Building PERMA to achieve positive results for girlsDr Julie Townsend Headmistress and Mrs Victoria Rennie Deputy Headmistress

Why positive psychology in schools ?

• Fights anxiety and depression• Increases well being• Builds resilience:

–Self-awareness–Self-regulation–Optimism–Mental agility–Strengths of character–Connection

Major components of well being-Seligman’s PERMA model

Positive emotion

Engagement

Relationships

Meaning and

purpose

Accomplishment

Developing our programs

• Martin Seligman, Flourish. Focus on developing PERMA

• John Hattie, Visible Learning

• Carol Dweck, Mindsets. Focus on growth and fixed mindsets

• Angela Lee Duckworth: The Key to Success? Grit (TED talk 2013)

Our Four Key Areas Of Focus

BUILDING POSITIVE

EMOTIONSDeveloping an

understanding of gratitude; focusing

on positive experiences.; Hunt

the Good Stuff Journals

BUILDING MENTAL TOUGHNESS

Skills that are critical for

resilient thinking, and for

understanding thoughts,

emotions and behaviours of

others

BUILDING ACADEMIC TENANCITY

Developing and fostering a growth

mindset; significance of grit

and determination; understanding neuroplasticity

BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS

Skills to strengthen

relationships: discussing problems

assertively, praising

effectively and responding

constructively

Building positive emotions

Research shows:Negative emotion: When people experience stress, they show increased heart rate, higher blood sugar, immunosuppression, and other adaptations optimized for immediate action. If individuals do not regulate these changes once the stress is past, they can lead to illness, such as coronary disease, and heightened mortality.

Positive emotion: Longitudinal studies show that positive emotions play a role in the development of long-term resources such as psychological resilience and flourishing.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2003). The value of positive emotions. American Scientist, 91, 330-335.

How do we teach this ?

Hunt the good stuff journals

Recording three good things each day. Next to each positive event that is listed, write a reflection of at least one sentence about:

Why this good thing happened. What this good thing means to you. What you can do tomorrow to enable more of this good thing. What ways you or others contribute to this good thing.

Building mental toughness

“Mental Toughness is all about improving your mind so that it’s always on your side; not sometimes helping you nor working against you as we all know it’s quite capable of doing.“

Dr Jim Loehr, Human Performance Institute

Building mental toughness

ATC (Activating thought consequence) ModelMethod to identify thoughts about an event, and the consequences of those thoughts. Bring thoughts under control. Avoid thinking traps (TTs)TTs are patterns in thinking that stop a person seeing a situation accurately. Avoiding TTs can help avoid counterproductive patterns in thinking.Detect icebergsDetect Icebergs is used to identify and evaluate core beliefs or values that drive out-of-proportion emotions or reactions. Problem solvingDeveloping the ability to know and understand their thoughts, emotions and the behaviors of themselves and others.

Mental toughness skills

• self-awareness• Self-efficacy• Flexible and accurate thinking• Optimism wed to reality• Connectedness• Problem-solving as a process

Don’t let your thoughts trap you

An example of how we teach the skills

Jumping to conclusions

Mind reading

Me, me, me

Them, them, them

Always, always , always

Everything, everything, everything

Common thinking traps

How to avoid thinking traps

Building academic tenacity

Positive Psychology and Academic Tenacity

• Belong academically and socially

• See school as relevant to their future

• Work hard and can postpone immediate pleasures

• Not derailed by intellectual or social difficulties

• Seek out challenges

• Remain engaged over the long haul

Growth Mindset and Academic Tenacity

How can students establish a growth mindset?

• Learn, learn, learn - It’s more important to learn than get good marks, focus on learning and improving and the marks will come.

• Realise hard work is the key - Putting a lot of work and effort into learning and working hard is the key, seek challenges, focus on strategies, effort, struggle and persistence despite setbacks.

• Use feedback- Capitalise on mistakes, confront deficiencies, reflect on different strategies that work and don’t work, focus on improving.

Academic Tenacity

How can teachers develop growth mindsets?• Challenge students with high

performance standards - promotes growth mindset and learning goals

• Provide cognitive and motivational support to help students reach those standards (promotes self-regulation)

• Praise students for their effort or for the strategy they used – this promotes growth mindset and fosters resilience (whereas praising ability teaches fixed mindset)

• Build a sense of belonging. Make students feel connected and supported – develop a sense of fellowship with peers and teachers

Building strong relationships

Biblical studies and chapel: Every person precious; formed in the image of God

House System: bonds girls through events and competitions

Service Education: service work in our local and global community

PDHPE: teaches personal and social development

Active Constructive Responding

Presentation Name | Presenter Name

“I got a promotion at work!”…

Page 20 |

Active Constructive

‘That’s great; I’m so proud of you. What happened? What did your boss say? Let’s celebrate!”

Eye contact; smiling; touching; laughingPassive Constructive

“Great. Well done”

Little active emotional expression

Active Destructive

“That sounds like a lot more work. You’ll never be at home. You probably won’t enjoy it”.

Negative emotions; frowning;

Passive Destructive

“Oh. What’s for dinner?”

Little eye contact; little emotional expression

Building strong relationships

Teaching the girls skills to strengthen their relationships through communication.Learning how to:• Discuss problems assertively• Praise effectively• Respond constructively to positive experiences• Value friendships• Work to strengthen relationships

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