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.
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
