Principle 4: Emotion is the body's fuel for skill building.
To build skills, start with emotion.
Note: Unconstrained Kids unpacks, translates, and integrates academic research and data about skill type and the principles of skill building to support the improvement of PK-12 reading, writing, and mathematics. This post is part of a series that describes 7 key principles of skill building I identified from Dynamic Skill Theory and the Science of Learning and Development. Like everything on this Substack, this post is a work-in-progress. I will make updates as needed. Citations are included at the end. Questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome.
First posted: June 4, 2025
Last updated: July 24, 2026
Key Takeaway
Skill is the capacity to think and act in an organized way in a specific context (Immordino-Yang and Fischer, 2010). Emotion is the body’s fuel for skill building. We do not pay attention to things we do not feel something about. And if we do not pay attention, we cannot build skill. We can help children and youth build complex skills by connecting facts and procedures we want them to learn with “intrinsically emotional, subjective and meaningful experiences” (Immordino-Yang, 2016).
It is biologically impossible to build skills without emotion.
The brain’s primary job is not thinking. It is regulating the body’s use of energy. When it comes to consuming these calories, the brain puts itself first in line. For the first decade of a child’s life, their developing brain consumes more than half of their body’s energy supply. Even in adulthood, this three pound organ devours 20 percent of our metabolic resources.
Because energy resources are finite, the human brain cannot afford to build expensive neural connections for every interaction and encounter. It needs a filter to decide which incoming information is worth the expense of building new neural pathways–the type of pathways that build skills. This biological filter is emotion.
“The brain is metabolically expensive. We don’t waste energy and oxygen thinking about things that don’t matter to us. We only think deeply about things we care about.” (Immordino-Yang, 2016)
If an activity lacks emotional significance or context, the brain flags it as an energy waste. We simply do not pay attention to things we do not feel something about (Immordino-Yang, 2016). What we do not pay attention to, we cannot remember. And what we do not remember, we cannot transform into skill.
Success in subjects we tend to think of as purely rational – like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – depends upon making emotional connections between concepts. Emotion helps engage the brain networks that manage attention, motivation, and evaluation of potential solutions (Immordino-Yang & Faeth, 2010; Immordino-Yang, 2011). Emotion helps build skills by serving as a “rudder” for thinking (Immordino-Yang and Damasio, 2007). It helps guide and direct our attention, thoughts, and behavior (Fischer & Bidell, 2006; Mascolo & Fischer, 2010; Mascolo, 2020; Hardway, 2020).
This is not the same as social-emotional learning
The idea that emotion is the body’s fuel for skill building is distinct from “social-emotional learning” (SEL). This is not about self-regulation, self-awareness, or relationship skills. Rather, we are describing the powerful role that emotions play in building and using skills.
As we saw in Principle 1, skill and context are welded together. “Emotions such as interest, anxiety, frustration, excitement, or a sense of awe in beholding beauty become a dimension of the skill itself” (Immordino-Yang, 2016). Emotion is not only the fuel for learning. It is a persistent feature of the context in which skill is developed. Thus, it is impossible to separate emotion from skill. Emotion does not sit outside of the learning process; it dictates the boundary lines of skill itself.
When we say “emotion is a feature of context,” it means that a child’s internal feelings are a direct, active component of the setting in which their skills must perform. Emotions of course can be positive or negative. They are both internally-driven and externally triggered in response to real, anticipated, or even imagined experiences (Immordino-Yang, 2011; Pekrun, 2017; Hareli & Parkinson, 2008).
Because skill is bound to context, a child’s capacity for building skills will always be connected to their emotions. When the emotional context changes—say, moving from a low-stakes peer collaboration to a high-stakes, isolated assessment—the skill itself changes because the context has shifted.
A context rich in trust, safety, and positive adult and peer interactions shifts a child’s internal chemistry. This relational safety changes the emotional context from one of high alert to one of open exploration. We don’t engineer emotion directly, but rather shift the relational context, which in turn adjusts a child’s internal emotional thermostat. When we change the emotional context, we adjust the brain’s readiness for skill building.
But wait, there’s more
Works Cited
Fischer, K. W., & Bidell, T. R. (2006). Dynamic development of action and thought. In R. M. Lerner & W. Damon (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (6th ed., pp. 313–399). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Hardway, C. (2020). Of interest and engagement: The emotional force of learning and development. In M. F. Mascolo & T. R. Bidell (Eds.), Handbook of integrative developmental science: Essays in honor of Kurt W. Fischer (pp. 232-261). Routledge.
Hareli, S., & Parkinson, B. (2008). What’s Social About Social Emotions? Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 38(2), 131–156.
Immordino‐Yang, M. H. (2011). Implications of affective and social neuroscience for educational theory. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 43(1), 98–103.
Immordino-Yang, M. H. (2016). Emotions, learning, and the brain: Exploring the educational implications of affective neuroscience. W. W. Norton & Company.
Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Damasio, A. (2007). We feel, therefore we learn: The relevance of affective and social neuroscience to education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(1), 3–10.
Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Faeth, M. (2010). The role of emotion and skilled intuition in learning. In D. A. Sousa (Ed.), Mind, brain, and education: Neuroscience implications for the classroom (pp. 67–81). Solution Tree Press.
Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Fischer, K. W. (2010). Neuroscience bases of learning. In V. G. Aukrust (Ed.), International encyclopedia of education (3rd Edition, pp. 310–316). Elsevier.
Mascolo, M. F. (2020). Dynamic skill theory: An integrative model of psychological development. In M. F. Mascolo & T. R. Bidell (Eds.), Handbook of integrative developmental science: Essays in honor of Kurt W. Fischer (pp. 91–135). Routledge.
Mascolo, M. F., & Fischer, K. W. (2010). The dynamic development of thinking, feeling, and acting over the lifespan. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Handbook of life-span development (Vol. 1, pp. 149–194). Wiley.
Pekrun, R. (2017). Achievement emotions. In A. J. Elliot, C. S. Dweck, & D. S. Yeager (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation: Theory and application (Second). The Guilford Press.