By Nadine Briggs and Donna Shea
I (Nadine) had the pleasure of being part of a very exciting movement. I spent last week in Fort Worth, Texas at The World Positive Education Accelerator (WPEA) with 800 other delegates who have created plans to increase the use of positive education worldwide. The fact that there is a global effort to improve the well-being of children is beyond exciting. What is Positive Education? The definition of Positive Education as described by the World Government Summit is:
Positive Education is an approach to education that blends academic learning with character & well-being. Preparing students with life skills such as grit, optimism, resilience, growth mindset, engagement, and mindfulness amongst others. Positive education is based on the science of well-being and happiness.
(source: https://www.worldgovernmentsummit.org/api/publications/document/8f647dc4-e97c-6578-b2f8-ff0000a7ddb6)
When I read that description, my mind says “Yes! A million times, yes!” As parents, we want nothing more in life than to have happy kids. Science has proven how to do exactly that and it isn’t difficult to do. It is a focus on character strengths and a concerted effort to improve what is known as PERMA, an acronym for positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement. Character strengths are comprised of 6 virtues and the strengths within each.
Wisdom and knowledge: creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, perspective, innovation
Courage: bravery, persistence, integrity, vitality, zest
Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence
Justice: citizenship, fairness, leadership
Temperance: forgiveness and mercy, humility, prudence, self-control
Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality
When considering character strengths and the elements of PERMA, it is easy to see why we see it as a critical focus in social skills coaching. For me personally, The World Positive Education Accelerator conference was the first time that I truly felt like I was “with my people” in a professional sense. Most social skills programs and the professionals that run them do not follow what we have been studying for at least six years. In fact, while I was in Texas, most professionals who help with social skills were at an entirely different conference and one that I or Donna would ever consider attending. So why are we two of the only social coaches who use it? Because others take a clinical and treatment approach to friendship and we do not. We are happily swimming in the completely opposite direction.
The bottom line is that our children need to be okay. They are our future and they need to feel like others value them and they need to feel worthy. They need to find what can truly engage them so that when they are in that space, they have found true contentment or “flow”. They need quality relationships with people who truly care about them and are enjoyable to be with. The need to find whatever it is that will give their lives meaning. Perhaps, as is the case with us, our careers will provide meaning and others might volunteer or find another way to their purpose. If our children have all of these aspects in their lives, then they will thrive. It will show through their achievements. They will take their signature strengths and use them to the fullest. And they will be okay. They will be living their lives with contentment and well-being and they will find happiness.
Positive Education is the game changer for our children and there are 800 professionals working to spread the news to the world and I am honored to be among them.
