A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
A new way to address digital citizenship in your school It seems that technology is a constant source of stress for teachers at school. If it’s not the pressure to integrate technology into their teaching, it’s the social issues related to students’ use of site such as Facebook, Tumblr or Formspring and apps such as [...]
Researchers to share findings of major study of student behaviour Results from a major study show that the key challenge for teachers in classrooms today is to find ways to encourage active and engaged learning. A UniSA-led Behaviour at School Study (BASS) surveyed almost 1400 South Australian teachers to assess how they viewed student behaviour [...]
A couple of weeks ago I attended a lecture at the Sydney Opera House. Speaking was Professor Martin Seligman, the founding father of what has been termed Positive Psychology. His research has led him to devise a model that he has termed the PERMA model for wellbeing. P = Positive Emotions Seligman cites the [...]
How many of us rang in the New Year by posting a picture or status update for all our friends on Facebook? Probably a lot of us. Another year, another exponential increase in the amount of people engaged in social media in general and Facebook in particular. With increased use, comes increased mis-use – predominantly [...]
As the Fairfax media reports that more parents than ever were withdrawing their kids from the annual NAPLAN tests I wonder if these tests are even assessing the right things in school. Now I realize the importance of literacy and numeracy – of course I do. But, these tests only measure outcomes. [...]
(Genuine) Engagement & Wellbeing enhance achievement, yet how many schools pursue achievement at the expense of engagement and wellbeing? The following is an extract from my recently published manifesto, “Still Trying to Find X”. It is essential that we create a Virtuous Cycle for all students in our schools. The Virtuous Cycle relies on having positive relationships at its heart or [...]
Engagement is one of the most over used, yet misunderstood concepts in Education. The accepted definition of Engagement with psychological circles is; the sense of living a life high on interest, curiousity and absorption. Engaged individuals pursue goals with determination and vitality. However, too often in schools the word “engaged” is a synonym for “compliant.” [...]
