The emotion of shame at schools

Shameful school situations from the perspective of former students

Abstract

Although the emotion of shame can strongly influence human behavior and trigger destructive behaviors, it still receives too little attention in educational practice and research. This article therefore focuses on the experience of shame at school, with special attention to situations of shame at school from the perspective of university students. In addition to an insight into theory and the state of research on shame in school, a pilot study is presented in which students (n = 108) reconstruct school shame situations by writing them down. It is shown that the visibility of performance-related flaws (e.g., making mistakes) and non-performance-related flaws (e.g., one’s own appearance) is associated with shame experiences among students. These flaws are also used by classmates and teachers to discredit students. Furthermore, being the unwanted focus of attention or perceiving too much closeness or distance (in the form of being excluded by classmates) to others can be associated with shame.