Parenting & Schools

The ability to be creative gives us the confidence to meet any problem, challenge, or opportunity that comes our way. Life, both personal and professional, is nothing if not full of challenges, problems, and opportunities. What is creativity? How does it contribute to well-being? How can we gain more of it? Hint: Look at the title.

Today I highlight experiences and perceptions of five MAPP alumni who also participated in the CAPP program with me. The CAPP program has prepared us to go teach similar programs elsewhere. We are starting several new CAPP programs at new locations in 2015. Sign up to be informed when a program near you comes available.

If you know that gratitude is good for you but it is still a struggle, how do you work on it?

My first-born has left the nest. Like the mother bird that nurtured and tended, I watch her fly away with pride and just a little trepidation. What strengths can I draw on to deal with my heart filled with longing?

Still trying to decide whether to attend the Canadian Positive Psychology Association conference in a few weeks? Read these previews of applications of positive psychology in educational settings. Not able to attend? You still may want to know about the work these people are doing.

“Yet!” is a one-word positive intervention. Let’s say you’ve tried something and the results are disappointing. When you say, “I can’t do it!” good friends will chime in “Yet!” to remind you that skills are not fixed and inborn. They grow with practice and effort. So what if you can’t do it yet!

At the upcoming Canadian Positive Psychology conference in Ottawa this July, many different keynotes, speakers and presenters will be sharing insights into their research and application of positive psychology. Typically, we think of positive psychology as serving a non-clinical population, but these forward-thinkers are taking positive psychology to populations that may be seen as vulnerable, disadvantaged, or difficult.

When they want to feel more loved, valued, respected or connected, most people give away their power. They ask (or want) others to be different, which means someone else’s behavior determines how happy they will be.
What do happier people do?

What can you do to help people understand the strengths of others? How can you help them learn how to use different strengths as lenses to see things from different points of view? Here’s one fabulous technique, adapted from Michelle C. Louis to enable people to do just that. At the same time, it strengthens relationships.

Earlier this month I got together with several of my colleagues to share ideas about using the VIA Character Strengths at work. We shared stories about seeing the same strength displayed in different ways in different people. Take Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence. Here are three stories about this strength manifesting in different ways in different lives.

Ungifted is an amusement park for the mind, and an intellectual pursuit that will both enlighten and inspire. If you want to be an educator at any level, this is a book you need to read. If you aim to recruit the best human capital you can find, Kaufman has some tips. If you need some parenting advice, it’s in there. If you are seeking new ideas on how to do and be your best, get a copy.

During last week’s Positive Education Summit in the UK, I was exceedingly fortunate to be invited by Martin Seligman to a dinner where the general topic of conversation was the future of positive psychology and positive education. At Seligman’s request, we stuck to the one-conversation rule which meant that everyone could hear and respond to everyone else’s contributions.

This is a ground-breaking volume of positive psychology research, and the breadth of perspectives is unparalleled. Not only are new and more specialized topics included, but even familiar topics are illustrated with up-to-date research, case studies, and examples. Clearly this is what positive psychology students and teachers need to progress the science, do high quality research, and put it out into the public domain.

Adam Grant’s new book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, dispels the myth that nice guys are underachievers. Grant examines three styles of social interaction: Giving, Taking and Matching. He provides the research to support the positive impact and benefits of giving. Despite our instinct to take or match in competitive atmospheres, the data show that givers rise to the top.

Mindful of the need to turn inspiration into action, I posed a challenge in the last slide: “What can you do to bring Positive Education to your school system?” They were then given heart-shaped post-its upon which to write down their intentions.

More than 300 educators, psychologists, counselors, students, and administrative heads of learning institutions across the Philippines gathered at the Villa Careres Hotel in Naga City to participate in the First National Convention on Positive Psychology. How did this festive and educational event come about?

What remains is to find the strengths, talents, and capabilities of each person, establish ways of developing and nurturing those capacities, and finding outlets for creating value with them. In the name of fairness and equality, then, let us put our efforts into finding ways to enable all people to do and be their best.

Many of the major findings from this book about healthy and unhealthy male development and adaptation to life will likely astound you. Here are 10 findings to whet your appetite for more.

“What can we as a country do to significantly improve the life chances of millions of poor children?” This is the question that reporter Paul Tough asks us to tackle with him in How Children Succeed. This book is passionately written and soundly researched. If Paul Tough is right, and I hope that he is, medical professionals, social workers, educators, and parents can join one another to build communities that help all of our children succeed.

I frequently write songs as gifts for others. The best example is a lullaby I wrote for my baby niece. It makes me feel more connected and that I matter. This construct of mattering seems very similar to the feeling that we are a part of something greater than ourselves. Taken together, the research described here suggests that a sense of meaning might be embedded in the basic need of relatedness, which both contributes to and results from prosocial behaviors.