“I didn’t know it was normal”: How student stress, anxiety, and confidence during COVID-19 influence student wellbeing

Abstract

Students in 2020 experienced unprecedented levels of anxiety and stress as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic affected not only students’ experiences of academic achievement in their first year of NCEA assessments, but also their wellbeing. This action research project, which was conducted with 23 female Pasifika Year 11 students, looked at the drivers of stress and anxiety in students, and investigated methods of minimising and managing these stressors. Another focus was the impact confidence has on agency and expectations of achievement in Level 1 NCEA. Data was collected through student voice, using small-group talanoa, one-on-one conversations, surveys, and conversations with staff.

My research findings indicate that students are not aware of the prevalence, nor normalcy, of anxiety and stress experienced by people in daily life. Conversations are presented confirming that students struggle to know how to manage achievement-related anxiety or cope in a learning environment when it becomes overwhelming. This work finds that students would appreciate teachers and adults being more transparent and vulnerable about their own anxieties, and that teacher practice would improve in turn. It suggests that classrooms that serve as safe spaces for mutual sharing about anxiety allow for the sharing and construction of healthy methods for dealing with achievement-related anxiety.