Teachers’ Voices Season 4 Episode 5
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Join educational researcher Nina Alonso for this podcast series as she shares powerful stories from teachers around the world, talking in their own words about their own experiences.
Why is sleep important as children grow? Are young people getting enough sleep? How can schools work with families to make sure children get the sleep they need?
In this episode, Nina talks to Jared Saletin, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University and the Associate Director of the E.P. Bradley Hospital Sleep Research Laboratory in Rhode Island in the US. “Sleep is critical across the entire lifespan”, Jared says. “And it’s critical for mental health. It’s also critical for physical health.” Jared tells Nina about the ‘perfect storm’ of adolescence, whereby teenagers’ lives are scheduled in opposition to their biology. Even one night of insufficient sleep compromises memory, attention, and mood, he says.
Nina hears from three teachers who share experiences from their classrooms. Ganiyat Muritala Wuraola from Nigeria helped a student who was sleeping in class by talking to her family, who then made sleep a priority.
Rocío García Solca, a Chemistry teacher from Argentina, discovered that many of her students were getting just five hours’ sleep a night. She encourages them to sleep well the night before an important or difficult lesson.
Kawita Thani teaches teenagers in Vietnam. At Kawita’s school, they’re making a change in the schedule in response to the sleepiness students feel at different times of the day, in the hope it helps students to learn.
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Listen out for
- Why teenagers struggle to sleep in alignment with biological need.
- The importance of regularity and consistency in sleep.
- Why oversleeping at the weekend to catch up can make things worse.
Find out more on BOLD
Should adolescents start school later? A later start time might lead to more sleep and higher achievement, says Amanda Ruggeri.
Bedtime routines aren’t just for babies – A consistent bedtime routine helps children sleep and promotes learning and development, says Melissa Hogenboom.
Adolescents need sleep to learn – Educating teens about the importance of sleep may help, but we must be cautious not to make them anxious about their sleeping behaviours, says Annie Brookman-Byrne.
Guests and resources
Jared Saletin: LinkedIn, website, Frontiers for Young Minds article
Ganiyat Muritala Wuraola: LinkedIn
Rocío García Solca: LinkedIn
Kawita Thani: LinkedIn
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