Raising Happiness in Schools

I feel so energized by my trip to San Francisco and the Learning & the Brain conference that I’m dusting off my blog to document the highlights. The focus this year was "Educating the Whole Child/ Student: Using Brain Science for Smarter, Happier and Healthier Learners." I have dreamed of attending this event since I first heard about it four years ago and it met my expectations as an inspiring opportunity for professional development (all except for the fact that the Fairmont Hotel doesn’t provide internet for a conference of this magnitude which was perplexing and frustrating).

Christine L. Carter, PhD gave a talk entitled “Raising Happiness in Schools.” Her primary thesis is that while we once assumed that getting students into good colleges would be followed by good jobs and lead to happiness, the research shows that happiness is more of a precursor to success than a resultant. According to Dr. Carter there are 3 ways to increase happiness in schools.

#1) Motivate students using the concept of a growth mindset as opposed to a set mindset. Students who operate under the assumption that it is their hard work that produces results as opposed to their innate talent tend to outperform students who think they are just “smart.”
Specific strategies:
A) Praise their specific process. “Nice job! You must have tried really hard” as opposed to “you are so smart!”
B) Create an environment where it is ok to make mistakes or fail as long as you get up and try again.



C) Help students identify their own fixed-mindset and beliefs about themselves. Many students believe they “suck at math” or “can’t sing” but really they just haven’t put in the hours of effort it takes to develop a skill.

#2) Consciously teach and practice gratitude
The idea here is that we foster what we see. If we only see hassles in life, we will find them. If we are looking for joys, they are all around. Some ways to practice gratitude are:
A) Positive affirmations

B) A gratitude box in the classroom where students can put in things they are thankful for
C) Gratitude posters in the classroom to be written on at any time.
D) A time at dinner when family members talk about three good things that happened to them in a day.
E) When people ask you how you are instead of telling them how busy you are, tell them something you are grateful for.

365grateful.com from hailey bartholomew on Vimeo.