Applying Character Strengths
Could character strengths provide the link between high attainment and positive wellbeing?
Applying character strengths in education
Character strengths are personality traits that determine how we feel, think and act and they are relatively stable throughout life. They're like a spectrum of positive qualities that can be used to build a healthy self-concept and help us succeed in life. Character strengths include things like kindness, honesty, bravery and perseverance - traits you might think of as "good" or "bad" depending on the situation.
For example: being honest means telling the truth even when it's hard to do so; being brave means facing your fears head-on; perseverance means sticking with something until it's finished (even if that takes years).
Research affirms that applied character strengths used consistently by schools and young people have higher academic attainment.
An emerging body of evidence suggests that integrating applied character strengths into daily teaching and activities can have a positive impact on wellbeing, relationships and attainment for children and young people. Research shows that when character strengths are used consistently by schools, young people experience better mental health outcomes. For example, one study found that students who participated in programs designed to teach character strengths were less likely to engage in risky behaviours like substance abuse and delinquency. Another study showed that schools that focused on the development of positive emotions among their students had higher academic achievement scores than those schools without such programs.
These findings are important because they demonstrate how important it is for educators and school leaders to incorporate character education into their curriculum. The benefits increase exponentially for young people if parents also encourage them to use their strengths every day! This is where teachers and parents share a consistent responsibility for the growth and development of each child.
Building character strengths to improve the mental health outcomes for children and young people.
The next step is to turn our attention towards building character strengths in order to improve the mental health outcomes for children and young people.
Character strengths are what we do well, they are our virtues that make us who we are. Character strengths include: kindness, courage, honesty and integrity - some of which were mentioned earlier as being important for good mental health. They also include other virtues such as self-control (the ability to control your emotions) or zest (the joy you take in life).
These positive qualities can be developed through education programmes that help young people learn how to use them effectively in their lives - from school age onwards until adulthood. This means teaching children how they can use their strengths effectively at home with family members; at school by helping each other out with homework assignments; at university by looking after each other when studying hard during exam periods etc...
Schools can help children and young people build their character strengths through a wide range of opportunities during school time.
Schools can help children and young people build their character strengths through a wide range of opportunities during school time. These include:
the curriculum and teaching practices, which should be designed to support the development of character strengths in children and young people;
extra-curricular activities such as sports clubs, music groups, drama clubs and community service projects;
school assemblies that celebrate positive behaviour and achievements; counselling services for students who are struggling with personal issues such as bullying or family breakdowns.
Young people are happier and healthier when they have greater opportunities to apply their character strengths, thereby increasing positive emotion and reducing negative emotion.
If you are a teacher, you will know that young people are happier and healthier when they have greater opportunities to apply their character strengths, thereby increasing positive emotion and reducing negative emotion.
To this end, we offer the following suggestions:
Encourage students to think about what makes them happy. What are some of their favourite things to do? What activities make them feel good about themselves? Is there anything in particular that brings out the best in each student?
Provide opportunities for students to express gratitude for what they have been given by others or by nature (e.g., sunshine on a cloudy day).
Help students identify how they can use their strengths in order to help others in need--whether that's volunteering at an animal shelter or donating clothes or food items during holiday seasons like Easter or Christmas.
Children and young people who can apply their strengths to challenging situations perform better academically and enjoy school more.
The more you can help children and young people to apply their strengths to challenging situations, the better they perform academically and enjoy school.
To give you an idea of how this works in practice, let's take a look at some examples from our research:
Children who have character strengths such as optimism and gratitude report feeling happier with life overall. This means they're more likely to be motivated by learning new things at school because they see it as an opportunity rather than a chore or burden (which is often how students feel when they're struggling).
Students who use their strengths regularly say that being able to do so made them feel better about themselves overall - again making learning easier for them because self-esteem helps us achieve goals faster than any other trait!
How do you identify character strengths?
The use of reliable online surveys measuring child character strengths is now fairly standard practice with more than 1,000 UK schools adopting tools such as VIA Character Strengths Survey for Youth (VIA-Youth). The survey helps identify which character strengths are strong for each child and which are less strong. It also provides a way to monitor change over time.
These surveys can be extended beyond simply identifying the strengths of individual children through an approach called 'strengths-based teaching'. This involves building on your students' existing strengths and providing opportunities for them to develop their weaker areas through targeted interventions by teachers or coaches.
The survey helps identify which character strengths are strong for each child and which are less strong. It also provides a way to monitor change over time. Teachers can use this information to plan engaging lessons that build on children's strengths, as well as provide opportunities to develop areas where they need more support or practice. Parents can use the results to help them understand their own children better, as well as learn how they can encourage their kids' strengths at home - and help them overcome challenges when necessary
The VIA-Youth survey is an excellent way to get a snapshot of how your child or student's character strengths are developing. It can also help you and your child, or student, identify areas where they could develop their strengths more effectively. If parents, teachers, and other adults in school, work together you can support each child with building their character strengths so that they flourish both inside and outside the classroom.