ATTENTION, ANXIETY AND LEARNING: SILENT CHALLENGES IN BASIC EDUCATION

Abstract

School learning depends on multiple cognitive, emotional, social, and pedagogical factors. Among them, attention and anxiety have gained increasing relevance in the contemporary context, marked by excessive stimuli, intensified use of digital technologies, pressure for performance, and weakening emotional well-being among children and adolescents. This chapter analyzes how attentional difficulties and anxious states silently interfere in learning processes in Basic Education, often being interpreted merely as disinterest, indiscipline, or lack of effort. Methodologically, this is a bibliographic and analytical study grounded in authors from neuroscience, educational psychology, and critical pedagogy, such as Cosenza and Guerra, Dehaene, Howard-Jones, Vygotsky, and Freire. Attention is discussed as a limited mental resource influenced by context, motivation, and environment, as well as school anxiety in its everyday manifestations, often rendered invisible. Pedagogical impacts and institutional possibilities for promoting learning-friendly environments are also presented. It is concluded that recognizing such challenges is an essential step toward more humane, inclusive, and effective educational practices.