What is Polyvagal Theory? How much do you already know about it?
Let’s start with what you already know about Polyvagal Theory (PVT) and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). If you walked the polyvagal path with me in Book 1, this quiz serves as a review. If new to PVT, you might know more than you think. Your classroom experiences and common sense are valuable here!
Polyvagal Theory Quiz
Answer the following questions based on what you believe is true or false.
1. ANS states are mostly unconscious, so we have little control over them. True / False
2. The nervous system has a hierarchy of predictable responses. True / False
3. The objective in the classroom is to keep students in a regulated state for learning. True / False
4. You can be compassionate regardless of your nervous system state. True / False
5. Polyvagal-guided classrooms implement a step-by-step curriculum to ensure fidelity with methods. True / False
6. Students have either fixed or growth mindsets? True / False
7. Cognitive load can be reduced by the application of Polyvagal Theory? True / False
Here are the answers to your precheck.
1. False. Although there is an unconscious portion of the ANS, you can also actively engage with your nervous system by observing and guiding your nervous system responses to daily events and situations. In other words, it’s predictable.
2. True. Knowing the hierarchy of nervous system responses brings predictability to what seems like unpredictable events in your life and classroom. There are three responses when cues of danger are detected including ventral vagal, sympathetic, and dorsal vagal. Learning is an evolutionary process. The ANS evolved to cope effectively with the increasingly complex environment. The nervous system responds using the two newest evolutionary responses: ventral vagal, the safe and social response and secondly the sympathetic fight-or-flight response. If those two responses fail to keep you physically safe or feeling emotionally safe, the oldest response, dorsal vagal shutdown is activated.
3. False. This answer may surprise you! It’s unrealistic and impossible to be in a regulated state of learning every minute of the day. You and your students move in and out of the three nervous systems states throughout the day (ventral vagal, sympathetic, and dorsal vagal). The key is to be able to move from regulation to dysregulation and back to regulation with flexibility. That’s what this entire book is all about! Teaching you and your students how to retune your nervous systems to be more flexible and adaptable.
4. False. Though the emphasis in some schools is to teach staff and students to be more compassionate, compassion is only available while in a regulated state. You cannot be compassionate when you are dysregulated. Listening to podcasts from teachers who have walked out, literally in the middle of the day, sheds light on why compassion-fatigue is real. One teacher shared that she had done everything possible to build a relationship with a challenging student, including extending kindness and compassion even after being physically threatened. And—the student repeatedly threatened her classmates, making everyone feel unsafe. When the teacher shared this experience with the principal and asked for help, he responded with one brief, curt, sentence, “You need to be more compassionate.”
Compassion, kindness, and feeling safe is equally important for support staff as it is for students. Expecting compassion from either you or the student is unrealistic when nervous systems are dysregulated.
5. False. Polyvagal-guided classrooms use the concepts of Polyvagal Theory to enhance the programs they already implement including (but not limited to) trauma-informed practices, mindfulness, sensory-based movement, self-regulation programs, social-emotional learning, or neurosequential therapeutic curricula. There’s nothing more to add to your busy days. Throughout this book, you’ll be learning ways to integrate polyvagal concepts seamlessly into what you already do. Mostly, you’ll learn how to view yourself, staff, students, and families through a polyvagal lens. It’s a colorful, hopeful, insightful lens of transformation that provides choice and some predictability in what seems like a very unpredictable world.
6. False. There is an area between fixed and growth mindset where the mindset is evolving, meaning if there is access to regulating resources, students move toward a growth mindset. If resources aren’t available, students move toward a fixed mindset.
7. True. The brain can be extended using the body and thus reducing the amount of energy it uses to process information. When the nervous system becomes more flexible this supports cognitive flexibility, reduces cognitive load, and improves learning.
Hopefully, this quiz has piqued your curiosity and you’re ready to get going down the polyvagal path. In the next blog, we’ll explore examples of Polyvagal Theory in the classroom. Until then, remember to keep one foot in ventral!
