Episode 8: Just Beyond the Comfort Zone with Educator Heather Kretschmer

Send us Fan MailWhat happens when the very thing that once unsettled you becomes exactly what your students need?In this episode, we explore the development of a teacher who once stepped away from performance because of anxiety. Heather Kretschmer, English coordinator at the University of Göttingen and editor of JALT’s Mind, Brain, and Education Think Tank Bulletin, found herself shaped by three converging forces.Through her work with the Brain SIG, she has engaged deeply with research on emotion, the social brain, and psychological safety. Through publishing PIE SIG articles in the Think Tank bulletin, she encountered concrete examples of embodied, performance-based learning. As these ideas accumulated, she began wrestling with her own hesitation and her desire to step beyond her comfort zone.The result was not a dramatic reinvention but a willingness to take small, voluntary risks for her students and for herself as an educator: a playlist project to build community, an improv warm-up framed to reduce resistance, and adapted panel discussions. This episode is not about becoming extroverted. It is about what can happen when research, professional community, and personal growth align, and a teacher chooses to step slightly beyond her comfort zone in service of deeper learning.If you are thoughtful, reserved, or uncertain about using performance in your classroom, this conversation offers a realistic and research-informed path forward.Links:1. University of Göttingenhttps://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/1.html2. The Mind, Brain, Education SIGhttps://www.mindbrained.org/ 3. The Most Dazzling Folk Songhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSMf3r_PU2g4. Heather Kretschmer: Intentionally Equitable Facilitation Tips https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWW5CS-qbGw5. Curaturae: Combining Art and Text in Curious Ways (Heather Kretschmer)https://www.mindbrained.org/2025/10/curaturae-combining-art-and-text-in-curious-ways 6. Warmly Welcoming Neurodivergent Learners into the Language Classroom(Heather Kretschmer & Yasser Tamer Atef)https://www.mindbrained.org/2024/10/warmly-welcoming-neurodivergent-learners-into-the-language-classroom/7. PIE SIG Publicationshttps://jaltpiesig.org/publications/#Classroom-ResourcesThanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please like and leave a review. To learn more about the Performance in Education SIG, check out our website. https://jaltpiesig.org/Have questions or want to get involved? Reach out to us at:[email protected] access other high-quality JALT podcasts, go to JALTCALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) Podcasts on Soundcloud!https://soundcloud.com/jalt-callFor tips on how to cite these episodes using APA 7th edition, use the link below:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uLVARUdviigboSQXkJXfgNm0zNkMsal6brBvwpmTKWM/edit?usp=sharingIntro & Outro song: Unlock Me (Royalty free)Music by Kontraa Studio | UKA Music Publishing LLC