At this time of year, when energy runs low and the to-do list feels endless, it’s easy to lose sight of the magic in teaching. Yet sometimes, all it takes is a single moment of wonder to remind us why we do what we do. In this post, I explore how awe, that feeling of vastness and connection, can rekindle our sense of purpose and help us see our classrooms, and ourselves with fresh eyes.

Why awe matters in education

While awe might sound like a fleeting emotion, researchers have been uncovering just how powerful it really is. From its effects on our nervous system to its role in building empathy and connection, the science behind awe reveals why those magical classroom moments matter more than you might think.

Cultivating awe in school communities

Seeing the world through the eyes of children and young people, is one of the most rewarding aspects of teaching. Nature provides the raw materials and our role is to present these to the children and watch as they delight in the wonderful, beautiful, fascinating details before them.

For me, a rewarding feeling comes when a child discovers they can read after all. By the age of seven a child can see themselves as ‘less than’ the other children, especially if their reading is stuck at the very earliest stage of decoding. I myself am in awe of the transformation when a quiet, underachieving, subdued seven year old, transforms into one who runs across the room to grab a book and read, and must be reminded to slow down.

You too must have your own special moments of awesomeness that make teaching ‘the best job in the world’.

What is awe exactly? How would you describe it? I think of it as something that reminds me that I am part of a profoundly beautiful universe that works in ways that we do not yet understand. Perhaps it is awe that spurs us on to discover as much as we can and as fast as we can.

One thing is for certain. Awe is a positive experience and at this time of year, when we might anticipate the first snowfall or be about to begin rehearsals for the end of term performances, we know that there will be an opportunity to experience and share moments of awe.

The neuroscience of awe - what the research reveals

According to the researchers who collected data on awe, there are two physical sensations that we feel in moments of awe and these are vastness and unity. Perhaps we become aware of our tiny significance in the big scheme of things, but also, that we are stronger when we are together. It is particularly apt that as the nights grow longer and colder and our natural inclination towards awe would increase. Moments like these remind me that awe isn’t just a fleeting feeling, it’s almost a force that shapes how we learn, connect, and grow. And as it turn out, science is beginning to explain why.

How awe reduces defensiveness and increases empathy

Researchers have discovered that during awe, the sympathetic nervous system’s response of defensive behaviour is released, and the parasympathetic response increases. In simple terms, awe helps us feel less self-absorbed and more connected to others. Isn’t it incredible to think that a single moment of wonder can shift our biology towards empathy and togetherness?

Awe, timing and temporal processing: The hidden link to learning

From a cognitive science perspective, it’s fascinating that awe doesn’t only change how we feel, it changes how we process information in time. During awe our window of perception dilates and time seems to stretch and slow right down, allowing us to perceive patterns, contours and salience with greater sensitivity. This expansiveness supports prediction, sequencing and rhythmic perception, the same capacities that support fluent reading, attention and higher order learning.

This contrasts with the opposite emotional experiences of loneliness, reflection and rumination, which seem to fade when awe takes hold.

The most wonderful aspect of the research is that the data point to loneliness and awe as states that anyone can experience, depending on conducive circumstances. In other words, these are not traits that are heritable and only available to a few people. Feelings of awe can be life-changing because these emotions are transformative in the sense that they can prompt people to reevaluate their lives, update their view of the world, their connections with others. They can even make lasting changes because of the insights gained during the immersive feelings associated with awe.

Awe nudges our nervous system to entrain in a special way. Entrainment is the rhythm-based mechanism that primes our internal rhythms to anticipate and synchronize with external cues, such as singing, chanting, dancing or storytelling. This synchronization is thought to strengthen prosocial behaviour, group cohesion and shared attention in the classroom. So when we experience awe together, we learn together and even remember what we have learned with greater ease.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the feeling of awe is that it can be measured by an algorithm called the Lempel Ziv complexity (LZC). This pattern emits a high level of reproducibility - a bit like the way multiple sparks are emitted from a single firework. Isn’t it fascinating that something as intangible as wonder can be captured in data? This pattern is associated with a higher capacity for processing information in the moment, moving us beyond the familiar territory of how oxytocin enhances social bonding and into a new understanding of how awe shapes our mind.

In educational terms, this heightened complexity reflects a mind that is more open and capable of integrating new information. It mirrors the neural conditions when children hear might a parent singing, enabling them to detect and anticipate linguistic and rhythmic patterns, which are the necessary launch point for reading fluency. Awe is not only an emotion, it’s also a state of expansiveness.

It is not difficult to imagine how the experience of awe could be advantageous from an evolutionary perspective. Arriving at a new location, abundant with food sources, clean water, a vantage point across the terrain, our ancestors must have felt awe, a sense of togetherness and a strong sense of orientation with one another and in their 'world'. Perhaps awe signaled to 'one-and-all' that they had arrived at a place where they would prosper and flourish.

Awe in the classroom: Collective moments that transform community

When collecting their awe data, the researchers had their adult participants watch a video about nature with the music playing. A large number of studies have established the prosocial effect of classical music. Choirs, orchestras, music lessons, background music and singing to young children are associated with increased social cooperation among people of all ages, and even very young children.

So, taking all of this together I’ve been reflecting on what we know about awe. Whether we tell stories or read about an incredible situation, hear beautiful music or a notice a child’s transformation, we become aware that we are part of something 'vast'. This perceptual 'shift' has been mapped in the brain and involves a measurable change in the way the main brain networks connect.

The sense of being an individual gives way, allowing the social behaviour to come to the fore. Absorbing information in a new way, in a heightened state of awareness and flow, the transitory state of awe allows us to step beyond our mundane day-to-day and cross a threshold into the sublime. We become empathic and open, more receptive to working together as a group and to processing information in a heightened way.

Great leaders are capable of sparking this level of collective experience, by speaking rhythmically and setting out their vision using imagery that evokes vastness and timelessness, using phrases such as ‘our children’s children’. Writers, artists, composers and performers can do the same, drawing us into something far greater than ourselves. Have you ever felt that shiver of connection when someone’s words or music seemed to lift an entire room? This is awe at work, uniting us in a shared sense of purpose and possibility.

To bring this down to earth, let’s look at our own communities, our schools, our classrooms and our children. Perhaps we will see a flurry of snow and experience a little moment of awe in the next three weeks, but do our children know that the remarkable experience of awe is also available to them through reading, storytelling, poetry, singing and music? Has that spark been ignited yet?

As we begin December, many children will be preparing for their first performance at school. This is a time when people do come together to feel that unity, to tell the ‘old’ stories that evoke vastness, hope and togetherness. The life of a school community can be transformed by collective acts of creativity. Imagine how the world might change if every child was moved by a profound experience of awe before the end of term. And perhaps as we watch them, we might rediscover that same sense of wonder within ourselves.

Ultimately awe is even more than an inspiring feeling. It is also a cognitive catalyst. It expands working memory, strengthens connection and primes children for the kind of learning that endures.

REFERENCE

Chen et al (2025) “Awe-scillations”: EEG spectral and complexity representations of awe, Preprint, unpublished manuscript.