S1 Ep54: Wellbeing or academic success…and can we teach kindness? - Book Launch Panel 4 Part 2
For Flourishing's Sake
In the second half of the final For Flourishing's Sake book launch discussion, we discussed where the priorities should lie, between dealing with mental health and wellbeing in the context of Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement, or ensuring children “catch up” academically if they have fallen behind. We also had a fascinating conversation about whether kindness can be taught, and if so, how, and ended the discussion by sharing each of our dreams for the future of education.
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S1 Ep53: Wellbeing or academic success…and can we teach kindness? - Book Launch Panel 4 Part 1
For Flourishing's Sake
In this first half of the fourh For Flourishing's Sake book launch discussion, we shared our definitions of positive education, discussed whether educating for character and wellbeing are the same thing, and whether they come at the expense of academic progress. Finally, we shared our thoughts on and examples of whether Positive Education works anywhere, in any setting, with any age group.
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S1 Ep52: A whole school approach to education for good citizenship - Book Launch Panel 3 Part 2
For Flourishing's Sake
In this second half of the third For Flourishing's Sake book launch panel discussion, the panellists share their thoughts and experiences, with examples, of elements required for a whole school approach to positive education. They particularly focus on the important role that staff training and leadership play. And finally, they share how it feels when you get it right - when it goes well - and their hopes and dreams for the future of education.
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S1 Ep51: A whole school approach to education for good citizenship - Book Launch Panel 3 Part 1
For Flourishing's Sake
In this first half of the third For Flourishing's Sake book launch panel discussion, the panellists discuss their interpretation of positive education, character education and the role of wellbeing in education, particularly in relation to educating for good citizenship and promoting inclusion, diversity and social justice.
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S1 Ep50: Practical Examples of Character and Positive Education - Book Launch Panel 2 Part 2
For Flourishing's Sake
Another chance to hear part 2 of the 2nd panel of fantastic educators during the For Flourishing's Sake book launch. Panellists discussed their interpretations of a whole school approach to character and positive education, then moved onto discussing how we “catch” character and wellbeing behaviours, before progressing to a great discussion about bringing people on board that don’t understand what we’re trying to do.
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S1 Ep49: Practical Examples of Character and Positive Education - Book Launch Panel 2 Part 1
For Flourishing's Sake
Another chance to hear a panel discussion between great educators and school leaders. In this half of the discussion, the panellists shared their definitions of positive education, character education or wellbeing in education. They quickly moved on to some concrete examples of implementation in their schools, from specific staff wellbeing initiatives and their impacts, to whole school approaches and their effects on the entire school community, including parents.
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S1 Ep48: The what and how of Positive Education - Book Launch Panel 1 Part 2
For Flourishing's Sake
Today's episode features the 2nd half of the 1st panel discussion as part of the For Flourishing's Sake book launch events. Panellists discuss putting teacher wellbeing first and sharing a language for wellbeing in schools. The role of Appreciative Inquiry processes and Action Research are also touched upon to support empowering staff and creating lasting change. Panellists also address cost, and the role of Positive Education in the context of Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement.
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S1 Ep47: The what and how of Positive Education - Book Launch Panel 1 Part 1
For Flourishing's Sake
Over the coming weeks, For Flourishing's Sake will feature extended podcast episodes, where you will be able to listen to the replays of the book launch events. Today's episode is the first half of the first panel discussion.
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S1 Ep46: Positive Education - from individual happiness to the greater good
For Flourishing's Sake
Is Positive Psychology all about individualism and selfish happiness endeavours, or does it support societal flourishing and encourage us to connect with and support one another? What role do schools play in this? In this episode, I explore some of the criticisms levelled at Positive Psychology and invite you to consider the opportunity we have as educators to change the world for the better.
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S1 Ep45: Flourishing Despite Fear
For Flourishing's Sake
In this week's "For Flourishing's Sake", I share how we can flourish and thrive despite experiencing fear. Not by eliminating the fear, but by flooding our system with happy hormones from positive emotions, to counteract the negative effects of the fear. Learn to use Positive Psychology to your advantage so you can experience wellbeing even at times when you are feeling fear and uncertainty.
info_outlineWelcome to episode 28. A few weeks ago, I published an episode about healthy coping mechanisms in which I talked openly about some difficult times I went through and how I’d got through these with the strengths (and emotions) of hope, love and gratitude.
Today, I’m going to share some of the emotions running through my head right now, and how I’m using positive psychology to help me. I hope that, in doing this, I can help you, too - whether you are going through a difficult time yourself or are supporting one of your students through some challenges. Because, really, it might be an over-used cliché, but it IS ok not to be ok. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do to help us feel a bit less rubbish than we would if we didn’t have positive psychology tools at our disposal, however.
Last week, I had one of my regular coaching sessions with my executive coach. We do talk about emotions in those sessions, of course, as I don’t live and work in a vacuum, but this session was something else! I spent almost the entire hour and a half of my Skype coaching session crying (with some beautiful and uplifting moments of laughter thrown in!). Once I gave myself permission to talk about the anxieties I am dealing with and to let the emotions out, I couldn’t turn the tap off and my eyes just kept on leaking.
I don’t want you to worry about me. Even though I’m not ok, I accept it’s ok to feel this way, under my present circumstances. And I know I will be ok again. I am dealing with a lot of stuff…financial stuff, family stuff…stuff that comes at all of us at some point or other in life. Lots of change, lots of uncertainty, lots of worry. It’s just all coming at me in one go - which I know also happens to lots of us from time to time. And like many of us in various parts of the world, this is all underscored by a political climate that I find extremely concerning and that sends me into moments of despair on an almost daily basis.
I’m permanently exhausted and, through talking with my coach, I realised that of course I’m exhausted - I’m dealing with all this anxiety, with various circumstances that I cannot directly control or even influence, and working hard to keep myself mentally well…it’s bound to be tiring! And I released that, although on an intellectual level I understood and accepted that it’s ok to feel this way, to not be at my very best all the time with all this stuff going on, that it’s ok to give in to the exhaustion when I can and just ‘be’, I was compounding how I was feeling by adding a layer of guilt - that I should be doing more, that I shouldn’t be so self-indulgent, that I should just get my act together. Does that ound familiar?!
I talked through some of the well-practised positive psychology tools and strategies I am currently using, with my coach, and these are serving me well: Gratitude is so ingrained in everything I do that I experience it, deliberately and by chance, multiple times a day over the smallest of things sometimes. The same goes for savouring (which I also covered in a recent episode). Then there are the things I do more deliberately - what Layous and Lyubomirsky refer to as “Positive Activity Interventions”. At the moment, what is working well for me is taking every opportunity to go for an energising walk outside. Practising self-kindness is something I thought I was doing quite well, but now I realise I was undoing the impact of this by feeling guilty, so now I’m working on that, too. And as Layous and Lyubomirsky say in their paper, working on our happiness takes effort, like most other worthwhile things in life. They also mention another couple of points worth noting: That we need a variety of activities to draw upon as we otherwise experience fatigue or boredom from the endless repetition of one activity, and that not all activities work for everyone; even though everything I share with you on this podcast is evidence-informed - there needs to be a fit.
Throughout this podcast’s many episodes, I have and will continue to share with you various activities that may help you or your students flourish. Not all activities will work for everyone, but whether you’re working on yourself or supporting one of your students, it’s about building up a toolkit of activities you can try out to find the ones that work for each individual.
And as my wonderful coach reminded me last week, it’s ok if you still feel rubbish despite doing all this stuff…just think how much worse you might feel if you weren’t putting in the effort to support your mental health! Thanks to my knowledge of positive psychology and putting the work in, I am able to keep bringing the energy and professionalism I pride myself on to my public-facing work, I am able to keep things ticking along - even if sometimes I just do the bare minimum - in my behind the scenes work, and I am able to say “I feel pretty rubbish at the moment, but it’s ok…it’s normal under the circumstances and I know it will get better again.” Sometimes that is all we can do.
So keep adding to your toolkit, keep trying out the different techniques, ideas and interventions I and my wonderful podcast guests share with you, and put the work into your wellbeing (or support your students into putting the work into theirs). And start by being kind to yourself - it’s one essential item in the toolkit and possibly the most difficult one for many of us to put into practice. Let me know how you get on and what works for you!
And, as always, I look forward to catching up with you next week. Until we speak again, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!