Video:
Relaxed Alertness
By Brian Tolentino
One of the greatest joys of teaching is witnessing the “aha” moment—that sudden flash of insight when a student’s eyes light up, and they exclaim, “Oh, I get it!”
Research suggests that the ideal mental state for fostering these cognitive breakthroughs is relaxed alertness. This is the sweet spot of thinking, where the effortless flow of deep engagement meets the creative tension of grappling with something new. It’s that frustrating yet exhilarating state—when you’re on the brink of understanding but not quite there, or when an idea is forming, just out of reach. Much like how a personal trainer pushes a client to embrace muscle burn for growth, teachers must guide students through the discomfort of intellectual struggle to deepen their understanding.
However, many teachers mistakenly believe that higher-order thinking flourishes in rigid, highly controlled classrooms. These environments often produce only surface knowledge—information memorized and stored, rather than deeply understood. True higher-order thinking is not about compliance; it is a creative act. It requires students to synthesize what they’ve read, learned, and experienced, transforming scattered ideas into their own unique perspectives. This “conceptual reorganization” allows students to see patterns, systems, and stories rather than isolated facts.
Such complex thinking is driven by emotion—curiosity, excitement, anticipation, awe, even fear. As Teaching and the Human Brain states, “Emotions and thoughts actually interpenetrate and shape each other.” This is why students must feel emotionally safe in the classroom, free to be their full selves—sometimes playful, sometimes reflective, sometimes serious. While surface knowledge is the product of control, higher-order thinking is the result of effort and magic—and that magic often happens when students are relaxed. Just as muscles grow during rest after exertion, deep learning emerges in moments of ease after cognitive struggle.
To cultivate a classroom where this magic thrives, teachers must aim for relaxed alertness. A key factor in achieving this is what Bulgarian researcher Georgi Lozanov calls Teacher Prestige—the authority teachers hold in students’ eyes, not through rigid control, but through their depth of knowledge and authenticity.
Teacher prestige has two key components. The first is double-planeness, the alignment between a teacher’s inner beliefs and outward actions. When teachers are genuine—when they don’t just preach but embody care, curiosity, and integrity—students trust them. And without trust, students won’t take the intellectual risks necessary for higher-order thinking.
Trust is further built through what Lozanov calls the childlike state—a spirit of creative playfulness. But this isn’t about forcing a “fun” classroom mood; rather, it’s about teachers themselves embracing discovery and curiosity. When teachers model a sense of wonder, students feel free to explore, knowing they can be both serious and playful learners.
The second component of teacher prestige is expertise. A teacher must have “a natural, lively grasp of the facts” and engage in discovery alongside students. Higher-order thinking isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about deeply understanding the subject and navigating its complexities with confidence. If a teacher lacks content knowledge, students won’t trust their academic authority, and relaxed alertness will remain out of reach.Ultimately, relaxed alertness is not just a teaching strategy; it’s a mindset we must embody. It is the state in which deep learning, creativity, and higher-order thinking flourish. If we want our classrooms to be places of intellectual magic, this is where we must begin.