Tools, Tips, and Resources

Featured Guest Article Published by The Learning Scientists In this guest article, Katrina G. Huels discusses how educators are prepared for the technical demands of their work, yet the emotional and psychological demands of the profession are still largely treated as something they should manage on their own. She examines the consequences of that gap, including educator burnout, attrition, and the strain placed on classroom functioning and student outcomes. The article draws

You cannot manage what you have not accurately named. That sentence sits at the center of emotional competency. Before you can regulate a stress response, motivate yourself through a difficult stretch, or read the emotional climate of a room, you must first be able to accurately identify what you are feeling. Not approximately. Not generically. Accurately. People are not typically taught to do this, and if they are, the practice is not considered a workplace competency. But

Self-regulation is one of the five domains of emotional intelligence, and it is also one of the most physiologically grounded. It is not a mindset. It is a skill with measurable biological markers, and breath is one of the most direct access points we have to it. When the body perceives stress, the sympathetic nervous system activates. Cortisol rises. Breathing becomes shallow and rapid, which compounds the stress response rather than interrupting it. What most people do not

Katrina discusses burnout in special education and shares research-based solutions.