The wellbeing classroom

THE WELLBEING CLASSROOM

B.ED, M.ED (LEADERSHIP)

UNIVERSITY LECTURER

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT AND FACILITATOR

CERTIFIED LIFE COACH, NLP COACH & TRANSPERSONAL COACH

Daniela Falecki

www.teacher-wellbeing.com.au

TODAY ….

• Challenges in the classroom• The Science of wellbeing• Strategies for wellbeing• Putting it all together - PERMA

“The key to successful leadership today is

influence, not authority” Ken Blanchard


IT ALL BEGINS WITH THE TEACHER


FOR WELL STUDENTS WE NEED WELL TEACHERS


THE REALITY….

Teachers are among those professionals with the highest levels of

job stress and burnout across many countries. (Stoeber J & Renner D, 2008)

50% of teachers who start, leave the within their first 5 years of teaching.

John Hattie has linked teacher motivation, or lack thereof, to student achievement;

“When teachers become burned out, or worn out, their students’ achievement outcomes are likely to suffer because they are more concerned with their personal survival.” (Hattie, 2013)

Teachers are involved in about 1000 interpersonal contacts every day (Holmes 2005). The quality of this contact can either jeopardise or enhance wellbeing.

If teachers have strategies to support their wellbeing , they will be better placed to manage every day stressors of the job to not only survive but flourish. In doing say, they become better role models and educators for our students.


WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES?

What are the biggest challenges you currently face in the classroom?


WHAT IS WORKING WELL?

What is working

well?


A Shift in Mindset

MOVE FROM A DEFICIT MINDSET

Repairing problems

Healing wounds

Identifying defects

Notice what’s wrong with people

Eg, focussing on mental illness, bullying and disease

TO A STRENGTHS MINDSET

Building resilience

Gaining learnings

Recognise possibility

Notice what’s right with people

Eg, focussing on resilience, wellbeing and achievement

Source: http://www.thinkers.sa.gov.au/seligmanaddendum/files/inc/8c48cde37c.pdf


WHAT DOES A WELLBEING CLASSROOM LOOK LIKE?

When it is not working?

When it is working?


WHAT IS WELLBEING? Wellbeing has been defined from two perspectives. The clinical perspective defines well-being as the absence of negative conditions and the psychological perspective defines well-being as the prevalence of positive attributes.

The positive psychological definitions of wellbeing generally include some of six general characteristics.

The six characteristics of well-being most prevalent in definitions of well-being are: the active pursuit of well-being;

a balance of attributes positive affect life satisfaction prosocial behaviour multiple dimensions personal optimisation

Positive psychology is the science of wellbeing and gives us evidence based strategies to better understand how to flourish.

Just as health is NOT merely the absence of disease, Happiness is NOT merely the absence of unhappiness. Happiness can be learnt and is a foundation for wellbeing.

Source : http://nwia.idwellness.org/2011/02/28/definitions-of-wellbeing-quality-of-life-and-wellness/#sthash.xSVUpRnu.dpuf


STUDENT WELLBEING

“Student wellbeing is defined as a sustainable state of positive mood and attitude, resilience, and satisfaction with self, relationships and experiences at school.”(Response-Ability)

Four components;

• Positive affect (an emotional component)• Resilience (a coping component)• Satisfaction with relationships life (a cognitive component)• Maximizing potential (a performance component)


MANAGING WELLBEING?


PETS

Performance Enhancing Thoughts

ANTS

AutomaticNegativeThoughts


GROWTH MINDSET – CAROL DWECK



BUILDING POSITIVE LITERACY


THE 5 PILLARS OF A WELLBEING CLASSROOM

Positive Emotions

Engagement (or flow)

Relationships

Meaning

Accomplishment

Acknowledge positive feelings

Recognise and use strengths

Foster positive interactions

Know what is important for others

Set goals & celebrate achievements


THE PILLARS OF WELLBEING



1. POSITIVE EMOTIONS

What is working well?

What are you grateful for?

How will you track the good stuff?


2. ENGAGEMENT What are your strengths?

How do you use them?

Strengths testswww.viacharacter.org


http://www.viacharacter.org/

3. RELATIONSHIPS

Who are the people who support you?

How do you support them?

“Great things are not done by impulse,but by a series of small things brought together.”

Vincent Van Gogh


4. MEANING Connect to what is important to you

Be mindful of why and what you are doing

http://mindfulnessinschools.org/what-is-b/ http://smilingmind.com.au/education-program/


http://mindfulnessinschools.org/what-is-b/

http://mindfulnessinschools.org/what-is-b/

http://smilingmind.com.au/education-program/

5. ACCOMPLISHMENT

Make a list of all the things you achieved in the past month?

Instead of writing a ‘to-do’ list, write an ‘Achievement ‘ list of things you would like to do this coming month


Putting it all together - PERMA


Positive Emotions When are you at your happiest? What are you grateful for?

EngagementWhat are you strengths? How do you use them?

RelationshipsWho makes up your support network? How do you connect with them?

Meaning What is most important to you? How can you practice mindfulness?

AccomplishmentWhat have you achieved in the last month? Set a SMART goal for to be completed next month. How will you celebrate it?


STRATEGIES FOR THE CLASSROOMPositive Emotions Develop an emotional literacy board

Ask what went well at the end of each day Keep a gratitude journal Encourage students to give positive feedback to each other When praising, be specific as to what they did well

Engagement Help students identify their strengths Give opportunities for students to spot strengths in others Have a strengths poster in the classroom Use strength cards when debriefing or analyzing

Relationships Allocate support buddies for a week Identify support networks in the school and out of school Establish big sister, big brother partners with older year groups Perform a random act of kindness for someone

Meaning Help students identify values (things that are important to them) Give students biographies of inspiring people and how they have

overcome challenge Initiate THANKYOU cards to recognize what is working well

Accomplishment Establish a class vision and put up around room Help students set daily and weekly goals Frequently recognize achievement eg charts, certificates,

ceremonies, letters home Celebrate success by sharing stories Role model success by sharing your successes


COACHING STUDENTS

“Is there another way to look at it?”

“How do you want it to be?”

“What went well?”



The next step ...

What is the biggest learning for you?

How will you take this back into your

school?


IN A NUTSHELL....

Now

Challenge

Outcomes

feelValued

RespectedHeard

Recognised

PERMA


More resources at…


Twitter @DFalecki


http://www.teacher-wellbeing.com.au/

ReferencesBriner, R., & Dewberry, C. (2007). Staff well-being is key to school success. London: Worklife Support Ltd/Hamilton House.

Curry, J. R. P., & O'Brien, E. R. P. (2012). Shifting to a Wellness Paradigm in Teacher Education: A Promising Practice for Fostering Teacher Stress Reduction, Burnout Resilience, and Promoting Retention. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 14(3), 178-191.

Holmes, E. (2005). Teacher well-being: Looking after yourself and your career in the classroom: Psychology Press.

Howard, S., & Johnson, B. (2004). Resilient teachers: resisting stress and burnout. Social Psychology of Education : An International Journal, 7(4), 399-420. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11218-004-0975-0

Jennings, P. A., Snowberg, K. E., Coccia, M. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2011). Improving classroom learning environments by cultivating awareness and resilience in education (CARE): Results of two pilot studies. The Journal of Classroom Interaction, 37-48.

McCallum, F., & Price, D. (2010). Well teachers, well students. The Journal of Student Wellbeing, 4(1), 19-34.

Norrish, J. M., Williams, P., O'Connor, M., & Robinson, J. (2013). An applied framework for Positive Education. International Journal of Wellbeing, 3(2).

Richards, J. (2012). Teacher stress and coping strategies: A national snapshot. Paper presented at the The Educational Forum.

Roffey, S. (2012). Pupil wellbeing—Teacher wellbeing: Two sides of the same coin? Educational and Child Psychology, 29(4), 8.

Seligman, M. E., Ernst, R. M., Gillham, J., Reivich, K., & Linkins, M. (2009). Positive education: Positive psychology and classroom interventions. Oxford review of education, 35(3), 293-311.

Stoeber, J., & Rennert, D. (2008). Perfectionism in school teachers: Relations with stress appraisals, coping styles, and burnout. Anxiety, stress, and coping, 21(1), 37-53.

Waters, L., & White, M. (2015). Case study of a school wellbeing initiative: Using appreciative inquiry to support positive change. International Journal of Wellbeing, 5(1).


http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11218-004-0975-0

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11218-004-0975-0

[email protected]

Twitter@DFalecki


mailto:[email protected]

The wellbeing classroom

Education

wellbeing classroom

wellbeing classroom

definitions of wellbeing

characteristics of wellbeing

absence of disease

achievement source

biggest challenges

active pursuit of wellbeing