Personal Well-Being Lessons for Secondary Schools: Positive Psychology in Action for 11 to 14 Year Olds

242 Pages·1.219 MB·English

by  Ilona Boniwell, Lucy Ryan

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Personal Well-Being
Lessons for Secondary
Schools
Praise for this book
“Boniwell and Ryan provide an excellent synopsis of the current state of wellbeing literature
focusing on evidence-based studies and how these link into contemporary public policy. This
underpinstheworkthatBoniwellandRyanhavedonetoensurethatthe‘hands-on’methodology
outlined throughout the text is underscored by science that highlights the importance of each
exercise.Studentsareencouragedbythisdesigntotakea longtermviewoftheirdevelopment.
Boniwell and Ryan’s text is a significant contribution to the growing area of Wellbeing and
Positive Education literature. Its teacher friendly format and engaging exercises will stimulate
manyclassroomdiscussions.”
DrMathew AWhite,Director,Wellbeing&Positive Education,StPeter’sCollege,
Australia andFellow,MelbourneGraduateSchoolofEducation,
UniversityofMelbourne,Australia
“This book is a much welcomed addition to the field of student well-being. The authors have
captured the science and practice of positive psychology and have brought together an array of
evidence-basedpracticesandexercisesthatwillallowteacherstoexplicitlyincorporatewell-being
intotheircurriculumandpastoralcare.The6areasofwell-beingarescientificallyvalidatedand
the book provides excellent resources and teaching tips. The comprehensive list of classroom
activities will positively impact upon the well-being of secondary students. This book is an asset
toanyteacherwhobelievesin‘whole-student’learning.”
Lea Waters,AssociateProfessor,UniversityofMelbourne,Australia
“Thisbookdoesexactlyaspromisedbythetitle.Providingpractical,exciting,creative,andstim-
ulatinglessonplansforstudents,onthesubjectofwell-beingand,indeed,lifeskills,informedby
thebestavailableevidencefromPositivePsychology.Thelessonsarecomprehensive,excellently
presented for teachers, all supported by clear explanations of the research evidence and con-
cepts, and have the benefit of active student engagement and participation. This book provides
a flexible and accessible source book of wonderful ideas and activities. Given the importance of
student well-being, and their emotional, social and personal development, as well as their basic
happiness,thisbookwouldbevaluableforeverySecondarySchoolandAcademy.”
ProfessorIrvineS.Gersch,UniversityofEastLondon,UK
“Ilona Boniwell and Lucy Ryan’s book is exactly what teachers require. ‘It fits with the teachers’
needs in terms of how and what to teach when positive education is a concern. The different
aspects of their program are detailed in 36 lessons, with theoretical background and practical
tips,the‘LessonPlan’and‘Howto’parts,whichareveryuseful.Thisstructureisveryconvenient.
This is not only a book but also a very interesting tool designed for each teacher in charge of
pupils agedfrom11to14.”
DrCharlesMartin-Krumm, UniversityWesternBrittany,France
“Averyuseful compendiumofPSHE-type activities.”
GuyClaxton,UniversityofWinchester,UK
Personal Well-Being Lessons for
Secondary Schools
Positive psychology in action
for 11 to 14 year olds
Ilona Boniwell and Lucy Ryan
OpenUniversityPress
OpenUniversityPress
McGraw-HillEducation
McGraw-HillHouse
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England
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OpenUniversityPress2012
Copyright©IlonaBoniwell&LucyRyan2012
Allrightsreserved.Exceptforthequotationofshortpassagesforthepurposesofcriticismand
review,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,
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ISBN10:0335246168(pb)
ISBN13:9780335246168(pb)
eISBN:9780335246175
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
CIPdatahasbeenappliedfor
TypesetbyAptaraInc.,India
PrintedintheUKbyAshfordColourPress.,Gosport,Hampshire
Fictitiousnamesofcompanies,products,people,charactersand/ordatathatmaybeusedherein
(incasestudiesorinexamples)arenotintendedtorepresentanyrealindividual,company,
productorevent.
Contents
Introduction ix
PositivePsychology inActionLessonsGrid xxi
UNIT1 POSITIVESELF
Lesson1 HappyTalk 1
Lesson Plan 1
HowTo 3
Lesson2 Me,Inc. 7
Lesson Plan 7
HowTo 9
Lesson3 MyStrengthsPortfolio 11
Lesson Plan 11
HowTo 13
Lesson4 ConfidentYou 17
Lesson Plan 17
HowTo 19
Lesson5 MyBestPossibleSelf 23
Lesson Plan 23
HowTo 25
Lesson6 TheStrengthsSongbook 29
Lesson Plan 29
HowTo 31
UNIT2 POSITIVEBODY
Lesson7 ImageMatters 35
Lesson Plan 35
HowTo 37
Lesson8 SupersizeMe! 41
Lesson Plan 41
HowTo 43
Lesson9 TheNutritionQuiz 45
Lesson Plan 45
HowTo 47
Lesson10 MindfulnessforLife 49
Lesson Plan 49
HowTo 51
v
vi CONTENTS
Lesson11 GotoBed,Sleepyhead! 57
Lesson Plan 57
HowTo 59
Lesson12 ThePowerofExercise 63
Lesson Plan 63
HowTo 65
UNIT3 POSITIVEEMOTIONS
Lesson13 UnderstandingEmotions 69
Lesson Plan 69
HowTo 71
Lesson14 TheNegativityBias 75
Lesson Plan 75
HowTo 77
Lesson15 BoostYourPositiveEmotions! 81
Lesson Plan 81
HowTo 83
Lesson16 JustforFun 87
Lesson Plan 87
HowTo 89
Lesson17 Surprising,SpontaneousSavouring! 93
Lesson Plan 93
HowTo 95
Lesson18 MentalTimeTravelling 99
Lesson Plan 99
HowTo 101
UNIT4 POSITIVEMINDSET
Lesson19 FixedorFlexible? 105
Lesson Plan 105
HowTo 107
Lesson20 Hope 111
Lesson Plan 111
HowTo 113
Lesson21 CreativeProblem-Solving 117
Lesson Plan 117
HowTo 119
Lesson22 Money,Money,Money 123
Lesson Plan 123
HowTo 125
CONTENTS vii
Lesson23 TheTyrannyofChoice 129
Lesson Plan 129
HowTo 131
Lesson24 ThinkYourselfHappier 133
Lesson Plan 133
HowTo 135
UNIT5 POSITIVEDIRECTION
Lesson25 EggYourselfOn 139
Lesson Plan 139
HowTo 141
Lesson26 Nail,Nag,Nudge 145
Lesson Plan 145
HowTo 147
Lesson27 TheFlowZone 151
Lesson Plan 151
HowTo 153
Lesson28 BigHairyGoals 157
Lesson Plan 157
HowTo 159
Lesson29 FiveLittlePigs 163
Lesson Plan 163
HowTo 165
Lesson30 TheBalancingAct 169
Lesson Plan 169
HowTo 171
UNIT6 POSITIVERELATIONSHIPS
Lesson31 TonicorToxic? 173
Lesson Plan 173
HowTo 175
Lesson32 Forgiveness 179
Lesson Plan 179
HowTo 181
Lesson33 ListeningandEmpathy 185
Lesson Plan 185
HowTo 187
Lesson34 SweetTrading 191
Lesson Plan 191
HowTo 193
viii CONTENTS
Lesson35 KindnessandGratitude 197
Lesson Plan 197
HowTo 199
Lesson36 HappinessacrossCultures 203
Lesson Plan 203
HowTo 205
References 209
Introduction
Thetruemeasureofa nation’sstandingishowwellitattendstoitschildren–theirhealthandsafety,
theirmaterialsecurity,theireducationandsocialization,andtheirsenseofbeingloved,valued,and
includedinthefamiliesintowhichtheyareborn.
(UNICEF2007)
What is well-being education and why should we have it?
Itislikelythatthefirstdecadeofthetwenty-firstcenturywillbeviewedbyhistoriansasalandmark
decade for the explicit development of children’s well-being. Once implicit in the education of
children, well-being has now become an overt government agenda in many countries across the
world.Forinstance,theprimaryobjectiveoftheUKGovernment’s‘EveryChildMatters’initiative,
underpinned by the Children’s Act (2004), is to ‘Safeguard children and young people, improve
theirlifeoutcomesandgeneralwell-being’(DfES2007b,p.35).Morerecently,theUKDepartment
for Children, Schools and Families published The Children’s Plan, setting ten new targets to
improve children’s well-being by 2020, through nurturing ‘happy, capable and resilient children’
(DCSF2007,p.5).
The reasons for the focus on the development of well-being in children are twofold. We are
forced to recognize that Western countries are currently facing an unprecedented increase in
childhood and adolescent depression. At any point in time, approximately 2 per cent of children
aged 11–15 and 11 per cent of youth aged 16–24 in the UK are suffering a major depressive
disorder(Greenetal.2005).Anxietydisorders,whichoftenprecedeandco-occurwithdepression,
arefoundinapproximately3percentofchildrenaged5–15and15percentofyouthaged16–24
(Green et al. 2005). In the USA, approximately one in five adolescents has a major depressive
episode by the end of high school (Lewinsohn et al., 1993), with a similar picture observed in
Australia (Noble and McGrath 2005). Children and adolescents who suffer from high levels of
depressive symptomsor depressive disorders are more likely to have academic andinterpersonal
difficulties. They are more likely to smoke, use drugs and alcohol, and attempt suicide (Garrison
et al. 1991; Covey et al. 1998). The wealth of the countries appears to provide relatively little
protectionfortheiryouth.Recentinternationalattemptstodirectlymeasurechildwell-beingoffer
a worrying picture. The 2007 UNICEF report, which presents an overview of child well-being in
rich countries, sees the UK occupying the bottom third in the list of 21 industrialized countries
(UNICEF 2007). Of primary importance to this report is Dimension 6 – Subjective Well Being –
inwhichchildren rankedtheir opinionoftheir health,their likingforschoolandtheir subjective
view of their personal well-being. The United Kingdom came last in this dimension, causing a
rich debate on the success of current welfare and education policies. Bob Reitemeier, the Chief
Executive of The Children’s Society, reported in The Guardian on February 14, 2007: ‘Unicef’s
reportisawake-upcalltothefactthat,despitebeingarichcountry,theUKisfailingchildrenand
youngpeopleinanumberofcrucial ways.’
Although the case for well-being education can be made purely on the basis of prevention of
ill-health,depression,anxietyandothermentalhealthdisorders,thereisatleastasmuchvaluein
ix