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 41. Today’s topic centres around the character strength known as ‘love of learning’.
If ‘love of learning’ is one of your signature strengths, you’re likely to be someone who enjoys learning for its own sake. This goes beyond curiosity, where you might be interested in finding out why or how something works in a certain way, to find out facts or information about something, whereas ‘love of learning’ is a deeper thirst for the process of learning rather than for the answers themselves. According to the VIA, “Where curiosity is often associated with a great deal of energy and a drive to gather information, the lover of learning is often more contemplative… It has important motivational consequences because it helps people persist through challenges, setbacks and negative feedback”.
Given our current situation, anything that can improve our ability to persist through challenges and setbacks is likely to be helpful, so tapping into our strength of ‘love of learning’ at this time can be a useful endeavour. It may be that this is a signature strength of yours, or one that you would like to work some more on. There are a number of ways you can explore this, from joining a book club (there are many virtual ones around) to learning a few new words every day, to trying out new recipes in the kitchen. The VIA website also has a few suggestions, but let your imagination run wild and come up with your own ideas of how you can explore this strength further. Set yourself little challenges and jot down your thoughts as you go along to keep a record of whether you are enjoying certain learning experiences and types of learning more than others, and why, what you have learnt, how you feel when you are learning something new, how you are handling daily challenges as your ‘love of learning’ exploration develops and so on.
Think also about your everyday life as a teacher and your CPD. Granted, in the current climate, thinking about formal professional development or planning to attend any courses may be the furthest thing from your mind, but I’d invite you to look at this differently. You are in a unique situation none of us have experienced before, and you are having to adapt at a phenomenal rate. Chances are, you are learning things about epidemiology and public health, about politics, and about yourself and the people around you every day. You are learning new ways to teach, new ways to interact, new ways to live. You are developing new professional and personal knowledge every day. My suggestion is this: Whilst all these adaptations can be incredibly stressful to go through, is there something positive you can draw out of this in terms of your professional development journey? Is there a way you can formalise what you’re learning so it forms part of your on-going CPD record? You may wish to discuss this with your head of department or head of year, or whoever your line manager is at school. Can you use what you are learning as a springboard to delve into further learning and do this as part of your CPD? After all, learning isn’t just about going on courses. It happens every day! Why not keep a record of what you’re learning and think of ways you can apply it across different aspects of your teaching career, beyond the current crisis? It may be that you are learning something new about supporting children or colleagues through a crisis situation, or about how to have meaningful communication despite social distancing, or that you have become a bit of a Zoom guru and would like to delve further into virtual teaching models. Whatever you are learning, whatever has piqued your interest, you have an opportunity to delve further. Indulge your ‘love of learning’ and grab this opportunity with both hands!
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For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer.
The book, by the same name, is coming out on Kindle on 18th June and on paperback on 21st August. It’s available to pre-order from major online book retailers and is jam-packed with evidence-based strategies for whole school positive education with case study examples from a wide range of schools from around the world. So why not order your copy now, so you will receive it as soon as it’s published?
If you’d like to get in touch with questions or comments, or to contribute to a future episode, please contact me via Twitter at @FlourishingED. You can also leave comments on individual episode pages right here at www.forflourishingssake.com (see bottom of this page).
I look forward to hearing from you, and until next time, For Flourishing’s Sake, have a great week!
Everyday Hero - 60 second version (Corporate, motivational, you tube, podcast) Music by Pond5