some teachers believe that shyness is genetically determined. Already in the first weeks of life, children are emotionally different from each other: some cry more, are more prone to mood swings. In addition to all this, children initially tend to differ in temperament and the need for contacts. Later, these features can germinate and turn into stable patterns of behavior. Children with an unusually sensitive nervous system take everything to heart. Accordingly, an extremely cautious approach to everything is developed and a constant readiness to retreat.
The acquisition of social experience makes it possible to fully form a number of genetically determined behavior patterns. Children who love to smile are more likely to smile back. They are more often carried on the hands than they are done with sullen or calm children. There are many underlying causes of shyness stemming from childhood emotions and how those emotions are perceived by the individual. If parents do not know how to teach their children sociability by example, children are likely to grow up shy.
The study showed that the country with the highest prevalence of shyness and shyness among preschool children is Japan, where 60% of those surveyed consider themselves shy. The feeling of shame is usually used to correct the behavior of individuals in accordance with generally accepted norms of behavior. The Japanese grow up deeply convinced that they have no right to even slightly discredit their family. In Japan, the entire burden of responsibility for failures falls solely on the shoulders of the child himself, but parents, teachers, and the coach are thanked for success.
Such a system of values suppresses the inclinations of enterprise and initiative in a person. In Israel, for example, children are brought up in a completely opposite way. Any achievements are attributed solely to the abilities of the child, while failures are blamed on incorrect upbringing, ineffective education, injustice, etc. In other words, actions are encouraged and stimulated, and failures are not severely punished. Israeli children lose nothing by defeat, but by success they are rewarded. So why not try? Japanese children, on the contrary, will not gain anything, but they can lose a lot. Therefore, they always doubt and try not to take risks.
There are many reasons that cause embarrassment and shyness, as well as many specific circumstances that cause embarrassment as a reaction to a particular situation. Below is a list of categories of people and situations that can cause such a reaction.
People who cause shyness:
Members of the opposite sex
Relatives and foreigners
older people
Parents
Siblings (most rare)
Most often, shyness in preschool children is caused by people who differ from them in certain parameters, have power, and control the flow of necessary resources. Or they are people so close that they can afford to criticize them.
Circumstances that cause shyness:
Being in the spotlight of a large group of people, for example, performing at a matinee;
Lower status than others;
Situations that require self-confidence;
New circumstances;
Situations requiring assessment;
Weakness, need for help;
Being one on one with a person of the opposite sex
Being the center of attention of a small group of people.
Shy children always get very excited when they are forced to perform some actions in unfamiliar circumstances, where critical statements of other people take place, which are unnecessarily demanding and influential.
How to help a shy child?
Psychologists talk about three main "parental" behaviors. They are described as follows:
an example of a liberal model - a child gets as much freedom as he is able to accept;
Research results show that the authoritative model is desirable and most effective. It contributes to the education of self-confidence in preschool children, and therefore is the most effective in curing childhood shyness. Despite the general opinion, the application of very clear liberalism in parenting does not develop self-confidence. Liberal parents often show inattention to the child, they do not consider it necessary to work out the main lines of his behavior. They often “sin” with inconsistency in upbringing, because of this, children may have the feeling that their parents are not interested in their feelings and problems, that their parents do not need them at all.
The other extreme concerns the authoritarian parenting model. Parents who choose this model also pay little attention to their children when it comes to unconditional love and care. They are limited only to the satisfaction of all physical needs. They are primarily concerned with such aspects of education as leadership and discipline, but they do not care at all about the emotional health of preschool children. Authoritarian parents care about the impression their children make on the people around them. For them, this is even more important than intra-family relations. They are absolutely sure that they form a “real person” out of the child, not realizing that they are coming to the opposite.
The peculiarity of the authoritative model of education is that, on the one hand, there is the presence of parental control, but on the other hand, the development of the child as a person is underway. Such parents have a clear idea of what the child is capable of, they often have confidential conversations with him and listen to what the child answers. Such parents are not afraid to change the rules of the game when a new circumstance forces them to act differently.
Before proceeding to a description of how to deal with shyness in preschool children and raise an open, emotionally receptive and at the same time not shy child, I want to note one nuance. Educators are forced to change themselves first. They may be required to completely change the atmosphere in the kindergarten so that it does not contribute to the development of shyness in the child.
Just as the connection between shyness and insecurity is obvious, so is the dependence on touches of security and calmness.
You need to take seriously the words of psychologists who believe that if you are not satisfied with the behavior of the child, you must definitely let him know that it is not the child himself that revolts you, but his actions. In other words, it is important for a child to know that he is loved, and this love does not depend on anything, it is constant and unchanging, that is, unconditional.
Excessive discipline can affect the development of shyness in preschool children through the following reasons:
Discipline is often based on the initial wrongness of the child, on the assertion that he must change. This leads to lower self-esteem.
The frightening authority of parents can develop into a serious complex, in which the child will feel fear of any authoritative persons. Embarrassment in this case is not a manifestation of reverence, it is a manifestation of fear of authority.
The basic concept of discipline is control. Overly controlled children grow up with the fear that they will lose control or that they will be forced to control a difficult situation.
The object of discipline is the person, not the circumstances. And very often the cause of behavior is in the environment or the behavior of other people. Before punishing a child, be sure to ask why he violated one of your rules.
Discipline should not be public. Respect the dignity of your child. Public reprimands and the shame that a child experiences while doing this can increase his shyness. Try to notice not only the misconduct of the child, but also to note good behavior.
Only by example can children be taught to be sympathetic. Let them look for the cause of failure in the first place in the circumstances, and not in the people around them. Talk about why this or that person does certain reckless things, or what could have influenced the change in his behavior.
Whenever you feel like saying something mean to your child, be aware of the strong connection between a child's self-esteem and shyness. This can help you overcome momentum. It is important for a child to evaluate himself positively.
Teach your child to trust people more. For this, it is important for parents to have the closest possible relationship with the child. Let him know that you love him and appreciate him for who he is. And that there are other people who can also appreciate and respect him if he gets close to them. Of course, there will always be those who will deceive or betray, but, firstly, there are fewer of them, and secondly, sooner or later they will be brought to light.
Try to reduce the amount of time you spend apart from your child and always give him a warning if you can give him attention. Even a minute of a warm and respectful conversation with a child is much more important than a whole day when you sat nearby, but were busy with your own business.
.2 Anxiety in preschool children
The word "anxious" is noted in many dictionaries. There are many versions explaining the origin of this term. The author of one of them believes that the word "alarm" means a three-time repeated signal of danger from the enemy.
In the psychological dictionary, the following definition of anxiety is given: it is “an individual psychological feature consisting in an increased tendency to experience anxiety in a variety of life situations, including those that do not predispose to this.”
Anxiety must be distinguished from anxiety. If anxiety is episodic manifestations of anxiety, agitation of a child, then anxiety is a stable condition. For example, it happens that a child is worried before speaking at a holiday or answering at the blackboard. But this anxiety is not always manifested, sometimes in the same situations he remains calm. These are manifestations of anxiety. If the state of anxiety is repeated often and in a variety of situations (when answering at the blackboard, communicating with unfamiliar adults, etc.), then we should talk about anxiety.
Anxiety is not associated with any particular situation and is almost always manifested. This state accompanies a person in any kind of activity. When a person is afraid of something specific, we are talking about the manifestation of fear. For example, fear of the dark, fear of heights, fear of enclosed space.
To date, a definite point of view on the causes of anxiety has not yet been developed. But most scientists believe that in preschool and primary school age, one of the main reasons lies in the violation of parent-child relationships.
Anxiety develops due to the presence of an internal conflict in the child, which can be caused by:
Contradictory demands made by parents, or parents and the school (kindergarten). For example, parents do not let their child go to school because they feel unwell, and the teacher puts a “deuce” in a journal and scolds him for skipping a lesson in the presence of other children.
Inadequate requirements (most often, overestimated). For example, parents repeatedly repeat to the child that he must certainly be an excellent student, they cannot and do not want to come to terms with the fact that their son or daughter gets not only “five” at school and is not the best student in the class.
Negative demands that humiliate the child, put him in a dependent position. For example, a caregiver or teacher says to a child: "If you tell who misbehaved in my absence, I will not tell my mother that you got into a fight." Experts believe that in preschool and primary school age boys are more anxious, and after 12 years - girls. At the same time, girls are more worried about relationships with other people, and boys are more worried about violence and punishment. Having committed some “unseemly” act, the girls are worried that their mother or teacher will think badly of them, and their girlfriends will refuse to play with them. In the same situation, boys are likely to be afraid that they will be punished by adults or beaten by their peers.
The anxiety of children increases if the parents are not satisfied with their work, living conditions, financial situation. Perhaps that is why the number of anxious children is steadily increasing in our time. The authoritarian style of parental upbringing in the family also does not contribute to the inner peace of the child.
There is an opinion that learning anxiety begins to form already in preschool age. This can be facilitated by both the teacher's work style and excessive demands on the child, constant comparisons with other children. In some families, during the entire year preceding school entry, in the presence of the child, there are talks about choosing a “worthy” school, a “promising” teacher. The concerns of parents are passed on to children. In addition, parents hire numerous teachers for the child, spend hours doing tasks with him. The child’s body, which is not yet strong and not yet ready for such intensive training, sometimes cannot stand it, the baby begins to get sick, the desire to learn disappears, and anxiety about the upcoming training increases rapidly.
Anxiety can be associated with neurosis or other mental disorders. In these cases, the help of medical specialists is needed.
A child is included in the kindergarten group. He peers intently at everything that is around, timidly, almost silently greets and awkwardly sits on the edge of the nearest chair. He seems to be expecting some kind of trouble.
This is an anxious child. There are many such children in kindergarten and at school, and working with them is not easier, but even more difficult than with other categories of “problem” children, because both hyperactive and aggressive children are always in sight, “at a glance”, and anxious try to keep their problems to themselves. They are distinguished by excessive anxiety, and sometimes they are afraid not of the event itself, but of its foreboding. Often they expect the worst. Children feel helpless, afraid to play new games, start new activities. They have high demands on themselves, they are very self-critical. Their level of self-esteem is low, such children really think that they are worse than others in everything, that they are the most ugly, stupid, clumsy. They seek encouragement, adult approval in all matters.
Anxious children are also characterized by somatic problems: abdominal pain, dizziness, headaches, throat cramps, shortness of breath, etc. During the manifestation of anxiety, they often feel dry mouth, lump in the throat, weakness in the legs, palpitations.
Emotions and feelings are a reflection of reality in the form of experiences. Various forms of experiencing feelings (emotions, affects, moods, stresses, passions, etc.) together form the emotional sphere of a person. Allocate such types of feelings as moral, intellectual and aesthetic. Fundamental and derivative emotions are distinguished. The fundamental ones include: interest-excitement, joy, surprise, grief-suffering, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame, guilt.
The rest are derivatives. From the combination of fundamental emotions, such a complex emotional state arises as anxiety, which can combine fear, anger, guilt, and interest-excitement. "Anxiety is an individual's propensity to experience anxiety, characterized by a low threshold for the occurrence of an anxiety reaction: one of the main parameters of individual differences." A certain level of anxiety is a natural and obligatory feature of the vigorous activity of the individual.
Each person has their own optimal or desirable level of anxiety - this is the so-called useful anxiety. A person's assessment of his state in this respect is an essential component of self-control and self-education for him. However, an increased level of anxiety is a subjective manifestation of a person's troubles. Manifestations of anxiety in different situations are not the same. In some cases, people tend to behave anxiously always and everywhere, in others they reveal their anxiety only from time to time, depending on the circumstances. It is customary to call situationally stable manifestations of anxiety personal and associated with the presence of a corresponding personality trait in a person (the so-called "personal anxiety"). This is a stable individual characteristic that reflects the subject's predisposition to anxiety and suggests that he has a tendency to perceive a fairly wide "fan" of situations as threatening, responding to each of them with a certain reaction. As a predisposition, personal anxiety is activated when certain stimuli are perceived by a person as dangerous, threats to his prestige, self-esteem, self-respect associated with specific situations. Situation-changing manifestations of anxiety are called situational, and a personality trait showing this kind of anxiety is referred to as "situational anxiety". This state is characterized by subjectively experienced emotions: tension, anxiety, concern, nervousness. This state occurs as an emotional reaction to a stressful situation and can be different in intensity and dynamic over time.
Individuals classified as highly anxious tend to perceive a threat to their self-esteem and life in a wide range of situations and react very tensely, with a pronounced state of anxiety. The behavior of anxious people in activities aimed at achieving success has the following features:
High-anxiety individuals are more emotionally sensitive than low-anxiety individuals to messages of failure.
High-anxiety people work worse than low-anxiety people in stressful situations or in conditions of lack of time allotted for solving a problem.
Fear of failure is a characteristic of highly anxious people. This fear dominates their desire to achieve success.
The motivation to achieve success prevails among low-anxiety people. It usually outweighs the fear of possible failure.
For highly anxious people, a message of success is more stimulating than a message of failure.
Low-anxiety people are more motivated by the message of failure.
Personal anxiety predisposes the individual to the perception and evaluation of many, objectively safe situations as those that carry a threat.
The activity of a person in a particular situation depends not only on the situation itself, on the presence or absence of personal anxiety in an individual, but also on the situational anxiety that arises in a given person in a given situation under the influence of prevailing circumstances. The impact of the current situation, a person's own needs, thoughts and feelings, the features of his anxiety as personal anxiety determine his cognitive assessment of the situation that has arisen. This assessment, in turn, evokes certain emotions (activation of the autonomic nervous system and an increase in the state of situational anxiety, along with expectations of a possible failure). Information about all this through the neural feedback mechanisms is transmitted to the human cerebral cortex, affecting his thoughts, needs and feelings. The same cognitive assessment of the situation simultaneously and automatically causes the body's response to threatening stimuli, which leads to the emergence of countermeasures and appropriate responses aimed at reducing the situational anxiety that has arisen. The result of all this directly affects the activities performed. This activity is directly dependent on the state of anxiety, which could not be overcome with the help of the responses and countermeasures taken, as well as an adequate cognitive assessment of the situation.
Thus, human activity in a situation that generates anxiety directly depends on the strength of situational anxiety, the effectiveness of countermeasures taken to reduce it, and the accuracy of the cognitive assessment of the situation.
Under the form of anxiety, we mean a special combination of the nature of experience, awareness, verbal and non-verbal expression in the characteristics of behavior, communication and activity. The form of anxiety manifests itself in spontaneously folding ways of overcoming and compensating it, as well as in the attitude of a child, a teenager to this experience.
It is known that there are 2 categories of anxiety:
Open - consciously experienced and manifested in behavior and activity in the form of a state of anxiety;
Hidden - to varying degrees not realized, manifested either by excessive calmness, insensitivity to real trouble and even denial of it, or indirectly through specific ways of behavior.
Acute, unregulated or poorly regulated anxiety - strong, conscious, manifested externally through the symptoms of anxiety, the individual cannot cope with it on his own.
Regulated and compensated anxiety, in which children independently develop sufficiently effective ways to cope with their anxiety. According to the characteristics of the methods used for these purposes, two subforms were distinguished within this form: a) reducing the level of anxiety and b) using it to stimulate one's own activity, increase activity. This form of anxiety occurs mainly in primary school and early adolescence, i. in periods characterized as stable.
An important characteristic of both forms is that anxiety is assessed by children as an unpleasant, difficult experience that they would like to get rid of.
Cultivated anxiety - in this case, in contrast to the above, anxiety is recognized and experienced as a valuable quality for the individual, allowing him to achieve what he wants. Cultivated anxiety comes in several forms. First, it can be recognized by an individual as the main regulator of his activity, ensuring his organization and responsibility. In this it coincides with form 2.b, the differences relate, as noted, only to the assessment of this experience. Secondly, it can act as a kind of worldview and value setting. Thirdly, it often manifests itself in the search for a certain “conditional benefit from the presence of anxiety and is expressed through an increase in symptoms. In some cases, one subject encountered two or even all three options at the same time.
As a kind of cultivated anxiety, the form that we conditionally called "magic" can be considered. In this case, the child, the teenager, as it were, “conjures the evil forces” by constantly playing in his mind the most disturbing events, constantly talking about them, without, however, freeing himself from fear of them, but strengthening it even more through the mechanism of an “enchanted psychological circle” ".
Speaking about the forms of anxiety, it is impossible not to touch on the problem of the so-called "disguised" anxiety. "Masks" of anxiety are called such forms of behavior that have the form of pronounced manifestations of personality traits generated by anxiety, allowing a person to experience it in a relaxed way and not to show it outwardly. Aggressiveness, dependence, apathy, excessive daydreaming, etc. are most often described as such “masks”. Aggressive-anxious and dependent-anxious types are distinguished (with varying degrees of awareness of anxiety). The aggressive-anxious type is most often found in preschool and adolescence, both in open and latent forms of anxiety, as a direct expression of aggressive forms of behavior. The anxiety-dependent type is most often found in open forms of anxiety, especially in acute, unregulated and cultivated forms.
Emotions play an important role in children's lives: they help to perceive reality and respond to it. Manifested in behavior, they inform the adult that the child likes, angers or upsets him. This is especially true in infancy when verbal communication is not available. As the child grows, his emotional world becomes richer and more diverse. From the basic ones (fear, joy, etc.), he moves on to a more complex range of feelings: happy and angry, delighted and surprised, jealous and sad. The outward manifestation of emotions also changes. This is no longer a baby who cries both from fear and from hunger. At preschool age, the child learns the language of feelings - the forms of expression of the finest shades of experiences accepted in society with the help of glances, smiles, gestures, postures, movements, voice intonations, etc. On the other hand, the child masters the ability to restrain violent and harsh expressions of feelings. A five-year-old child, unlike a two-year-old, may no longer show fear or tears. He learns not only to a large extent to control the expression of his feelings, to clothe them in a culturally accepted form, but also to consciously use them, informing others about his experiences, influencing them. But preschoolers are still spontaneous and impulsive. The emotions that they experience are easily read on the face, in the posture, gesture, in all behavior.
For a practical psychologist, the behavior of a child, the expression of his feelings is an important indicator in understanding the inner world of a small person, indicating his mental state, well-being, and possible development prospects. Information about the degree of emotional well-being of the child gives the psychologist an emotional background. The emotional background can be positive or negative. The negative background of the child is characterized by depression, bad mood, confusion. The child almost does not smile or does it ingratiatingly, the head and shoulders are lowered, the facial expression is sad or indifferent. In such cases, there are problems in communication and establishing contact. The child often cries, is easily offended, sometimes for no apparent reason. He spends a lot of time alone, not interested in anything. During the examination, such a child is depressed, not proactive, hardly comes into contact.
One of the reasons for such an emotional state of the child may be the manifestation of an increased level of anxiety. Anxiety in psychology is understood as a person's tendency to experience anxiety, i.e. an emotional state that occurs in situations of uncertain danger and manifests itself in anticipation of an unfavorable development of events. Anxious people live, feeling constant unreasonable fear. They often ask themselves the question: “What if something happens?” Increased anxiety can disorganize any activity (especially significant), which, in turn, leads to low self-esteem, self-doubt (“I couldn’t do anything!”).
Thus, this emotional state can act as one of the mechanisms for the development of neurosis, as it contributes to the deepening of personal contradictions (for example, between a high level of claims and low self-esteem). Everything that is characteristic of anxious adults can be attributed to anxious children. Usually these are very insecure children, with unstable self-esteem. Their constant feeling of fear of the unknown leads to the fact that they rarely take the initiative. Being obedient, they prefer not to attract the attention of others, they behave approximately both at home and in kindergarten, they try to strictly fulfill the requirements of parents and educators - they do not violate discipline, they clean up toys after themselves. Such children are called modest, shy. However, their exemplification, accuracy, discipline are protective in nature - the child does everything to avoid failure.
Excessive severity of parents also contributes to the emergence of fears. However, this happens only in relation to parents of the same sex as the child, i.e., the more the mother forbids the daughter or the father for the son, the more likely they are to have fears. Often, without hesitation, parents inspire fear in children with their never-realized threats like: “Uncle will take you in a bag”, “I will leave you”, etc.
In addition to these factors, fears also arise as a result of fixing strong frights in the emotional memory when meeting with everything that personifies danger or poses a direct threat to life, including an attack, accident, operation, or serious illness. If anxiety intensifies in a child, fears appear - an indispensable companion of anxiety, then neurotic traits may develop. Self-doubt, as a character trait, is a self-destructive attitude towards oneself, one's strengths and capabilities. Anxiety as a character trait is a pessimistic attitude towards life when it is presented as full of threats and dangers. Uncertainty gives rise to anxiety and indecision, and they, in turn, form the corresponding character.
An insecure, anxious person is always suspicious, and suspiciousness breeds distrust of others. Such a child is afraid of others, waiting for attacks, ridicule, resentment. He does not cope with the task in the game, with the case. This contributes to the formation of psychological defense reactions in the form of aggression directed at others. So, one of the most famous methods, which anxious children often choose, is based on a simple conclusion: “in order to be afraid of nothing, you need to make sure that they are afraid of me.” The mask of aggression carefully hides anxiety not only from others, but also from the child himself. However, deep down they still have the same anxiety, confusion and uncertainty, lack of solid support.
Anxiety as a certain emotional infusion with a predominance of feelings of anxiety and fear of doing something wrong, not meeting generally accepted requirements and norms develops closer to 7 and especially 8 years with a large number of insoluble fears coming from an earlier age.
The main source of anxiety for preschoolers and younger schoolchildren is the family. In the future, already for adolescents, this role of the family is significantly reduced; but the role of the school doubles. It is noted that the intensity of anxiety experience, the level of anxiety in boys and girls are different. In preschool and primary school age, boys are more anxious than girls. This is due to the situations with which they associate their anxiety, how they explain it, what they fear. And the older the children, the more noticeable this difference. Girls are more likely to associate their anxiety with other people. The people with whom girls can associate their anxiety include not only friends, relatives, teachers. Girls are afraid of the so-called "dangerous people" - drunkards, hooligans, etc. Boys, on the other hand, are afraid of physical injury, accidents, as well as punishments that can be expected from parents or outside the family: teachers, school principals, etc.
Thus, a diffident, prone to doubt and hesitation, a timid, anxious child is indecisive, dependent, often infantile, highly suggestible.
The negative consequences of anxiety are expressed in the fact that, without affecting intellectual development in general, a high degree of anxiety can adversely affect the formation of divergent (i.e. creative, creative) thinking, for which such personality traits as the absence of fear of the new, the unknown are natural . Nevertheless, in children of senior preschool and primary school age, anxiety is not yet a stable character trait and is relatively reversible when appropriate psychological and pedagogical measures are taken.
2. Experimental study of the features of the teacher's work with shy and anxious children
.1 Identification of children with certain manifestations of shyness and anxiety
The main feature of the work of the educator is the prevention and correction of shyness and anxiety in children.
The work was carried out on the basis of MDOU No. 2 in Bryansk. Number of children: 20 people.
Object of research: children of preschool age.
Subject of research: shyness and anxiety of preschool children.
Purpose: to study the features of the work of a teacher with shy and anxious children
choose diagnostic methods
process the results
draw conclusions
Shyness is closely related to anxiety. To study the peculiarities of the teacher's work with shy and anxious children, the Anxiety Test method was used.
Methodology: An anxiety test developed by American psychologists (R. Temml, M. Dorki, V. Amen). The test is aimed at studying the child's anxiety in relation to a number of typical life situations of communication with other people.
Each drawing is made in two versions: for girls (the picture shows a girl) and for boys (the picture shows a boy). The child's face is not drawn in the figure, only the outline of the head is given. Each drawing is supplied with two additional drawings of a child's head, in size exactly corresponding to the contour of the face in the drawing. One of the additional drawings depicts a smiling face of a child, the other a sad one.
The drawings were presented to the child in a strictly listed order, one after another. Having presented the drawing to the child, the following instruction was given: “What do you think this child’s face will be, sad or cheerful?”
The protocols of each child were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analysis.
Depending on the level of the anxiety index, the children were divided into 3 groups:
a) high level of anxiety (IT over 50%);
b) the average level of anxiety (IT from 20 to 50%);
c) low level of anxiety (TI from 0 to 20%).
According to the results of the methodology, it turned out that 60% of children have a high level of anxiety, an average level of 30% and a low level of 10% of the subjects (Table 1).
Table 1. Level of anxiety
Anxiety level Number of children%high1260medium630low210total20100
In the qualitative analysis, the children's responses were analyzed separately. Conclusions are drawn regarding the possible nature of the child's emotional experience in this (and similar) situation (Table 2).
Table 2. Qualitative analysis of responses
DrawingSayingChoiceHappy faceSad face1. Playing with younger childrenHe is tired of playing+2. A child and a mother with a babyWalks with mom, I like to walk with mom +3. The object of aggression I want to hit him with a chair. He has a sad face +4. DressingHe will go for a walk. Gotta get dressed +5. Playing with older childrenBecause he has children+6. Putting to bed aloneI always take a toy to bed+7. Washing Because he washes himself+8. ReprimandMom wants to leave him+9. Ignoring Because there is a baby +10. AggressivenessBecause someone takes away a toy +11. Picking up toysMom makes him, but he doesn't want to +12. IsolationThey don't want to play with him+13. Child with parentsMom and dad walk with him+14. Eating alone Drinking milk and I love thread milk +
Figs. 4 ("Dressing"), 6 ("Going to bed alone"), 14 ("Eating alone").
Children who have made a negative emotional choice in these situations have high IT; children who made negative emotional choices in the situations depicted in Fig. 2 ("Baby and mother with baby"), 7 ("Washing"), 9 ("Ignoring") and 11 ("Toy picking"), have an average IT.
As a rule, the highest level of anxiety is manifested in situations simulating child-child relationships (“Playing with younger children”, “Object of aggression”, “Playing with older children”, “Aggressive attack”, “Isolation”)
The level of anxiety is significantly lower in drawings simulating child-adult relationships (“Child and mother with baby”, “Reprimand”, “Ignoring”, “Child with parents”), and in situations simulating everyday activities (“Dressing”, “Putting sleeping alone”, “Washing”, “Toy picking”, “Eating alone”).
According to the results of the study, it turned out that most of the children have a high level of anxiety. Therefore, educators need to take measures to overcome anxiety and shyness.
Work with shy children should be systematic and multifaceted. Its main purpose is to overcome this quality. The teacher can use both group and individual form of work. Main methods: game therapy, art therapy, fairy tale therapy, psycho-gymnastics, creative games, communication exercises.
Ways to solve the problem of shyness:
Help the child expand the circle of his acquaintances: invite friends to him more often, visit familiar people with the child, expand the walking route, teach the child to be calm about new places;
You should not constantly worry about the child, strive completely, protect the child from possible dangers, do not strive to do everything for the child yourself, prevent any difficulties. To give the child a certain measure of freedom and the possibility of open actions.
Constantly reinforce the child's self-confidence, in their own abilities and capabilities. Help your child find something good in themselves for which they could respect themselves. Praise your child and teach him to accept praise from others.
Start involving the child in various assignments related to society, create situations in which a shy child would have to come into contact with "foreign adults."
It is not necessary to trust someone else's opinion about the child, because someone else's assessment was made in a different place, at a different time and under unknown circumstances. Before judging the behavior of the child, you need to understand the conditions caused by it, the reasons. Listen to the opinion of the child himself, get confused to understand and accept his point of view.
An unconditional positive attitude is the acceptance of a child with all the advantages and disadvantages, without giving vent to a feeling of dissatisfaction and the desire to change the child right now.
Create an atmosphere of trust in your home, stimulate the child. In order for him to tell you about his problems, listen to him, show sympathy.
Necessary:
constantly reinforce the child's self-confidence and self-confidence;
involve the child in the performance of various tasks related to communication;
expand your circle of acquaintances.
There are many tasks and exercises to overcome shyness in children:
exercises on the expressiveness of speech (“Different voices”, “Who is more”, “Roar, lion, growl”, etc.)
complex games that remove the fear of public speaking ("Fants", "Zoo", "Sorcerer", etc.).
One of the areas of work can be work with parents. The task of the educator is to explain to parents the characteristics of such children, as well as to introduce them to the methods of helping shy children at home. The educator, together with the parents, can instill confidence and adequate self-esteem in the child, form a sense of self-worth and develop social behavior skills in him. The parents of a shy child require patience and restraint in communication, support when trying to communicate with other children.
Thus, in the course of the successful work of a teacher with shy children, it is possible to remove the label of shyness from him, hung on him by other people, and reduce the level of anxiety. A clear, gradual, systematic impact on a shy child is necessary, only then can he become open and sociable.
Conclusion
Within the framework of this work, the concepts of shyness and anxiety were characterized from the point of view of pedagogy, on the basis of which the definition of shyness was singled out as a character trait, manifested in embarrassment, anxiety, indecision, difficulties in communication caused by thoughts about one's inferiority and the negative attitude of interlocutors towards oneself.
To solve the problem of shyness in children, a generalization of all known methods for eliminating shyness in children of primary school age was made. The role of educators and adults in the process of raising shy children.
In the course of practical work with children studying at MDOU No. 5, the overall percentage of shy children was identified according to certain criteria of shyness by interviewing students.
According to the results of the study, it turned out that 60% of children have a high level of anxiety, an average level of 30% and a low level of 10% of the subjects.
In this course work, recommendations were made to the teacher and parents on raising shy children.
Do not put labels on the child (no need to pay attention to the shyness of the child);
Follow the child, do not force the child to get into uncomfortable situations;
Remain in all cases calm, balanced and imperturbable;
Based on the above material, we can conclude that this course work proved the relevance of the problem posed, it developed important guidelines for educators in working with shy and anxious children.
Bibliography
1.Large psychological and pedagogical dictionary. - Rostov - on Don, 2011. - 576 p.
2.Volkova E.M. Difficult kids or difficult parents? - M.: Profizdat, 2014. - 196 p.
.Gurevich Yu. On the other side of shyness // Pedagogical kaleidoscope. -2012 - No. 5. - pp. 12-16
.Galiguzova L.N. Psychological analysis of the phenomenon of shyness / Questions of psychology. - 2010. - No. 5. - pp. 14-16
.Galiguzova L.N. Shy child // Preschool education. - 2011 - No. 4. - S. 116-120.
.Gasparova E. Shy child // Preschool education. Publishing house "Enlightenment". - 2011. - No. 3. - pp. 11-12
.Zimbardo F. Shyness (what it is and how to deal with it). - St. Petersburg: Peter Press, 2014. - 256 p.
.Karpenko V. Shyness // Education of schoolchildren. - 2013. - No. 2. - pp. 10-13
.Klenkina.V.Yu., Khalyavina.O.V. "Shyness as a problem of childhood", 2012. - 214 p.
.Minaeva V. How to help a child overcome shyness // Education of schoolchildren. - 2011- №9. - pp. 10-14
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.Psychology of education / Gribanova A.D., Kalinenko V.K. - 2nd ed. - M.: Aspect Press, 2013. - 152 p.
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In connection with the beginning of schooling, a child may develop school anxiety, which can be triggered by various factors. It is important that the teacher be able to identify such children, be able to understand the cause of increased anxiety and, based on these data, help the child cope with this problem.
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Problem: school anxiety. Features of the behavior of an anxious child
With the beginning of schooling, there are significant changes in the emotional life of children. At the same time, younger students still cannot restrain the manifestations of emotions. The need for regular and as early as possible control over the course of the child's mental development and the correction of disorders that have arisen has long been recognized in Russian psychology. At the same time, the prospect of a real solution to this most important practical problem arose relatively recently, with the beginning of the creation of a psychological service at school.
In connection with the beginning of schooling, a child may develop school anxiety, which can be triggered by various factors. It is important that the teacher be able to identify such children, be able to understand the cause of increased anxiety and, based on these data, help the child cope with this problem.
Teachers consider only aggressive and hyperactive children to be problematic, and little attention is paid to anxious children. They usually study averagely, are quiet, and are considered trouble-free children. But the problem with such children is that the heightened anxiety they experience in a variety of situations in school life prevents them from learning effectively. And bad grades and excessive demands from adults lead to an increase in fears and anxiety. It turns out a vicious circle from which the child cannot get out on his own without the help of an adult. The teacher should not leave the child alone with his problem, but should purposefully eliminate them, individually approaching each child and working with parents.
Fear can develop in a person at any age: in children from one to three years old, night fears are not uncommon; in the 2nd year of life, fear of unexpected sounds, fear of loneliness, and fear of pain are most often manifested. At the age of 3-5, children are characterized by fears of loneliness, darkness, enclosed space. At the age of 5-7, fear of death becomes the leading one. From 7 to 11 years old, children are most afraid of “not being someone who is well spoken of, respected, appreciated and understood”
Currently, the number of anxious children, characterized by increased anxiety, insecurity, and emotional instability, has increased. Unlike anxiety as a state, anxiety as a personality trait is not inherent in everyone. Anxiety becomes a stable personality formation in adolescence. Prior to that, it is a derivative of a wide range of disorders. Consolidation and intensification of anxiety occurs according to the mechanism of a “vicious psychological circle”, leading to the accumulation and deepening of negative emotional experience, which, in turn, giving rise to negative prognostic assessments and determining in many respects the modality of actual experiences, contributes to an increase and persistence of anxiety. It is precisely for the prevention of the neurotic-anxious type of personality development that it is necessary to help children find effective ways by which they could cope with excitement, insecurity, and other manifestations of emotional instability.
However, for a harmonious full-fledged life, a certain level of anxiety is simply necessary. Such anxiety does not paralyze a person, but, on the contrary, mobilizes him to overcome obstacles and solve problems. Therefore, it is called constructive. As for the pedagogical process, a feeling of anxiety inevitably accompanies the child's learning activities in any, even the most ideal school. According to the Yerkes-Dodson law
the optimal level of anxiety increases the productivity of activity.
It is possible to completely remove the state of anxiety only by eliminating all difficulties, which is not realistic, and is not necessary. However, in a significant part of cases, we are dealing with a destructive manifestation of anxiety, which causes a state of panic, despondency. The child begins to doubt his abilities and strengths. But anxiety disorganizes not only learning activities, it begins to destroy personal structures.
The well-known psychologist A. Parishioner identifies the following features of anxious children at school:
Relatively high level of learning. At the same time, the teacher may consider such a child incapable or insufficiently capable of learning.
These students cannot single out the main task in the work, focus on it. They try to control all elements of the task at the same time.
If it is not possible to immediately cope with the task, the anxious child refuses further attempts. He explains the failure not by his inability to solve a specific problem, but by his lack of any abilities.
At the lesson, the behavior of such children may seem strange: sometimes they answer questions correctly, sometimes they are silent or answer at random, giving, among other things, ridiculous answers. They speak inconsistently, excitedly, blushing and gesticulating, sometimes barely audible. And it has nothing to do with how well the child knows the lesson.
When an anxious student is pointed out to his mistake, the strangeness of behavior intensifies, he seems to lose all orientation in the situation, does not understand how he can and should behave.
Anxiety can be very difficult to discern behind aggressiveness. Anxious children often come to a simple conclusion - in order not to be afraid of anything, you need to make sure that they are afraid of me. As Eric Berne puts it, they are trying to convey their anxiety to others. Therefore, aggressive behavior is often a form of hiding personal anxiety.
Another common outcome of anxious experiences is passive behavior, lethargy, apathy, lack of initiative. The conflict between conflicting aspirations was resolved by giving up any aspirations. The "mask" of apathy is even more deceptive than the "mask" of aggression. Inertia, the absence of any emotional reactions makes it difficult to recognize an alarming situation.
The refuge of many children, their salvation from anxiety, is the world of fantasy. In fantasies the child resolves his insoluble conflicts, in dreams his unsatisfied needs are satisfied.
Anxious children are prone to bad habits of a neurotic nature.
V.V. Lebedinsky emphasizes that each age has “its own” fears, which, in the case of normal development, are an important link in the regulation of behavior and disappear over time. Anxiety and fear are not uniquely “harmful” for a child, they are not diseases in themselves, but, layering on another ailment, they make it worse.
Childhood fears are a common occurrence in child development. The appearance of certain fears coincides in time with a leap in psychological development. But, it is necessary to separate the pathological fear and anxiety that require correction from the normal, age level, so as not to disrupt the development of the child.
Knowing the causes of increased anxiety and fears will lead to the creation and timely implementation of corrective and developmental work, helping to reduce anxiety and form adequate behavior in children.
The source of inspired children's fears is the adults surrounding the child (parents, grandmothers, educators of children's institutions), who involuntarily infect the child with fear, the fact that they are overly persistent, emphatically emotionally indicate the presence of danger. Among the inspired ones can also be attributed the fears that arise in overly anxious parents. Talking in front of a child about death, illness, fires, murders affects his psyche, cripple it. All this gives grounds to talk about the reflex nature of fear, even if the child is frightened (shudders) at a sudden knock or noise, because. the latter was once accompanied by an extremely unpleasant experience. Such a combination was imprinted in the memory in the form of a certain emotional trace and is now involuntarily associated with any sudden sound impact.
School fears not only deprive the child of psychological comfort, the joy of learning, but also contribute to the development of childhood neuroses. First-graders who, for various reasons, cannot cope with the academic load, eventually fall into the category of underachievers, which in turn leads to both neurosis and school fear.
Anxious children are very sensitive to their failures, react sharply to them, tend to refuse those activities, such as painting, in which they have difficulty.
In these children, you can notice a noticeable difference in behavior in and out of class. Outside of classes, these are lively, sociable and direct children, in the classroom they are clamped and tense. They answer the questions of the teacher in a quiet and deaf voice, they may even begin to stutter. Their speech can be either very fast, hasty, or slow, difficult. As a rule, prolonged excitement occurs: the child pulls clothes with his hands, manipulates something.
Anxious children are prone to bad habits of a neurotic nature (they bite their nails, suck their fingers, pull out their hair, masturbate). Manipulation with their own body reduces their emotional stress, soothe them.
Watching children in a kindergarten group, talking with teachers and parents, one can notice the appearance of a large number of emotionally unstable, anxious older preschoolers.
It is possible to conditionally divide anxious children into four groups: "neurotic", "disinhibited", "shy", "closed".
"Neurotics". Children with somatic manifestations (tics, enuresis, stuttering, etc.). This is the most difficult category to work with at school, as the problem goes beyond the purely psychological. In addition, working with psychosomatic manifestations of anxiety requires patience and self-confidence, which is usually not enough for a school psychologist. Such children often need to consult a neurologist, and sometimes a psychiatrist. Unfortunately, modern parents are so afraid of the word "psychiatrist" that they do not always agree to go to see him. It's good if you can recommend a specialist you trust yourself. Working with this type of anxious children, first of all, it is necessary to give them the opportunity to speak out, to feel my disposition towards them and interest in their fears. It is also necessary to reassure parents, ask them not to focus on somatic manifestations.
The task of the psychologist is to create a situation of comfort and acceptance for the child, to find and minimize the traumatic factor. It is useful for such children to draw fears, any manifestation of activity will help them, for example, “peel” pillows, cuddle with soft toys.
"Disinhibited". These are very active, emotionally excitable children with deeply hidden fears. At first they try very hard to study well, but they fail. Then they become violators of discipline. They can deliberately pretend to be a laughingstock for the class, as they are very afraid to actually become such because of their failure. It seems that by increased activity they are trying to drown out fear. They may have mild organic disorders that interfere with successful study (problems with memory, attention, fine motor skills).
Such children need a benevolent attitude of others, support from the teacher and classmates. It is necessary to create a sense of success in them, to help them believe in their own strength. In the classroom, you need to give an outlet for their activity.
"Shy". Usually they are quiet, charming children. They are afraid to answer at the blackboard, do not raise their hands, do not show initiative, do not come into contact with peers, are very diligent and diligent in their studies. They are afraid to ask the teacher about something, they are very scared if he raises his voice (not necessarily at them). They worry if they didn’t do something, often cry because of minor troubles. All errors are carefully covered or erased. They will not rest until they have done everything that is asked. Willingly communicate with a psychologist, talk about themselves, perform tasks.
Such children will be helped by a group of peers, selected according to their interests. Adults should support them, in case of difficulty, calmly offer a way out, recognize the child's right to make a mistake, and praise more.
"Closed". Gloomy, unfriendly children. They do not react to criticism in any way, they try not to make contact with adults, they avoid noisy games, they sit separately. They may have problems in their studies, as there is no interest in anything and involvement in the process. It seems that they constantly expect a dirty trick from everyone.
In working with such children, it is necessary to build on their interests, to show participation and goodwill. It is also useful for them to speak out, and then join a group of peers with similar interests.
Contradictory demands made by parents, or parents and the school (kindergarten). For example, parents do not let their child go to school because they feel unwell, and the teacher puts a “deuce” in a journal and scolds him for skipping a lesson in the presence of other children.
Inadequate requirements (most often overestimated). For example, parents repeatedly repeat to the child that he must certainly be an excellent student, they cannot and do not want to come to terms with the fact that their son or daughter gets not only “five” at school and is not the best student in the class.
Negative demands that humiliate the child, put him in a dependent position. For example, a caregiver or teacher tells a child: “If you tell who misbehaved in my absence, I will not tell my mother that you had a fight.”
Let us highlight the behavioral features associated with the specifics of the manifestation of anxiety in children. Anxious children get tired quickly, it is difficult for them to switch to other activities. This is due to constant voltage. Quite often, anxious children demonstrate inappropriately high self-esteem. They want to be accepted and praised so much that they often wishful thinking. It can't even be called cheating - it's a defensive reaction. Anxious children experience increased responsibility for everything that happens, they tend to blame themselves for all the troubles that happen to their loved ones. Even if outwardly it does not manifest itself in any way, it breaks through in the conversation. The child must know the limits of his responsibility. On the one hand, when you are responsible for someone, you stop being afraid, and start acting, but on the other hand, this creates unbearable tension, therefore, anxiety increases.
The portrait of an anxious child can be depicted as follows: a child enters the group, he peers intently at everything that is around, timidly, almost silently greets and awkwardly sits on the edge of the nearest chair. He seems to be expecting some kind of trouble. This is an anxious child. There are many such children in kindergarten, and working with them is not easier, but even more difficult, than with other categories of "problem" children, because both hyperactive and aggressive children are always in sight, as if in the palm of their hand, and anxious ones try to keep their problems at bay. yourself. They are distinguished by excessive anxiety, and sometimes they are afraid not of the event itself, but of its foreboding. Often they expect the worst. Children feel helpless, afraid to play new games, start new activities. They have high demands on themselves, they are very self-critical. Their level of self-esteem is low, such children really think that they are worse than others in everything, that they are the most ugly, stupid, clumsy. They are looking for encouragement, approval of adults in all matters.
Anxious children are distinguished by frequent manifestations of anxiety and anxiety, as well as a large number of fears, and fears and anxiety arise in those situations in which the child, it would seem, is not in danger. Anxious children are especially sensitive. So, the child may be worried: while he is in the garden, suddenly something will happen to his mother.
Anxious children are often characterized by low self-esteem, in connection with which they have an expectation of trouble from others. This is typical for those children whose parents set impossible tasks for them, demanding this, which the children are not able to fulfill, and in case of failure, they are usually punished, humiliated (“You can’t do anything! You can’t do anything! ").
Anxious children are very sensitive to their failures, react sharply to them, tend to refuse those activities, such as painting, in which they have difficulty. In these children, you can notice a noticeable difference in behavior in and out of class. Outside of classes, these are lively, sociable and direct children, in the classroom they are clamped and tense. They answer the questions of the teacher in a quiet and deaf voice, they may even begin to stutter. Their speech can be either very fast, hasty, or slow, difficult. As a rule, prolonged excitement occurs: the child pulls clothes with his hands, manipulates something. Anxious children are prone to bad habits of a neurotic nature (they bite their nails, suck their fingers, pull out their hair, masturbate). Manipulation with their own body reduces their emotional stress, soothe them. Drawing helps to recognize anxious children. Their drawings are distinguished by an abundance of shading, strong pressure, as well as small image sizes. Often these children get stuck on details, especially small ones.
Anxious children have a serious, restrained expression, downcast eyes, sits neatly on a chair, tries not to make unnecessary movements, not to make noise, prefers not to attract the attention of others. Such children are called modest, shy. Anxious children are also characterized by somatic problems: abdominal pain, dizziness, headaches, throat cramps, shortness of breath, etc. During the manifestation of anxiety, they often feel dry mouth, lump in the throat, weakness in the legs, palpitations.
An experienced teacher, of course, in the very first days of meeting children will understand which of them has increased anxiety. However, before drawing final conclusions, it is necessary to observe the child of concern on different days of the week, during training and free activities (at recess, on the street), in communication with other children. P. Baker and M. Alvord advise to take a closer look at whether the following signs are characteristic of the child's behavior.
The following criteria for determining anxiety in a child can be distinguished:
constant anxiety;
difficulty, sometimes inability to concentrate on anything;
muscle tension (for example, in the face, neck);
irritability;
sleep disorders.
It can be assumed that the child is anxious if at least one of the criteria listed above is constantly manifested in his behavior.
Thus, the behavior of anxious children is characterized by frequent manifestations of anxiety and anxiety, such children live in constant tension, all the time, feeling threatened, feeling that they can face failure at any moment.
In the literature, there are two main approaches to overcoming anxiety, including in children. In one of them, the emphasis is on the formation of a person's constructive ways of behaving in difficult situations for him, as well as on mastering techniques that allow him to cope with excessive excitement and anxiety. In the other, the central place is occupied by work to strengthen a person's self-confidence, the development of positive self-esteem and self-image, and concern for personal growth.
Naturally, in practice, and often in theory, these approaches are relatively rare in their pure form, we are talking only about the main emphasis, about what attention is mainly paid to. In our work, we tried to implement the second approach. The starting point for us was the one developed by L.I. Bozovic and her collaborators the position that personal education is a stable motive (or system of motives) and a stable form of its implementation. We believed that anxiety, like any experience that reflects the degree of satisfaction of needs, becoming a stable personality formation, "roots" respectively on three levels: motive; habitual forms and ways of its implementation; a new experience generated by anxiety.
General principles of psychological work with anxious children:
draw and act out scary situations;
create a situation of success, competence;
give vent to the activity and aggression of the child;
reassure parents;
Since anxiety is associated with a distorted interpretation of social reality and the inability to adequately predict the reactions of interaction partners and predict the outcome of an event, in order to reduce the level of anxiety, it is necessary:
1) Development of stereoscopic psychological vision of anxious children. Corrective work with anxious children should teach the child to see new opportunities in the approach to life phenomena, to expand the perspectives of their understanding, to realize new points of view on events. Among other things, this work involves: the development of decentration as the ability to refuse to accept one's own "I" as a starting point and the ability to switch to other points of view; versioning of thinking and behavior as the ability to see at the same time many ways of explaining a problem and solving it; flexibility as the ability to quickly switch from one reaction to another (Malkina-Pykh I.G.).
2) Self-knowledge, expansion and deepening of the image of "I". By helping an anxious child to see something new in himself, to explore his place in the space of interpersonal relationships and to realize the role of his own actions in the emerging ones, the psychologist helps to overcome the barriers that hinder the successful social adaptation of the child.
3) The development of new patterns of behavior, based on the discovery by the child of new points of view and opportunities for interaction, a deeper orientation in interpersonal space and a reflexive attitude to one's own position and behavior.
It has been established that the use of methods for affective-personal and behavioral correction also contributes to the formation of cognitive processes:
analysis of external stimuli (visual, auditory, kinesthetic);
search for safe stereotypical forms and reactions of behavior (considering the perspectives of behavior);
the choice and consolidation of individually preferred positive forms, reactions; awareness of their desires, their "I";
awareness of the desires of other people (emotional and intellectual decentration);
highlighting the emotions of people that regulate behavior (L.S. Vygotsky; L.B. Baryaeva; N.L. Belopolskaya; E.A. Ekzhanova; A.V. Zaporozhets; B.V. Zeigarnik; I.Yu. Levchenko; A. N. Leontiev, I. I. Mamaychuk, E. A. Medvedeva, V. N. Myasishchev, S. Ya. Rubinshtein, R. D. Trigger, U. V. Ul’enkova and others).
To achieve the goals, an integrative approach is used, which includes the methods of behavioral and play therapy, art therapy, fairy tale therapy, music therapy, psycho-correctional games and psycho-regulatory training, breathing exercises, muscle relaxation exercises and exercises to relieve emotional stress, psycho-gymnastics.
Over the past 10 years, the number of anxious children of primary school age has increased. Anxiety has become deeper and more personal, the forms of its manifestation have changed. If earlier an increase in anxiety about relationships with peers was observed in adolescence, now many elementary school students are beginning to worry about their nature of interaction with other children.
As a rule, anxious parents raise anxious children. What is their peculiarity?
Characteristics of anxious children
Anxiety
is defined as a persistent negative experience of anxiety and expectation of trouble from others. It is a deep emotional state resulting from the failure to satisfy important needs.
Anxious children are characterized by frequent manifestations of anxiety and fear, and fears and anxiety arise in those situations in which the child, as a rule, is not in danger. Anxious children are particularly sensitive, suspicious and impressionable. Such children are often characterized by low self-esteem, in connection with which they have an expectation of trouble from others.
Anxious children are very sensitive to their failures, react sharply to them, tend to refuse such activities in which they experience difficulties.
Increased anxiety prevents the child from communicating, interacting with others, interferes with the formation of educational activities, in particular, a constant feeling of anxiety does not allow the formation of control and evaluation activities, and these actions are one of the main components of educational activities. And also increased anxiety contributes to the blocking of the psychosomatic systems of the body, does not allow effective work in the classroom.
It is important to note that the state of anxiety can not always be regarded as a negative state. Sometimes it is anxiety that causes the mobilization of potential opportunities.
In this regard, a distinction is made between mobilizing anxiety and relaxing anxiety.
ANXIETY
MOBILIZING RELAXING
(gives an additional boost) (paralyzes a person)
What type of anxiety a person will experience more often depends largely on the style of parenting in childhood. If parents constantly try to convince the child of his helplessness, then in the future at certain moments he will experience relaxing anxiety, if, on the contrary, parents set up a son or daughter to achieve success through overcoming obstacles, then at crucial moments he will experience mobilizing anxiety.
Among the emotions included in the state of anxiety, the key is fear, although sadness, shame, guilt, etc. can be present in the “anxious” experience.
The emotion of fear is experienced by people at any age, however, the so-called “age-related fears” are also inherent in each age. The presence of fears in a child is the norm, but if there are a lot of fears, then we should already talk about the presence of anxiety in the character of the child.
Anxiety is not associated with any particular situation and is manifested almost always. Moreover, this state is present in any kind of activity, be it studying, playing, communicating with strangers, etc.
The danger of such a state of the child is that, constantly being in tension, constantly holding back his internal energy, the child significantly expends his vitality, depletes his body, and this leads to frequent illnesses and developmental disorders.
Research in this area allows us to conclude that such socio-psychological factors as parents' dissatisfaction with their work, financial situation and living conditions have a significant impact on the appearance of anxiety in children.
Both boys and girls can be prone to anxiety, but experts believe that boys are more anxious at preschool age. By the age of 9-11, the ratio becomes even; after 12 years, there is a sharp increase in the level of anxiety in girls. At the same time, the anxiety of girls in its content differs from the anxiety of boys: girls are more concerned about relationships with other people (quarrels, separations ...), and boys are more concerned about violence in all its aspects.
Types of anxiety
In such cases, it is difficult to fully understand what in the child's behavior is the result of upbringing, and what is inherited. Much depends on the innate characteristics of the character. For example, if anxiety manifests itself in a child with a melancholic temperament, such a child will always experience some emotional discomfort, slowly adapt to certain situations, and any change in his usual life deprives him of peace of mind for a long time.
Age anxiety.
Indeed, as a child grows older, he reacts less emotionally to difficulties, gaining experience, he begins to transfer it to new situations. Feeling more competent, the child will be less afraid of change and adapt to it faster.
Situational anxiety can be minimized, but not everyone can completely get rid of it - many adults have anxiety before visiting a doctor, flying or exams.
School anxiety is closely related to learning motivation, status in a team, and learning success.
As a child grows older, he reacts less emotionally to difficulties, feels more competent, he is less afraid of change and adapts to change faster.
Types of Anxious Children
neurotics. Children with somatic manifestations (tics, stuttering, enuresis, etc.) The problem of such children is beyond the competence of a psychologist, the help of a neuropathologist, a psychiatrist is needed.
Disinhibited. Very active, emotional children with deeply hidden fears. At first, they try to study well, if this does not work out, they become violators of discipline. They can deliberately expose themselves to ridicule in front of the class. They react to criticism with emphatic indifference. With their increased activity, they try to drown out fear. There may be mild organic disorders that interfere with successful study (problems with memory, attention, fine motor skills).
Shy. Usually these are quiet children, they are afraid to answer at the blackboard, they do not raise their hands, they are not initiative, they are very diligent in their studies, they have problems in establishing contact with their peers. They are afraid to ask the teacher about something, they are very scared if he raises his voice (even to another), they often cry because of little things, they worry if they didn’t do something. Willingly communicate with a psychologist or teacher personally (individually).
Closed. Gloomy, unfriendly children. They do not react to criticism in any way, they try not to make contact with adults, they avoid noisy games, they sit by themselves. There may be problems in learning due to lack of interest and inclusion in the process. They act as if they are waiting for a trick from everyone. It is important to find in such children an area that interests them (dinosaurs, a computer, etc.) and through discussion, communication on this topic, to establish communication.
Causes of anxiety in children
Anxiety as a mental property has a bright age specificity. Each age is characterized by areas of reality that cause anxiety in children. Among the common causes of anxiety in preschool children are intrapersonal conflicts associated with the assessment of one's own success, intra-family conflicts, and somatic disorders.
It is possible to identify specific causes of anxiety at this age stage. Anxiety becomes a stable personality formation by adolescence. In adolescence, anxiety begins to be mediated by the self-concept of the child, becoming a proper personal property. In a teenager, the self-concept is contradictory and causes difficulties in their own self-esteem. Anxiety arises as a result of the frustration of the need for a stable, satisfactory attitude towards oneself.
A significant increase in the level of anxiety in adolescence is associated with the formation of psychoasthenic character accentuation. The child easily has fears, fears, worries. If there is a lack of excitement, then the child may withdraw from activities that are difficult for him. With psychasthenic accentuation, decision making is difficult. Due to low self-confidence, communication difficulties are observed.
Anxiety begins to have an impact only from adolescence, when it can become a motivator of activity, replacing other needs and motives.
Thus, it can be noted that children's anxiety at each stage of age development is specific; anxiety as a stable personality trait is formed only in adolescence.
Emotions play a crucial role in children's lives: with the help of emotions, reality is perceived and the reaction to it.
Emotions are manifested in behavior and thereby tell the adult what the child likes, dislikes, or even upsets him.
As the child grows older, his emotional world becomes more and more diverse. A preschool child begins to learn the language of feelings - forms of expression of feelings with the help of gestures, postures, smiles, and so on. At the same time, the preschooler learns to restrain impulses in expressing feelings. Thus, the child not only manages his feelings, but also uses them consciously - informing others about his experiences, thereby influencing them.
The emotional background of the child can be positive and negative. So, the main characteristics of the negative are: depression, bad mood, confusion, the child has practically no smile, a sad expression on his face, there is frequent crying or resentment, sometimes unreasonable. This condition of the child is a characteristic of an increased level of anxiety.
Anxious children are usually insecure children with unstable self-esteem. They constantly experience a feeling of fear, and this leads to a rare manifestation of initiative. They try not to attract the attention of others, behave obediently, do not violate discipline.
Children with hypersensitivity are prone to anxiety, but not every child with hypersensitivity becomes anxious.
Almost everything depends on the communication of parents with the child, which in turn can provoke the appearance of anxiety in the child.
In the case of an authoritarian form of communication, the child loses confidence in himself and his abilities, there is a fear of a negative assessment and anxiety that he is doing something wrong - a feeling of anxiety, which in the future can develop into anxiety.
Also, the excessive demands of parents or caregivers can contribute to the emergence of anxiety. With the constant collision of the expected and real possibilities of the child, he experiences constant anxiety, which can also develop into anxiety.
Also, the appearance of anxiety is influenced by constant reproaches that provoke feelings of guilt and excessive severity on the part of parents.
If anxiety intensifies in a child, fears appear - an indispensable companion of anxiety, then neurotic traits may develop. Self-doubt, as a character trait, is a self-destructive attitude towards oneself, one's strengths and capabilities. Anxiety as a character trait is a pessimistic attitude towards life when it is presented as full of threats and dangers.
Uncertainty gives rise to anxiety and indecision, and they, in turn, form the corresponding character.
Thus, a diffident, prone to doubt and hesitation, a timid, anxious child is indecisive, dependent, often infantile, highly suggestible.
An insecure, anxious person is always suspicious, and suspiciousness breeds distrust of others. Such a child is afraid of others, waiting for attacks, ridicule, resentment. He does not cope with the task in the game, with the case.
This contributes to the formation of psychological defense reactions in the form of aggression directed at others.
Also, the reaction of psychological defense is expressed in refusing to communicate and avoiding persons from whom the “threat” comes. Such a child is lonely, closed, inactive.
It is also possible that the child finds psychological protection "going into the fantasy world". In fantasies, the child resolves his insoluble conflicts, in dreams he finds satisfaction of his unfulfilled needs.
Anxiety as a certain emotional infusion with a predominance of feelings of anxiety and fear of doing something wrong, not meeting generally accepted requirements and norms develops closer to 7 and especially 8 years with a large number of fears that are insoluble and coming from an earlier age.
It is noted that the intensity of anxiety experience, the level of anxiety in boys and girls are different. In preschool and primary school age, boys are more anxious than girls. This is due to the situations with which they associate their anxiety, how they explain it, what they fear. And the older the children, the more noticeable this difference. Girls are more likely to associate their anxiety with other people. The people with whom girls can associate their anxiety include not only friends, relatives, teachers. Girls are afraid of the so-called "dangerous people" - drunkards, hooligans, etc. Boys, on the other hand, are afraid of physical injury, accidents, as well as punishments that can be expected from parents or outside the family: teachers, school principals, etc.
The negative consequences of anxiety are expressed in the fact that, without affecting intellectual development in general, a high degree of anxiety can adversely affect the formation of divergent (i.e. creative, creative) thinking, for which such personality traits as the absence of fear of the new, the unknown are natural .
However, in children of senior preschool and primary school age, anxiety is not yet a stable character trait and is relatively reversible when appropriate psychological and pedagogical measures are taken. , and it is also possible to significantly reduce the child's anxiety if the teachers and parents raising him follow the necessary recommendations.
