Emotions, What Good Are They?.....

I sat in a dimly lit coffee shop sipping on a mixed green tea of my own creation. I came across an entry I had made in a research journal I use to document my thoughts and insights. The entry discussed the role of emotions in the learning process. This insight sparked my mind as I began to reflect upon this in greater depth. It occurred to me that as an educator I should not overlook the role of emotion within the realm of education. Emotions help us discern immediate pressing concerns from those that are not critical. In transforming one's life through learning, emotions help us to prioritize our selected tasks and objectives .

I wanted to investigate this concept further. Some questions came to mind. What role does emotion play in learner retention? What role does persistence play in the same equation? Retention is a passive action on the part of the student. Persistence is an active movement towards a goal. In the persistence paradigm the student is the active agent in his or her own transformation. The student acts and is not acted upon.