A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
“Why should I be nice to people? They aren’t nice to me...” This is a common response from adolescents when I try and engage them in the notion of being “kind.” Researchers will tell us that because of the adolescent brain, the teaching of such concepts need to demonstrate: “What’s in it for me?” [...]
If you can use your strengths in the service of something greater than yourself, many psychologists will tell you that this is a key predictor of wellbeing. They refer to it as having a sense of purpose or meaning. Recently I’ve been working with schools to push their thinking in this regard. What [...]
If social media only caused narcissism, it wouldn't be the worst thing. Instagram and Facebook are social networks that not only breed narcissistic tendencies but transform relations into a sexual rat race. On these ubiquitous portals, the popularity of girls is hotly contested over one big deal: how sexy can I appear and bring it [...]
Over the past 10 years, the research company Gallup have surveyed over a million US students with regard to their strengths, levels of hope and engagement and their wellbeing. Gallup recently published their Student Success Model in which they described some of the wellbeing factors that impact on success. 1. Strengths identification remains as simple as [...]
I believe that being genuinely engaged does wonders for your wellbeing. One of the determinants of engagement is a level of independence, or autonomy. Schools go to great lengths to give students (and teachers) the impression that they encourage independence. However, in the scheme of things, most of what occurs at school is prescribed for [...]
In his book Fame Junkies, author Jake Halpern speaks of a survey he carried out with US school students. One of the questions on the survey was; “When you grow up, which of the following jobs would you most like to have?” There were five options to choose from: CEO of a major company like [...]
I’m currently in Denmark where I gave the keynote address at the Innovation in Education conference. As well the conference, I’ve been working with different schools and organisations around the concept of student (and staff) engagement. Whilst working with the Department of Pedagogy at the University of Aarhus, one researcher told me of [...]
I finally got around to reading Freakonomics by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner. It’s been since about 2005, and has been on my list of “to-reads” but it always seemed to get pushed to the side for another title. Anyway, for those who haven’t heard of it, the book is a collection of observations and [...]
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 [...]
Too often, strategies that adults use to boost student achievement — such as raising academic standards and giving high-stakes standardized exams — do not address the real reasons why students are disengaged. Even the most dedicated teachers and parents may be sending messages that leave children believing they don’t have what it takes to succeed. [...]
