Research shows that we learn better and more willingly when we experience positive emotions, when we can get satisfaction and pleasure from acquiring new skills, and when we can discover the workings of the world together with other people.
An open school must create and appropriate atmosphere, establish good interpersonal relations among teachers, students and parents so as to minimise fear and hopelessness. Studies on the effectiveness of learning demonstrate that boredom, frustration and fear make our brains function in a way similar to working under stress. This inhibits or even completely blocks learning.
An open school should be filled with positive emotions, pleasure from learning and adults who know how to praise, how to reward students for the effort they made and not only for the end result. Adults who can help students feel that they can succeed and that the mistakes they make help them seek correct answers, that they can try until they succeed.
