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• What is Optimism?

• Why is Optimism Important?

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• Explanatory Styles

• Teaching Strategies

•Optimism is about looking at things in life in a positive way and believing in positive outcomes.

•It is about believing in yourself and generally expecting the best.

•Optimistic people see and focus on the good things in life, rather than the bad.

•The glass is half-full, not half-empty

A number of learning theories relate to the topic of optimism, both in the way that young people learn and in the importance of optimism as part of the learning process.

•Bandura's Social Learning Theory - we learn by modelling our behaviour from other people. Hence, if we want children to be optimistic then teachers need to demonstrate optimism in the classroom.

•Maslow's Heirarchy of Individual Needs - focuses on the individual's own capabilities and personal learning needs of which optimism is a key component.

•Seligman's Learned Optimism

Learned Helplessness

• 1965 experiment by psychologist Martin Seligman

• Contradicted Skinner's theory

• Some dogs didn't try to escape shocks. They had learnt that nothing they could do mattered, so there was no point trying to escape the shock.

• Inescapable shock, no control over environment

• Behaviorism --> Cognitive Psychology – what you think determines behaviour, not just rewards or punishment

"The basis of optimism does not lie in positive phrases or images of victory, but in the way you think about causes."

Martin Seligman, 1995

• A way of thinking about the causes of things that happen to us in our lives.

• Developed throughout childhood

• Teachers therefore play an important role

• Permanence : temporary or permanent?• Pervasiveness: specific or global?• Personal : internal or external?

So, a person who is optimistic generally explains bad events due to temporary, specific and external causes, while good events are seen as resulting from permanent, global and

internal causes. The inverse applies to the pessimist.

Permanent or temporary? Specific or global?

Permanent or temporary? Internal or external?

• Recognising learned helplessness• Empower the student – control of their environment

• Promote an optimistic explanatory style:• Criticising students• Encourage students to be realistic • Reward positive attitudes to learning• Recognition of success• Responding to failure – behavioural focusencourage a temporary, specific, external view

Example:

“ I failed my English test because I am stupid.”

“ I didn't pass my English test because I didn't study the texts.”

Create a supportive, successful environment. Develop the mental and emotional skills of the students.

•Show students they are valued and special

•Provide ample opportunities for students to

achieve successful, personal outcomes

•Offer practical support to develop emotional

and mental balance ow students they are

valued and special

•Provide ample opportunities for students to

achieve successful, personal outcomes

•Offer practical support to develop emotional

and mental balance