During my 31 years working in adult education as an ABE/GED counselor and teacher at the Community Learning Center in Cambridge, I have observed many changes. Most strikingly have been the changes in our student population and society. Our classes used to be filled with adults, most of whom were either born in the US or had emigrated from the British West Indies. They were either working or on welfare.

Within the last 10 years, however, we have been seeing a growing number of young adults in our classes and with MCAS, we anticipate many more youth. These are students who did not function well in high school, many with attendance, behavioral, motivation, and learning issues. We have also been seeing more students with learning disabilities, mental health problems, and physical health conditions. An increasing number of ABE/ASE students are not native English speakers. Many are immigrants, the children of immigrant parents, and/or former ESOL students who have transitioned into ABE/ASE programs. What all these students have in common is a belief in education as a stepping stone to a better life in a society that has become very fast-paced and technologically advanced.

Unfortunately, learning to read, write, speak English, do math, move up grade levels on TABE tests, and/or pass GED exams does not happen overnight. Learning is usually a slow process that requires a relaxed, focused, committed mind. The learner must work hard and steadfastly without losing motivation over a number of months or sometimes years. Adult learners have so many commitments—to family, jobs, community, their health, school—that they are under tremendous pressure. In many cases, they also expect or really want quick results. The longer they are in school and working a low-paying job or are unemployed, the more their frustration and stress builds. The more stress they have, the more their learning suffers as their minds become distracted and forgetful. Disappointment, eroding motivation, and negativity may result. Because of this stress, many students drop out, often returning later to complete unmet goals.

A host of other changes in recent years, particularly as a result of 9/11, has affected adult learners. Fears of terrorist attacks in US cities, the tightening of immigration laws, the dismantling of the welfare system, an economic recession, cuts in health care, a shortage of affordable housing, and MCAS has also led to increased levels of stress.

Stress and Its Effects on Adult Learners
What is stress? Stress is a natural, inescapable part of life. From birth, we are constantly having to adjust our behaviors and thoughts to an ever-changing environment in order to survive and hopefully have a happy and meaningful life. Stress is based on our perceiving the world around us as unsafe, whether physically or emotionally. It can be defined as the perception of danger to our mental and/or physical well being, the perception that we cannot cope, and the perception that we are not in control. Stress can be momentary or chronic, lasting for years.

How we perceive something is complex because it is based on a number of factors, such as our senses, past experiences, family, memories, culture, socialization, gender, age, race, socio-economic status, personality, health, education, and self-esteem. This explains why not all people react to stressful events in the same way. Some are more resilient, having more resources and strategies available to them to cope with life's ups and downs.

Characterized as part of a low-literacy and low-income population, adult learners suffer the negative effects of stress disproportionately to the middle- and upper-class populations in the US. They have fewer resources available to them, making it more difficult to deal with housing, employment, and health issues. They are also more at risk for health conditions, such as blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, drug/alcohol addiction, and others.

Stress negatively impacts learning. The list below lists stress-related symptoms in the classroom that interfere with attendance, ability to learn, and the attainment of educational goals.

Stress Erasers for the Classroom
Since stress is a major obstacle confronting adult learners, teachers and counselors need to recognize it and address it. More one-on-one counseling should be provided to find out why students are not attending school, what help they need to support their learning, and what resources are available in their community to assist them in their lives. Counselors and teachers working together can also help students set realistic educational goals. Teachers and counselors should also educate themselves about the signs of stress and develop strategies for the classroom that can help student reduce their stress. The following is a list of suggestions to help students handle their stress within the ABE/ASE classroom. All can be used as a vehicle for teaching traditional classroom content.

1. Create a Safe Learning Environment
At the beginning of a semester, the class and the students should make a list of rules for a respectful, comfortable, safe learning environment, which includes acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. Confidentiality needs to be included and discussed so that everyone’s privacy is respected and trust among students is fostered. These rules should be posted in the classroom, and every student should have a copy. Periodically, these rules should be reviewed, especially when new students enter after the semester has begun.

2. Write About Stress
Just writing about stressful events can reduce stress. We can encourage our students to write poems, letters, journal entries, short stories, notes. The classroom provides an ideal setting for students to share their stressful experiences and thoughts. They can receive support from their classmates and teacher, and by discussing and writing about their stress, they can unload and leave behind some of it.

The Mind/Body Health Newsletter in 1999 reported that patients in experimental groups writing for 15–20 minutes a day about their deepest thoughts and feelings about a very stressful event for 3 to 5 consecutive days experienced fewer visits to the doctor, improved mood, and a more positive outlook compared to control groups writing about ordinary matters such as their plans for the day.

3. Keep a Joy Journal
Keeping a joy journal is a strategy to reduce stress and at the same time build optimism. Students keep a journal of positive experiences, whatever makes them happy, eye-opening observations, new and exciting learning.

4. Brainstorm a Collective List of Students' Stress Erasers
Have students brainstorm a list of what they do to ease their stress. Then encourage students each week to practice one suggestion from the list and record their experiences in their journal.

5. Start the Class with Movement or Exercise
Start a class with a few minutes of lively music which conveys energy and happiness. Have students bring in their own music (a great way to share in the diversity of cultures within a classroom). In each class a student can formally teach classmates how to dance to the music or informally get others to follow his/her movements.

Try some aerobic exercise (like running in place, marching in place, jumping jacks) or quiet stretching/yoga at the beginning, between classes, or in the middle of a class longer than 1½ hours.

6. Learn and Practice Good Nutrition for the Mind and Body
Teach the importance of eating a well-balanced diet. Use different food pyramids from around the world and explain how to read food labels. (Such topics combine reading, math, and science.) Talk with students about eating well before coming to school. Encourage students to drink water during class and bring healthy snacks for breaks (e.g., dried fruit, fresh fruit, nuts, low-fat cheese). In class talk about, write, and share recipes and have potluck lunches or dinners in class.

7. Learn and Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing
Teach students how to distinguish shallow chest breathing from deep diaphragmatic breathing and practice the latter. Spend five to ten minutes in silence doing diaphragmatic breathing exercises, such as counting each cycle of breathing from 10 down to 0; inhaling 1-2-3-4 and exhaling 4-3-2-1; or visualizing the breathing process and sensations in the body. Students can also practice coordinating their breath with a phrase that each student makes up for him/herself, for example, on the inhalation saying “I am” and on the exhalation saying “Letting go of stress.” Make a list of student generated meditation-focus phrases that they can use for practice.

8. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the ability to be present in the moment, not have your mind wandering to the past or future. Being mindful means being able to focus or pay attention to whatever is happening at that moment without expectation or judgement. This is accomplished by engaging in only one activity at a time and doing it slowly. Mindfulness is necessary for learning to take place.

9. Practice Positive Thinking and Positive Speech
Our ability to resist stress through positive thinking and trying to redirect our negative thoughts into positive ones is called stress hardiness. When we think in a positive way, we feel more self-confident and more in control, thus making us more resilient to stress. As a result, we suffer less from our negative thoughts, which to a large extent are grounded in our fears.

On the first day of class, establish that the classroom is not a place for negative thinking and speech. It is a positive thinking/ speaking zone. Students should carefully listen to the way/attitude they phrase things and help each other reframe negative speech into positive speech. Teach students to write positive affirmations, put them on the wall of the classroom. During class, have students help each other to reframe negative thoughts/speech by listening carefully to what each other says.

Practice the stress reduction strategy of Stop-Breathe-Reflect-Act. This strategy helps stop the snowballing of automatic negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It can turn off the stress response and support the notion that we can take positive action and regain control during a stressful situation. When students are asked to do something they find stressful (like writing an essay) and they start to speak negatively ("I hate this, I can't do this"), ask them to stop, take a few deep breaths, repeat the negative statements that they just said for themselves and their classmates to hear. Get students to talk about why they would make such statements (fears from earlier school days) and help each other to reframe their thoughts so that they can approach the work with an open, positive mind and attitude.

10. Teach Study Skills
Having good study skills helps give students a feeling of control over their own learning and, thus, can ease school stress. The following are two useful study skills to teach:

• An organized notebook system that invites studying and homework completion: the 3-ring, 2-pocket binder system with subject dividers and the use of highlighters, index cards, a spiral notebook for math as the developing class math book ("goodbye to scrap paper").
• Time management skills, which include at the beginning of the school year making a weekly schedule with ½ to 1 hour study slots, keeping a monthly wall calendar, using daily to-do lists, learning to prioritize one’s daily tasks, and delegating responsibilities so that there is time allocated for attending class, doing homework, and studying. (Taking on a new commitment, such as going to school, may require giving up some chores and previous commitments.)

One of the best ways that we adult educators can help our students handle stress is by taking care of ourselves emotionally, psychologically, and physically. By controlling our own stress, we can be more present for our students and give the compassion, kindness, and quality instruction that they need.

Marjorie Jacobs has been an adult educator for 30 years at the Community Learning Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is also a stress management consultant and health educator. She gives workshops and trainings on the mind/ body / learning connection, stress reduction, meditation,Qigong, and the External Elixir of Kung Fu. She can be contacted at: mlmljacobs@yahoo.com