Polyvagal Theory in the Classroom

PVT States in Action

Let’s look at how staff and students’ nervous systems respond to an active shooter/intruder drill. Sometimes the staff knows in advance the day and time of the drill, while at other times there is no warning. If you and your students are prepared ahead of time, the odds of staying in a ventral vagal state of safety and connection is relatively high. On the other hand, if the intruder drill is unexpected and there is an unknown variable that there may be an actual intruder, you and your students’ nervous systems will respond to the danger with more vigilance. Some students’ nervous systems may release a cocktail of chemicals that activate a sympathetic response of fight-or-flight. This may include locking doors, running into a closet, or gathering anything in the classroom that may be used for protection. This is because the sympathetic nervous system responds through mobilization and action.

For some students, the loud sound of the intruder alarm and the stress of not knowing if the alarm is real or a drill, activates the dorsal vagal shutdown response. Teachers have shared that these students cry, hide under the desk, and take a long time to come out of shutdown after the alarm has stopped or the perceived threat has passed. These students’ nervous systems may have tried to mobilize but registered the threat as too great requiring a parasympathetic dorsal vagal shutdown response.

Obviously, intruder drills disrupt feelings of safety. Understanding the impact intruder drills have on students’ nervous systems helps make the drills less traumatic for students. When you and your students learn how to notice and name your states, unpredictable responses to drills now have some predictability—stay in parasympathetic ventral vagal and calmly deal with the drill, activate a sympathetic fight-or-flight response, or activate a parasympathetic dorsal vagal shutdown response.

Viewing nervous system responses through a polyvagal lens of safety is an effective way to understanding your nervous system—a system that is constantly monitoring cues of danger to keep you safe.

The stress created by the drill and the body’s response to the stress requires completing what’s referred to as the stress cycle so the event becomes less traumatic for staff and students (Nagoski & Nagoski, 2020). When you create an after-drill ritual that you and your students enjoy, this brings the calming energy of ventral vagal back online and completes the stress cycle. A ritual can be as simple as moving to a song (shaking out arms and legs is an effective way to reset the nervous system).

The most impactful part of Polyvagal Theory is the realization that your responses are predictable, and you have more conscious choice over your responses than you might think. Your ANS is your best friend whose sole purpose is to keep you safe and healthy by sending constant updates about your current physical and emotional state. Just like updates on your computer, you need to turn on notifications and notice when your ANS sends you information about your nervous system states. It’s important to pay attention. I hear teachers tell me that their passion for teaching and helping students overrides their body’s communication system. Listening to cues from your body that you need food, rest, a bathroom break, or emotional support is important for reducing burnout. We may be different, each in our own way. What we have in common is our universal operating system—the autonomic nervous system.

Through the application of PVT in our classrooms, we find commonality and predictability within classroom diversity. When you understand how the autonomic nervous system operates, you’ll be able to apply that knowledge to how you implement programs already in place. You won’t replace programs with anything in this book. You’ll supplement all the good stuff you already do with insights provided through polyvagal-guided activities.

Beginning with the nervous system can increase the effectiveness of programs you currently implement. Polyvagal Theory isn’t one more thing—it’s the one thing you need to understand to make all the other things you do more powerful.

Once you know your way around the polyvagal campus and experience life inside and outside your classroom through a polyvagal lens of safety, connection, curiosity, and possibility. Hopefully, you’ll want to invite others to join you on your polyvagal adventure.

Nagoski, E., & Nagoski, A. (2020). Burnout: The secret to unlocking the stress cycle. New York: Ballantine.