School Matters – Happiest Days?

Aim: To research and develop the script and present a television programme discussing well-being in school education.

Link to video: SCHOOL MATTERS – Happiest Days?

( www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Teachers-TV-Happiest-Days-6049143/ )

Script:

Parents often ask their children “What did you do at school today? Nothing?” How much does it matter for pupils and staff to enjoy school? In a recent report, Lord Layard claims that 1 in 3 families are affected by depression and that this costs the economy billions of pounds. The failure of well-being in the population at large is critical. Can the foundations of happiness be laid in schools?

This programme looks at a range of strategies for developing well-being: We visit a primary school in Norfolk which has turned around behaviour and performance by adopting nurture principles … In Essex we see how self-assessment tools are helping pupils to analyze their capabilities and share responsibility for improvement … We look at new initiatives in the States that deal directly with issues of personal fulfilment … And we go to Liverpool where confidence and self-esteem humour are being developed through performance and humour.

Reflection: Responding to the challenge posed by the programme's researcher - 'What do you mean by delight?' - led me to clarify the foundations of my thinking about affect in education which had tacitly influenced the design practice I was carrying out. It later led to the development of my 'Analysis of Delight' poster, based on John Heron's work and my own ideas. (Heron, 1992)

Contribution: I provided a design practitioner's perspective to the programme maker's research, and articulated the ideas by editing the script and acting as presenter for the programme. My part: 25%

Originality, impact and importance: This television program was a new synthesis of ideas about well-being in schools - it was published on Teachers' TV and viewed and reviewed by many teachers. Its importance is in the way it links well-being with effectiveness in learning.

Our first example is of leadership throughout the school organizing explicit opportunities for convivial social experiences and creative teamwork. These opportunities need just as much planning, know-how and commitment as any subject in the National Curriculum. It is the creation of a space for children to take responsibility and find their fulfilment which marks out this ‘nurture school’ approach.

5 years ago, St. Andrew’s Primary in North Pickenham was a problem school. Although located in a small village in rural Norfolk, St. Andrew’s pupils exhibited all the symptoms of urban deprivation. They were disruptive, and had low esteem and low expectations.

Newly appointed Headteacher Jeni Barnacle realised she had to address the problems at a fundamental level.

Jeni’s approach was based on the principles of Nurture Groups, which were originally designed as an intervention strategy. A basic nurture tenet is that education can only take place in the context of positive, human relationships. Jeni decided to take the bold step of applying nurture principles across her whole school.

Nurture is essentially about creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and positive values. One of the most visible examples of that occurs at 1030 everyday, when lessons stop and all the classes sit down to a late breakfast.

Much of the teaching at St. Andrew’s is centred on themes, rather than individual subjects, with lots of emphasis on a hands-on approach. Teachers and children are given the freedom to develop to the extent of their imaginations.

And parents have noticed the beneficial affects of the nurture scheme as well.

So a ‘nurture school’ approach helps children understand each other. But what about making sense of themselves? In our next example, secondary age pupils are identifying their strengths and weaknesses, and with that self-knowledge taking control of finding a balanced whole. In this way they share responsibility for their learning, and may develop capability to maintain a balanced attitude for the rest of their lives.

At King Harold School, in Waltham Abbey on the outskirts of London, Year-10 students are undergoing a process known as ‘brain mapping’.

The questionnaire and subsequent analysis is based on principles developed at a university in South Africa for applications in the business community. Its use in schools however is a novel development.

Brain mapping attempts to associate a student’s thought processes with different functional areas of the brain. The ultimate purpose of the analysis is to find out which particular areas dominate.  The idea being that self-knowledge is an important route to personal fulfilment.

As this practice develops, school teachers will begin to note the pupils’ self-analysis and use it to plan the curriculum. At Strath Haven School in the United States, the curriculum is being developed to affirm young peoples’ lives and help them celebrate positive experiences. This recognises that being young does not prevent you from enjoying life and that learning is also about the self.

At Strath Haven, experimental positive psychology courses have been on the agenda for the last three years.

Today, teacher Kevin Haney is running a refresher session with students he first taught 3 years ago, when they were in 9th Grade. He is developing optimism skills – encouraging students to respond to adversity in a positive way. He starts by exploring the theme of gratitude.

Kevin’s English class is just one example of how positive psychology can be introduced into the curriculum. Psychologist Jane Gillham explains what it is all about.

Next year Jane and her team will be bringing positive psychology to some schools on Tyneside, as part of a pioneering, resiliency programme.

This responsibility – to take charge – has been taken to the limit in Liverpool, where everyone has the chance to stand up in front of the class and perform.

At Alsop High School in Liverpool something rather remarkable is about to take place. A select audience of parents, teachers and friends has been invited to an evening of stand-up comedy. The show is compered by professional comedian Steph Davies.

But the evening is really about 8 pupils that Steph has been mentoring for the last term.

Alan and his fellow comedians are undergoing an experience which Deputy Headteacher Paul Dickinson believes will have a profound, lasting effect.

The project is supported by Creative Partnerships and the Liverpool Comedy Trust, with the aim of building confidence among pupils.

Liverpool lays claim to being the home of English comedy, so it is no surprise that a Liverpudlian school should be the centre of this education experiment.

… which is why, 8 weeks ago, comedy tutor Steph Davies was invited to become a temporary member of staff.

Over the course of her workshops, Steph’s aim was to bring out the best in everyone.

And that confidence is there for everyone in the audience to see.

For the comics and their families the evening is a huge success and Alison is delighted.

It is not just pupils who have come under Steph’s influence. She is working with selected members of staff to help them develop comedy techniques for use in their lessons. But there is a serious side to the project.

My view is that a knowing happiness is key to intellectual fulfilment.  But happiness is also an entitlement – it relieves the anxiety around taking risks with big ideas, which is at the root of creative learning. In this way, in the examples we have seen of schools deliberately planning for well-being, happiness can be seen as central to effective learning. This should become a responsibility for all schools and executed with all the rigour offered to planning subject knowledge. Happy with that? I am!