Why is sleep so important for children’s learning?

Teachers' Voices

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, 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.

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

Guests and resources

Jared Saletin: LinkedIn, website, Frontiers for Young Minds article

Ganiyat Muritala Wuraola: LinkedIn

Rocío García Solca: LinkedIn

Kawita Thani: LinkedIn