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.
info_outline
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.
info_outline
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.
info_outline
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.
info_outline
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.
info_outline
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.
info_outline
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.
info_outline
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.
info_outline
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.
info_outline
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 44.
If you’re anything like me and the many friends and family I regularly talk to and see updates from on social media, you are bound to have ups and downs, and particularly get days when you are thoroughly fed up with the current Covid-19 situation, whatever lockdown restrictions are in place where you are. After months of living with this pandemic, we are all coming to the realisation that life as we knew it won’t exist for quite some time and may, in fact, never quite return to what it was before. Of course there are some positives to be found in that, but we’re also experiencing a sense of loss, of grief, and of frustration.
Personally, I get hit by waves of sadness and nostalgia when I remember a band I’ve seen live, or a band I’ve always wanted to see and haven’t managed to yet, or think about theatre and musical performances I had booked to go and see, and I weep for the impact on our wider cultural and social experiences that the pandemic is having as theatres and artists are struggling to stay afloat.
So if you’re having some hard days when everything just seems unbearably sad, you’re not alone. I think most of us are going through some form of grief at the moment. But it is important for our mental health and wellbeing that we give ourselves every opportunity to move beyond those moments and to still enjoy all that life has to offer, and there is plenty of that!
Today, therefore, I’d like to share an activity with you that I mentioned in my first book, Recipe for Happiness, and based an entire worldwide project on for International Day of Happiness a few years ago.
The activity centres around sprinkling your life with ‘Little Happiness Ingredients”, doing things you enjoy. Doing things you enjoy is also recommended as a wellbeing activity by the UK’s NHS - the National Health Service.
In mine and Elizabeth Wright’s book, Character Toolkit for Teachers, we developed this activity a bit further into a self-kindness activity, which we called “Self-Kindness Bingo”.
You can do this for yourself and of course you can ask your own children, or the children you work with, to do this. Draw yourself a grid with 30 boxes, then write an activity that you enjoy doing (and that you can do with whatever restrictions are in place where you are) into each box. Be as creative as you can - take your time to think of activities that will really boost your mood. Some could be really quick activities and others more time-consuming. Bring in some variety. Some may be solitary, like reading a few pages of a good book, while others may involve other people, such as a socially-distanced or virtual chat with a friend. Once you have completed your grid, display it somewhere prominent so you won’t forget about it, and make sure you do at least one activity per day. You can, of course, do more than one activity in a day, in which case you’ll run out of activities in under a month, but that’s ok - just create a new grid! You could even introduce an element of competition with friends and family members and see who completes their “Self-Kindness Bingo” grid first!
You’ll find links to the Little Happiness Ingredients Project, to both books and to the NHS article I mentioned on this episode’s page at forflourishingssake.com
I hope you will try this activity out and, as always, do get in touch and let me know how you and your children get on with it!
-------------------------
If you have found this episode useful, please give it a five star rating on iTunes to help it reach more people and please spread the word. Also, if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
For Flourishing’s Sake is available on iTunes / Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer.
The book, by the same name, came out on Kindle on 18th June and will be out on paperback on 21st August. You’ll find it on all major online book retailer sites. It’s 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 Kindle copy now, or pre-order your paperback so you’ll 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