Visualization techniques as a possible way to reduce the stress associated with pupils examinations in primary school

V magistrskem delu preučujem stres, ki je povezan z ocenjevanjem znanja, ter tehnike vizualizacije, in sicer kot možen način spoprijemanja s tem stresom. V teoretičnemu predstavim strah, stres, njune najpogostejše razloge pojavljanja v povezavi s šolo, predvsem v okviru ocenjevanja znanja. Predstavim tehniko vizualizacije, kot možno rešitev za preprečevanje oz. zmanjšanje stresa. Strah je normalen pojav, ki človeka varuje, vendar pa lahko tudi škoduje, če se pojavlja zelo pogosto in v preveliki meri,. Strah lahko otroku onemogoči, da bi ta pokazal svoje znanje. Predvsem mlajšim otrokom lahko ocenjevanje šolskega znanja predstavlja dejavnik stresa. Vse več sodobnih raziskav in dokazov se nanaša različne tehnike sproščanja, kot je vizualizacija, s katero lahko vplivamo na naše misli, da dosežemo spremembo v čustvenem doživljanju in vedenju. V empiričnem delu naloge sem želela z raziskavo ugotoviti, kaj je najpogostejši vzrok strahu pred testom, ali učna uspešnost vpliva na doživljanje stresa pri učencih ter ali je vizualizacija učinkovita tehnika, s katero lahko zmanjšamo stres pri učencih pred pisanjem testa. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 49 učencev enega 5. razreda osnovne šole. Učinkovitost vizualizacije za odpravo stresa pred testom sem preverjala z uporabo vprašalnika, ki med drugim vsebuje 5-stopenjsko ocenjevalno lestvico, s katero sem pridobila podatke o počutju učencev in doživljanju stresa. Stopnjo doživljanja stresa sem merila dvakrat, enkrat pred pisanjem preizkusa znanja brez predhodne vizualizacije in drugič pred naslednjim pisanjem testa s predhodno izvedeno vizualizacijo. Iz zbranih podatkov sem ugotovila, da učencem najpogostejši stresor pred preverjanjem znanja predstavljata strah pred slabo oceno in strah pred starši oz. kaznijo. Rezultati ne kažejo statistično značilne povezave med učno uspešnostjo in stopnjo doživljanja stresa, kaže pa se statistično značilna razlika v stopnji doživljanja stresa med dečki in deklicami. Stopnja doživljanja stresa se je pri deklicah izkazala za večjo skoraj v vseh znakih doživljanja stresa, ki temeljijo na uveljavljenih opredelitvah stresa. Ugotovila sem tudi, da se je raven stresa pri učencih z izvajanjem vizualizacije znižala. Opaziti je bilo pozitivne učinke vizualizacije, kot so večja sproščenost, manjši občutek tesnobe, nelagodja, vznemirjenosti, panike, živčnosti in zaskrbljenosti, tudi občutek slabosti v želodcu je manjši, učenci pa so zaradi manjšega stresa tudi manj pozabljali naučeno učno snov. Učenci so poročali, da jim tehnika vizualizacije v večini predstavlja zelo učinkovit način odpravljanja stresa pred pisanjem testa.In my master thesis I am studying stress related to grading of knowledge and different visualization techniques which may be an appropriate response towards dealing with the aforementioned stress. In the theoretical part of my thesis I am developing on the concepts of fear and stress, their most common manifestations connected to schools mostly when dealing with different grading of knowledge. I also present the visualization technique as a possible solution to reduce stress or prevent it altogether. Fear is a normal accuracy as it protects humans but it can also be a damaging experience if it occurs to commonly or in too great amount. Fear can prevent a child showing his or hers knowledge, especially with younger children knowledge grading can be considered a massive stress factor. More and more modern research focus on evidence that show relaxation techniques such as visualization can influence our thoughts to bring forward a change in emotional comprehension and behaviour. In the empirical part of my thesis I have tried to ascertain what is the most common cause of pre-test fear, whether school success influences how children perceive stress and how effective visualization is as a technique to relieve stress beforehand. The research has encompassed 49 students of a 5th year of primary school. The effectiveness of visualization was tested using a questioner that encompassed a 5-stage grading system that measured the conceptualization of stress and the feelings of students. This has been measured twice - first measurement was conducted before a test without using a visualization technique and second time when students have used visualization before writing their test. The data has shown that two of the most important stress factors before the grading were the fear of getting a bad grade and fear of their parents or their punishment. The results have shown no statistical correlation between school success and the effects of stress, but we can recognize a different between genders, where female subjects experienced a greater amount of stress in nearly all of the accepted stress formulations. I have also found that visualization did reduce the stress among the students. We could observe the positive effects of the technique which can be described as students being more relaxed, feeling less down, unpleasant, less excitement, less panic, less nervousness and worries. They also testified that they felt less sick in the stomach and that they were less forgetful. The students have thus reported that visualization is a very effective way of dealing with stress before their grading