There is extensive research that says children and adolescents will be happier and have a higher level of performance and confidence if there is a focus on developing natural abilities and strengths, rather than trying to improve areas of weakness.
Identifying strengths and giving your students opportunities to do what they do best, can change the way they sees themselves and the world. Building strengths is one of the best things you will ever do as an educator, and this module will show you how.
One of the most important things you will ever do for your students is to teach them to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. This is what is referred to as a growth mindset or what a child believes about their intelligence and ability to learn.
Research now shows that when children are taught to have a growth mindset they show a rapid increase in their enjoyment of learning and in their academic results. This module will take you through clear, easy to implement steps to build a growth mindset and dynamically impact your student’s future.
Research shows that a sense of belonging helps protect children and adolescents against mental health problems in addition to helping improve their learning. Students who feel that they belong are happier, more relaxed and have fewer behavioural problems than those who do not feel a sense of belonging.
Lives can be transformed by efforts and activities you undertake to nurture a sense of belonging in key aspects of your student’s lives including family, school, friendships and community. The activities you will be shown in this module are simple, practical and very, very important to your student’s mental health.
While you could probably find ample opportunities for constructive criticism to help a student improve, the research shows that this type of feedback is not the type that will have the most dynamic impact on confidence. The research on positive reinforcement is very clear – it does work and it is really quite simple.
This module steps you through important positive reinforcement habits that help a student flourish rather than falter.
Research suggests a child who is taught to be grateful is happier, less materialistic, better behaved, more social and physically healthier. Gratitude is one of the most valuable and important emotions we possess, and it is a virtue that anyone can cultivate. Researchers have developed many different methods people can use to foster an attitude of gratitude, and the science shows that they really do work.
This module takes you through the best of these methods, introducing you to powerful gratitude exercises that can be life-changing for you and your student.
Research shows that optimists, ie. those with a growth mindset and positive self efficacy, are less likely to get depressed, get fewer illnesses, have longer relationships and live longer.
This module equips you to help students change the way they talk to themselves about events and how they interpret them. This skill is a powerful ally in our high pressure world and can make all the difference between feeling optimistic and thriving, or feeling disengaged.
Grit is defined as perseverance and passion toward long-term goals. Gritty people tend to be more self-regulated. Studies have found that the correlation between self-discipline and achievement is twice as large as the correlation between IQ and achievement.
While developing self-regulation has always been an important objective for educators, it is even more pressing today. In today’s busy, technologically infused world, the need for speed can lead to the opposite of grit - an increased desire for immediate gratification. In an age of email, wikipedia and texting, its easy to get swept up into wanting things to happen quickly, and if they don’t, to give up.
This module gives you strategies and teaching ideas for cultivating grit and self regulation. It helps you understand the neural basis of self-control and how to shape it through appropriate teaching methods and activities.
Communicating positively with students helps them develop confidence, feelings of self-worth, and good relationships with others. This module shares science-backed positive communication tips and activities including the ideal praise to criticism ratio which makes a huge difference to a student’s self efficacy.
We have long known that the relationship with a teacher can be critically important to a student's self-efficacy, self-esteem and how well they learn. It’s also vital for classroom management - even the ‘toughest’ and most difficult student more readily accepts rules, procedures and discipline if they have a positive and strong relationship with their teacher. This module gives a clear picture of how teachers can build and leverage strong relationships with their students.
Data confirms a link between effective classroom management and student performance. This module provides explicit evidence-based instruction in developing effective classroom management techniques. The evidence points to five key proactive strategies as being more effective than others in creating well-managed classrooms. These strategies include student engagement, classroom rules, establishment of routines, reinforcing positive behaviour and effective management of misbehaviour. If you want to spend more time teaching and less time on controlling students’ behaviour, this module is the key. Online enrolment - start any time!
Expectations play a vital role in student learning, achievement and goal-setting. Learning how best to frame and communicate expectations is important in maximising achievement and motivation for every student, no matter the calibre of their starting point, to achieve more tomorrow than they did today. Building on the work of John Hattie and Carol Dweck, this module shares evidence based activities, ideas and resources crucial for ensuring that your influence on student learning is positive and motivating, rather than a factor that hinders success.
Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement – if you get it right! However, not all feedback is good feedback. Feedback given poorly actually discourages student effort and diminishes achievement. It is vitally important therefore to work out what good feedback looks like as this is one of the most important tools in an educator’s toolkit.
There is much debate regarding the ‘best’ way to instruct students in the classroom. While it is recognised there are numerous ways to achieve this outcome, research suggests that students who experience explicit teaching practices perform better than students who do not.
When educators work together, they form important professional and personal relationships. Teachers often draw support from each other and can delegate tasks that allow each teacher to feel effective. Teachers working together have a positive impact on each other and contribute naturally to school improvement and student success.
There is extensive research that says children will be happier and have a higher level of performance and confidence if there is a focus on developing natural abilities and personal strengths, rather than trying to improve areas of weakness.
Identifying a child’s innate strengths and giving them opportunities to do what they do best, can change the way they sees themselves and the world. Its never too young to start either! Building strengths is one of the best things you will ever do as an early childhood educator, and this module will show you how. Online enrolment - start any time!
One of the most important things you will ever do for your students is to teach them to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. This is what is referred to as a growth mindset or what a child believes about their intelligence and ability to learn.
Research now shows that when children are taught to have a growth mindset they show a rapid increase in their enjoyment of learning and in their academic results. This module will take you through clear, easy to implement steps to build a growth mindset and dynamically impact a child’s future.
Research shows that a sense of belonging helps protect children against mental health problems in addition to helping improve their learning. Children who feel they belong are happier, more relaxed and have fewer behavioural problems than those who do not feel a sense of belonging.
Lives can be transformed by efforts and activities you undertake to nurture a sense of belonging in key aspects of your children’s lives including family, school, friendships and community. The activities you will be shown in this module are simple, practical and very, very important to a young child’s mental health.
While you could probably find ample opportunities for constructive criticism to help a child improve, the research shows that this type of feedback is not the type that will have the most dynamic impact on confidence. The research on positive reinforcement is very clear – it does work and it is really quite simple
This module steps you through important positive reinforcement habits that help a child flourish rather than falter.
Research suggests a child who is taught to be grateful is happier, less materialistic, better behaved, more social and physically healthier. Gratitude is one of the most valuable and important emotions we possess, and it is a virtue that anyone can cultivate. Researchers have developed many different methods people can use to foster an attitude of gratitude, and the science shows that they really do work. Online enrolment- start any time!
This module takes you through the best of these methods, introducing you to powerful gratitude exercises that can be life-changing for you and the children in your care.
Research shows that optimists, ie. those with a growth mindset and positive self efficacy, are less likely to get depressed, get fewer illnesses, have longer relationships and live longer.
This module equips you to help children change the way they talk to themselves about events and how they interpret them. This skill is a powerful ally in the high pressure world that is their future. It can make all the difference between feeling optimistic and thriving, or feeling disengaged.
Grit is defined as perseverance and passion toward long-term goals. Gritty people tend to be more self-regulated. Studies have found that the correlation between self-discipline and achievement is twice as large as the correlation between IQ and achievement.
The basis of grit and self-regulation is developed very early as children start to play – with toys and with each other. Using play as the all-important foundation that it is, this module gives you strategies and teaching ideas for cultivating grit and self regulation. It helps you understand the neural basis of self-control and how to shape it through appropriate play, games, teaching methods and other activities tailored to the needs of young children.
Communicating positively with students helps them develop confidence, feelings of self-worth, and good relationships with others. This module shares science-backed positive communication tips and activities including the ideal praise to criticism ratio which makes a huge difference to a child’s self efficacy.
Teaching can be a highly stressful occupation and many teachers suffer burnout. This leads to a high attrition rate and a shortage of qualified teachers having an impact on student achievement. Teaching is a highly complex profession and there are many contributing factors leading to teacher stress and burnout. However teachers can protect themselves by using a range of coping strategies to mitigate the impact of work-related stress and burnout.
Positive Education Program (PEP) - K-12
Positive Education Program (PEP) - Early Childhood
Participating in this course further developed my knowledge on identifying children's strengths and acknowledging positive behaviour. The short videos gave me some ideas on classroom feedback and on other teachers’ ideas of their classroom in supporting identifying strengths. Jenny Fox-Eades example of one teacher’s idea of portraits was a really great idea.
Lisa, Early Childhood Educator, Sydney
It was perhaps the most useful PD I have done! When time allows I hope to complete a few more of the online courses on your site, they all look great. I enjoyed it so much and resonate with all your programs. I'm having a meeting with my principal soon and I want to share what I've been doing and what I plan to do. I hope I can implement some ideas from the bright happy schools and my own ideas across the whole school. Thanks again, your work is awesome.
Sophie, Primary School Teacher, Regional NSW
While previously I had done some research into mindfulness, I was yet to appreciate the impact of gratefulness, both on teachers and students. This module has helped me to explicitly teach ways in which people can be and can express their gratitude I feel that before undertaking this unit, I had a sound understanding of positive reinforcement. The PL has, however, helped to focus my attention on the practice and to develop a new protocol for one of my classes. It was a lovely activity for the end of term, both for the students and myself, which would encourage me to do something similar at the end of Term 3.
Rebecca, High School Teacher, Sydney
This project addresses standard 1 in knowing students and how they learn. If we know what students are grateful for we can get to know them better and build rapport. This will in turn benefit our teaching. In this day and society it is essential that all teachers are teachers of wellbeing and this will in turn help individual teachers be more aware of the effects of gratitude and how it can help in their every day lesson planning.
Angela, High School Teacher, Regional NSW
Content was meaningful and valued by myself and my students so it was easy to engage. Through modelling and encouraging students to adopt their own gratitude practice, students will affect their own experiences and continued learning in a positive way, as will I. I believe that the learning from this course helps me operate more effectively at all stages of the teaching and learning cycle including providing students with feedback and letting them know how thankful I am for all their efforts, work and more.
Primary School Teacher, Regional NSW
