Positive Education
In July 2017, I attended the International Positive Education Network (IPEN) Festival conference in Dallas, Texas with two colleagues. This was a three day event where each day was filled with concurrent workshops. Below, I will first give background on where positive education arises. Second, I will list some of the workshops I attended and reflect on what I learned from the workshops. Third, I will describe where I participate in a small movement of positive education in the Simon's Rock community. Lastly, I go into detail on how I implement what I learned at IPEN in my classroom.
Background
Positive Education is a result of the field known as Positive Psychology. Psychology has long concentrated on studying what is considered to be mental illness, such as clinically diagnosing people with depression or anxiety. Positive psychology attempts to pay attention to an individual's strengths in order to cultivate mental wellness. This approach has been around since the 1950s, but did not become a very active field of research until 1998 when Martin Seligman chose positive psychology as the theme for his presidency term for the American Psychological Association. Positive education is the application of positive psychology concepts to the classroom. There are various theoretical approaches to positive education. The constant: when teachers foster a warm, welcoming atmosphere where students are rewarded for using their strengths, students learn.
Reflection
The workshops listed below are not all the workshops I attended. I only list those that are necessary in my reflection. Please go to the IPEN booklet to read a synopsis about each workshop listed below. I will not describe in detail each of these workshops. Rather, I will refer to what I learned from each.
Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
Getting Grit in the Classroom by Carolina Miller
Self-Efficacy: The Key to High Achievement by Louisa Jewell
Where is the Education in Positive Education? Positive Education and Academic Accomplishment by Mathew White
Accentuate the Positive: Infuse Happiness, Mindfulness, and Humor into Curriculum to Enhance Camaraderie, Retention and Outcomes in the College Classroom by Marti Miles-Rosenfield
Data Geeks: Assessing Character Growth Is Impossible... or Not by Mark Liston
I arrived at the conference a skeptic. When a discussion of happiness and meditation ensues, I immediately think about the late 1960s and 1970s, the Beatles, the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, hippies, and Scooby-Doo. I next think: this does not have a place in a serious establishment where there is serious education. Many people share this skepticism.
As someone who learns differently than others, I am aware of various learning styles and have molded my teaching to reach out to as many styles as is possible in a lesson (see CoAT portfolio). Positive education, though, is beyond academic learning styles. Positive education is about using a person's strengths to teach them. Prior to attending the IPEN festival, I believed the only qualities a person needed to succeed in school was resilience, perseverance, and self-discipline. Qualities I needed to get to where I am. I attended many IPEN workshops at the conference that reflected what I believed true. The first three workshops listed above on grit and self-efficacy are examples of such workshops.
I attempted to be open-minded, though, and attended other workshops that did not discuss resilience or grit but the maintenance of inner happiness through acts of kindness, use of personal character strengths, and mindfulness. While these concepts resonated with me, I did not yet believe they would improve the academic performance of students. Mathew White delivered hard evidence that these teachings indeed improved not only students' emotional and mental well-being but also their academics. This was the first workshop that convinced me positive education had a place in our schools. Marti Miles-Rosenfield's workshop further convinced me by providing concrete implementations of positive education in my classroom via her creation, the Bloomer University, where resources are provided for teachers. The last workshop listed, by Mark Liston, did not provide me with more concrete evidence or real resources. It did not even provide me with the data the title promises. Rather, Mark Liston shared his story. A child who needed love in order to succeed and received that support and kindness from a teacher. Positive education isn't about the hard data or the facts, but about sharing humanity with the students.
The biggest take-away, personally, is the concept of mindfulness. This is when one spends time understanding where feelings arise and what thoughts one might have. Practicing mindfulness allows people to have power over what they say and how they behave. If you can understand where your negative thoughts and feelings come from, you might be able to combat the negativity. For example, children often get upset when they aren't instantly gratified. A child who practices mindfulness might be able to express how they are feeling without throwing a temper tantrum. Additionally, consider the stresses teachers face. One such stress can be dealing with a difficult student -- one who whispers to others while the teacher is speaking. A teacher who practices mindfulness can better prevent an outburst that might be likely to happen without it. A better approach would be to meet with the student outside classroom time and understand what motivates them to be rude.
Mindfulness is not something I practiced prior to the conference. I am now frequently reflecting on what I will say and what I am currently feeling or thinking so that I can prevent myself from stressing on what I have said or done throughout the day. This reduced amount of stress creates a more positive day.
Community Service
My adventure to the IPEN Festival began with a phone call I received in June 2016 from the interim director of the Council of Equity and Inclusion (CEI) at Simon's Rock, Gwendolyn Hampton-VanSant. She needed a faculty member and a staff member to join her on a trip to a Positive Education conference. Since then, other faculty, staff, and students have joined CEI. We have a subcommittee for positive education with the purpose of enlightening the Simon's Rock community of the positive education tenets. In Fall 2016, Gwendolyn, several others, and I celebrated Character Day with a discussion of character strengths and an activity. This celebration occurred in Fall 2017 and 2018.
Classroom Experience
Education that involves compassion, kindness, and passion is not foreign to me. My teaching style is my attempt to express compassion, kindness, and an excitement for both the material I teach as well as the students I see, even prior to the positive education conference. In fact, this is not an education foreign to the institution in which I am currently employed, Bard College at Simon's Rock. However, positive education has a second necessary pillar of education. We must teach students how to be successful human beings, not simply academicians. Until now, academics and mental well-being have been cared for separately by different leaders. We must combine both for our students to succeed.
As I mentioned earlier, mindfulness resonated with me. Because of this, I try to share this tenet with my students. At the beginning of each semester, I have openly discussed mindfulness with students by examining it thoroughly in class. This is significant when many students tend to burn out. They need to learn to be aware of their feelings and take time for self-care. I continue to remind students throughout the semester during conversations that they need to follow a routine for studies, exercise, and rest. Most students will not set time aside for all three, and this leads to anxiety, depression, and physical ailment. At the conference, I learned others who practice mindfulness in their classroom will set time aside for students to meditate. I have yet to establish this in my classroom.
Positive education is the theory of positive psychology put into practice in our schools. We cannot ignore its success.