It’s just an event

As a health education teacher, I recognised early on that doing health education the traditional way was never going to work as well as I’d like. That’s why I became certified in Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) and Education (REBE) and developed a whole new approach to health education I called the ABC System of Cognitive, Emotional and Behavioral Self-Management and Self-Improvement.

One of my guiding quotes was from AG Miller: “I can imagine nothing we could do that would be more relevant to human welfare, and nothing that could pose a greater challenge to the next generation of psychologist, than to discover how best to give psychology away. By combining the skills of a classroom teacher and those of a therapist, I think I’ve met that challenge.

The approach has evolved into what I call “A Mental and Emotional Tool Kit for Life.” Sometimes I add the word “Social” as well, because by learning how to get into the best cognitive and emotional place, people have their best shot at doing well socially because they are in the best cognitive and emotional place to make the best behavioural and lifestyle choices for themselves and others.

I think you’ll find the 10 “tools” listed on my website very practical. Each one serves a unique purpose, and address a specific underlying cause of all those things that go wrong in the lives of young people, in and outside the classroom, now and later in their lives, and they compliment each other as well, and even potentiate each other.

The beauty of this approach is that it would be good for teachers as well. If teachers are ill prepared in any way, it’s in how to deal with the challenges students present them with, including psycho-social ones. Teachers make a lot of mistakes with students, especially the most troubled and troublesome ones because they are not given such “tools” as part of their teacher preparation. Learning these “tools” will help them make less mistakes, be more effective, establish better rapports with their students, help them reduce any stress that typically goes with the job, and improve their mental, emotional and even physical health. Teaching them to their students would contribute to greater prevention efforts, and make their jobs easier. The “tools” could and should even become part of any classroom or school discipline process (the further into discipline someone gets, the more positive it should become). And after teachers are trained up, it would cost anything to teach the “tools” to students, and ultimately perhaps, parents as well. These “tools” should be treated like reading and writing - something every teacher tries to teach every student at every available opportunity. Those things that work best in education occur when everyone is on the same page.

You can find the list of “tools” and an explanation of each, why they’re important, and how to teach them at www.itsjustanevent.com

Hope you find the approach interesting.