What is high sensitivity? How many children in a classroom are highly sensitive? How can teachers support highly sensitive children?

In this bonus episode, Nina talks to  Michael Pluess, Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Surrey. Michael has been studying children’s individual differences in sensitivity for more than 10 years. Around 30% of children are highly sensitive, he says, which means they are more affected by their environment, whether that’s positive or negative.

Michael and his team have developed free resources for teachers which will help teachers learn about sensitivity and provide a classroom environment suited for those children. There’s a questionnaire to help teachers identify sensitive children in the classroom, and an online training course for teachers to complete which comes with a certificate.

Join the Teachers' Voices WhatsApp group and read the community guidelines.

Guest and resources

Michael Pluess: University profile, LinkedIn, X

sensitivityresearch.com: Test your student, Teacher training

How to support highly sensitive children in class - Michael Pluess and Cherry Hirst share strategies for teachers and caregivers to help highly sensitive children thrive