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Thriving People, Thriving Workplaces June-July 2009: Celebrating Strengths for Schools |
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Hello everyone There are two topics for this email: (1) to let you know about a workshop for schools to be
run in (2) provide an update on
recent conferences Celebrating
Strengths – a whole school coaching programme – coming to Canberra, Australia Frequently when introducing Positive Psychology and
Appreciative Inquiry to managers, teams, leaders and organisations, I hear
comments such as this: “wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could introduce this
to my children’s school”. In 2003 she designed and piloted her Celebrating
Strengths programme in the •
increased student confidence and motivation;
and improved cognitive, emotional and behavioural development •
students treat each other and teachers with
more respect •
increased citizenship skills and better
quality of relationships and interactions amongst students •
calmer school environment that helped students
including at examination times •
improved quality of staff relationships and
interactions •
enhanced teachers’ resilience and capacity to
deal with difficult behaviour •
increased teacher confidence, engagement and
enjoyment e.g. ‘I love coming to school
now’ •
more respectful and calmer school environment •
improved educational and social culture for
all involved with the school If you or your local
school are interested in this workshop, please email me and I will send you
the flyer information. Please also contact jenny@celebratingstrengths.com
– she would be delighted to talk to you further about what she will be doing
in Recent Positive
Psychology Conferences In May and June I attended three conferences (yes,
conference junkie comes to mind). Here is a brief overview. Positive Psychology in Education Symposium - •
The resounding conclusion: positive psychology is alive and well in
Australian education, and there is an incredible amount of energy to
implement the field widely across all areas of education •
160 participants; a wide range of topics and
speakers represented during the day •
Keynote speaker, Dr Mathew White, Head of
Positive Education, •
Keynote speaker,Dr
Helen McGrath, Deakin University, presented compelling research showing that
student well-being results in: positive relationships with peers and
teachers; positive feelings and attitudes, resilience, self knowledge and
self understanding, satisfaction with learning outcomes. •
Keynote speakers, •
Keynote speaker, Richard Eckersley, Visiting Fellow,
Australian National University showed worrying trends and statistics in
depression, mental health, sorry, stress, anti-social behaviour. He quoted
Lord Richard Layard “how stressful life has become
for children”. Richard challenged us to go beyond individual well-being, and
to address the broader social perspective and political determinants of child
well-being. For a more comprehensive review, see http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/amanda-horne-and-denise-quinlan/200906052053
IPPA •
1,500 participants, practitioners, students,
academics, teachers; international speakers, academics and professionals from
around the globe •
Speakers included Martin Seligman, Ed Diener, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Lord Richard Layard, David Cooperrider,
Barbara Fredrickson, Chris Peterson, Phillip Zimbardo,
Sonja Lyubomirsky, •
The topics ranged from the micro to the
macro. For example, some of the most interesting
presentations were by those who inspired us with what is possible at the
level of economies, societies and communities when positive psychology and
appreciative inquiry are applied. •
Lord Richard Layard
from the London School of Economics (referred to by Richard Eckersley above) commented
on economic policy: “the highest thing in life is to uplift the spirit”, “producing
a happier life for an many people as possible – this is the noble aspiration
and will lead to our 21st Century enlightenment” •
Martin Seligman urged us to be pulled by our future,
not driven by fear •
“If we have the institutions, good people can
do great things” (Ed Diener, encouraging us that we
must influence the environment in which we live and work; and that societies
and organisations matter to well-being) •
“It’s not just feeling good, it’s doing good”
(Ed Diener) •
David Cooperrider
received a standing ovation and discussed how “business is the agent of world
benefit”, “how can institutions amplify our strengths and help us to take our
strengths out into the world” i.e. it’s not about just creating environments
at work which lead to personal employee flourishing. “Buried in our bureaucracies is a whole
other game” 4th Happiness & Its
Causes Conference – •
Over 2,000 participants •
Over 50 respected international and local
speakers, panellists and moderators from diverse and distinguished areas,
including some familiar names: Sonja Lyubomirsky, Venerable Robina Courtin,
Dr Norman Doidge, Marva
Collins, Dr Daniel Goleman, Dr Daniel Siegel, M.D,
Professor Irving Kirsch, Dr Brian Rosner, Morris Gleitzman, Professor Ian Hickie,
Quotes: •
“Resilience is not avoiding negative emotions, it’s allowing yourself to experience the
negative emotions and to come back up and out of them.” (Ingrid Poulson) •
“Responsibility gives me control, just as
control gives me responsibility.” (Ingrid Poulson) •
“Compassionate action: the more we have the
better our society. It requires us to think less of us and more of others.”
(Daniel Goleman) •
“Happiness is found through the good we do” (Marva Collins) •
“The basis of self awareness and self
management - both of which are important for our happiness - is mindfulness.
Empathy and relationship skills/social skills are the key to spreading happiness.”
(Daniel Goleman) •
“Mindfulness results in the integration of all
regions of the brain. Without integration we have rigidity or chaos.” (Dan
Siegel) •
“Healing is a form of neural integration.” •
(Dan Siegel) •
“Our brains are not infinitely plastic, it’s just that they are more plastic than we used
to think.” (Norman Doidge) For a more comprehensive review, see http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/amanda-horne/200906111685
Future
conferences: World Appreciative
Inquiry Conference – 2nd Australian Positive Psychology Conference - 5th Happiness & Its Causes Conference – 4th European Positive Psychology Conference – IPPA This email… …aims to provide you and your teams with Add / Remove: Please send an email to: info@amandahorne.com.au For previous articles:
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