School Climate: Moving from Entitlement to Gratitude

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School Climate Moving from Entitlement to
Gratitude
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Objectives

• To examine the research about gratitude and
  school aged students and the implications for
  school climate
• To explore ways to practice gracious thinking
  in the school environment through the school
  counseling program
• To wonder whether a more gracious orientation by
  students would have implications for appreciation
  and ownership of ones education and, therefore,
  more meaningful learning

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School Climate is

• HOW STUDENTS FEEL
• ABOUT THEIR SCHOOL
• --going there
• --being there
• --learning there

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School Climate is

• How people feel about the qualities of a school
  and the people in that school (Kaplan Geoffroy,
  1990, p. 8)
• School climate reflects students, school
  personnel and parents social, emotional and
  ethical as well as academic experiences of school
  life.

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• A series of studies have shown that school
  climate is directly related to academic
  achievement
• (Brookover, et.al, 1977, brookover, 1978
  Brookover Lezotte, 1979 Edmonds, 1979
  Freiberg, 1999, Good Weinstein, 1986
  Gottfredson Gottfredson, 1989 Griffith, 1995
  Madaus, Airasian, Kellaghan, 1980 Rutter 1983
  Rutter, et al 1979 Shipman, 1981)

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School Climate is important because

• Promotes or complicates students ability to
  learn.
• Has a profound impact on individual experience
• Two aspects of school climate affect student self
  esteem positive feedback from teachers and
  commitment to school
• School Climate Research Summary. (2009). Center
  for Social and Emotional Education. New York, New
  York.

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School Climate and School Counseling Programs

• Washington State Standard 6 School Climate
• Certified school counselors work to establish and
  foster a safe, inclusive, and nurturing learning
  environment for students, staff, and families and
  use strategies designed to prevent or resolve
  problems that could limit or diminish the
  capacity of students to learn and achieve at
  their highest level WAC 180-78A-270 (a) (5a)
• National Board for Professional Teaching
  Standards
• School Counseling Standard VI Accomplished
  school counselors work to establish and foster an
  emotionally, socially, and physically safe
  learning environment for students, staff, and
  families.

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• A comprehensive school counseling program can
  impact school climate
• Creating a more gracious state of mind among
  students will positively affect climate and may
  affect student ownership in their own learning.

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What do we model in our school climate?

• The Cherokee legend about life
• The fight within us all
• Between
• fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed,
  arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment,
  inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and
  ego
• And
• Joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity,
  humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship,
  empathy, generosity, truth, compassion,
  gratitude, and faith.
• Which one do we feed?

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• DO WE ALL REMEMBER ITS OUR CHOICE?
• DO OUR KIDS KNOW THEY HAVE A CHOICE?

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• HOW DO YOUR STUDENTS FEEL ABOUT GOING TO SCHOOL?

P. S. Are they grateful for the opportunity?
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• DO YOUR STUDENTS ASSUME OWNERSHIP FOR THEIR OWN
  LEARNING?

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TAKING THE TEMPERATURE of Your
School

• I FEEL THAT GOING TO SCHOOL IS
•  
• A BURDEN AN OPPORTUNITY
• Cuts into my free time ..A chance
  to be all I can be
•  
•  
• ENTITLEMENT GRATITUDE
• Its free Im a US citizen.. My
  education is an incredible gift

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TAKING THE TEMPERATURE of Your School

• OWNERSHIP OF MY OWN EDUCATION/LEARNING
•  
• EXTERNAL/COMPULSORY INTERNAL/MY CHOICE
• I have to be here .I
  choose to be here
• Passiveengaged

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• Research results

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TAKING THE TEMPERATURE

• THIS IS HOW I FEEL ABOUT GOING TO SCHOOL
• THIS IS HOW I FEEL ABOUT SCHOOL LEARNING
• Discouraged.........anxiousapatheticOKene
  rgetic/hopeful

20 of students approach learning with a clear
sense of purpose I know why Im here 25 have
little interest in long term goals of any kind
My existence is day to day. 55 have some
moments of purpose but theyre not sustained I
have some vision but no realistic sense of how to
get there.
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Are our choices reflected in the statement of the
mission of the district/school?
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What seems to be missing?

• How do we infuse it?

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Pause to Reflect on the Meaning and the
Possibilities of Gracious Thinking as We
BeginGratitude ReflectionsGratitude
Reflections
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• I would maintain that thanks are the highest form
  of thought, and that gratitude is happiness
  doubled by wonder.
• G. K. Chesterton

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How does gracious thinking in the school setting
contribute to student well being?
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Gratitude

• Is a sense of thankfulness and joy in response to
  receiving a gift, whether the gift be a tangible
  benefit from a specific other or a moment of
  peaceful bliss evoked by natural beauty.
• such as ones education

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Gratitude is

• A virtue
• An emotional state
• A human strength that enhances ones personal and
  relational well-being and is beneficial for
  society as a whole
• J. Froh, W. Sefick, R. Emmons (2008). Counting
  blessings in early adolescents An experimental
  study of gratitude and subjective well-being.
  Journal of School Psychology 46 (2008) 213-233

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A Virtue

• Moral affect
• by experiencing gratitude, a person is motivated
  to carry out prosocial behavior, energized to
  sustain moral behaviors, and is inhibited from
  committing destructive interpersonal behaviors.
• McCullough, Kilpatrick, Emmons, and Larson (2001)

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Gratitude is an emotional state

• A perception that one has experienced a positive
  outcome that has been intentionally provided by
  another person or moral agent often but not
  necessarily a person (Emmons McCullough, 2003)
• Allowing oneself to be placed in the position of
  recipientto feel indebted and aware of ones
  dependence on others
• (Emmons, 2007)

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Gratitude has been clearly linked to subjective
well-being

• Gratitude is related to happiness, hope, pride,
  optimism, positive mood, self-actualization,
  smooth interpersonal relationships, and a sense
  of community
• (Emmons Shelton, 2002)

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A Human Strength

• Gratitude serves as a moral barometer
• Gratitude serves as a moral motive
• Gratitude serves as a moral reinforcer

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Recent Gratitude Research suggests many
possibilities J. Froh, W. Sefick, R. Emmons
(2008). Counting blessings in early adolescents
An experimental study of gratitude and subjective
well-being. Journal of School Psychology 46
(2008) 213-233.

• The study determines the relationship between
  gratitude inducing behaviors and well-being
  within an early adolescent population.
• A rigorous investigation of this positive emotion
  is vital if optimal psychological growth among
  early/late adolescents is to be understood

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Results of the study

• Results indicated that counting blessings was
  associated with enhanced self-reported gratitude,
  optimism, life satisfaction, and decreased
  negative affect.
• Counting blessings seems to be an effective
  intervention for well-being enhancement in early
  adolescents.
• .

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Results of the study

• There was a robust relationship between gratitude
  and satisfaction with school experience at both
  the immediate post-test and 3 week follow-up

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• In that counting ones blessings appears to be
  an effective intervention in inducing gratitude
  in children and adolescents and, subsequently,
  increasing life satisfaction, while
  simultaneously alleviating negative affect,
  school psychologists have an intervention that
  may ultimately increase the well-being and
  overall optimal functioning of students.
• (Froh, Sefick Emmons. (2007)

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• Study with school aged children practicing
  gratitude showed a relationship between counting
  ones blessings and subjective well-being.
• New studies indicate that even pretending to be
  thankful raises levels of serotonin and dopamine
  (associated with pleasure contentment)

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• Gratitude emerges as an attitude that we can
  freely choose in order to create a better life
  for ourselves and others
• such as ones attitude toward ones education
• Emmons and Hill

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DevelopmentalGratitude in Childhood

• It is a capacity present from birth that develops
• Comprehension of gratitude is a process played
  out over several years does not appear
  regularly until middle childhood
• The link between attributions of responsibility
  for positive outcomes, the experience of
  gratitude, and the desire to do good to ones
  benefactor solidified between ages 7-10

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Gratitude in Adolescence

• A transitional period of both change and growth
• Opportunity is present for negative outcomes,
  stagnation or positive psychological growth
• What variables influence this change?

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Gratitude in Adolescence

• Capitalizing on ones strengths
• Fostering positive attitudes (gratitude,
  optimism) may buffer against negative outcomes

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• Classroom discussions and exercise in which
  children are encouraged to reflect on the sources
  of gratitude in their own lives may be effective
  in supporting positive development in children
• (Gordon et al. 2004)

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A Word about Entitlement
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A word about entitlement(the poverty of
affluence)

• Consumerism fuels ingratitude
• When a person wants what they have, they are less
  susceptible to messages that encourage them to
  want what they dont have or what others have.
• Deliberate appreciation can reduce the tendency
  to depreciate what one has

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Change the Perception of Why We Go to School

• Gratitude is a feeling that stems from certain
  perceptions or thoughts
• Looking at school and learning in a certain way
• 1. Acknowledge the goodness of the gift
• 2. Increase valuing of the gift
• 3. Protect the gift

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Change the Perception of Why We Go to School

• Motivation in learning
• Social milieu where the learning takes place
• Expectancy
• Value placed on engaging in the learning
• Brophy, J. 2008) Developing Students
  Appreciation for What is Taught in School.
  Educational Psychologist, 43(3), 132-141.

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Change the Perception of Why We Go to School

• Adding value
• What do we know and do to help students
  appreciate the value of what they are learning?

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Change the Perception of Why We Go to
SchoolCreating a Gracious Environment

• Expand and deepen our theorizing about the
  potential benefits that students get from
  learning at school
• Scaffold students learning experiences in ways
  that help them appreciate the value of what they
  are learning
• Brophy, J. 2008) Developing Students
  Appreciation for What is Taught in School.
  Educational Psychologist, 43(3), 132-141

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Change the Perception of Why We Go to
SchoolCreating a Gracious Environment

• Focus each day on student generated reasons about
  why we go to school
• Connect learning each day with possibilities for
  the future
• Talk about school as an opportunity for many
  positive experiences
• Teach, expect, and reward work ethic (rather than
  or in addition to grades)

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School Climate Gracious Thinking

• Exploring ways to practice
• gracious thinking in the
• school environment
• through the
• school counseling program

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Change the Perception of Why We Go to
SchoolCreating a Gracious Environment

• Practice gracious thinking and doing A Gratitude
  Attitude
• Model gracious thinking and behavior by all
  adults and student leaders (parents, staff,
  volunteers)
• role play using words of gratitude
• pause for gratitude (Is there anything today
  that you are thankful for?)
• As a reflection at the end of a project, lesson
  or a rewarding or difficult experience

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• Keep a journal or log of everything youre
  grateful for daily/week/month
• Reflect on values and insights

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Change the Perception of Why We Go to
SchoolCreating a Gracious Environment

• Adopt a Month of Gratitude (November?)
• Identify thank you targets and start thanking
• Take some time off from something you love but
  take for granted (the How of Happiness, Sonja
  Lyubomirsky, psychologist at UC, Berkeley)car,
  tv, phone, sugar, coffee.
• Visualize it create a collage of what you are
  grateful for and display it

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Change the Perception of Why We Go to
SchoolCreating a Gracious Environment

• Create a thank you tree on a wall and add Post-it
  note leaves every day to acknowledge everything
  from a new sibling to a walk with the dog.
• Choose someone close to you (eg a parent, and
  ask these questions
• What have I received from her?
• What have I given her?
• What trouble have I caused her?
• You may discover appreciation

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Change the Perception of Why We Go to
SchoolCreating a Gracious Environment

• Thank the unsung heroes of your life
• (Compose a letter and read it out loud
  face-to-face)
• I want to thank you in person for the impact
  youve had on my life.

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Gifts freely givenand acknowledged

• gratitude
• Encourage random acts of appreciation ongoing
  opportunities to give and receive and be grateful

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Reflection

• When I think about what Im
• grateful about,
• I learn that I
• I discover that I
• I notice that I
• I realize that I

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Involve Parents and Other Adults

• In the cultivation of gratitude and thankfulness
  in children
• Counting blessings
• Saying in person and writing thank yous
• Modeling

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• Stay sincere
• If you overdo it, gratitude may lose its meaning.
  Be selective

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• Gratitude is never so important as during those
  times when everything appears to be lost.
• Finding something to appreciate can save us from
  absolute despairin a way that abject complaining
  cannot.
• (Emmons, R.A. (2007). thanks!.New York, New York.
  Houghton Mifflin)
• Finding something to be grateful for, even in the
  midst of a miserable time in our lives, is one of
  the most healing things we can do.

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A favorite Emily Dickinson poem

• Success is counted sweetestBy those who ne'er
  succeed.To comprehend a nectarRequires sorest
  need.Not one of all the purple HostWho took
  the Flag todayCan tell the definitionSo clear
  of VictoryAs he defeateddyingOn whose
  forbidden earThe distant strains of
  triumphBurst agonized and clear!

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• I dont believe that things always happen for
  the best, but I do believe that its possible to
  make the best of things that happen

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• Write your hurts in the sand
• Carve your blessing in stone

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Bibliography

• ReferencesSchool Climate Moving from
  Entitlement to Gratitude
• Brophy, J. (2008). Developing students'
  appreciation for what is taught in school.
  Educational Psychologist, 43(3), 132-141.
• Center for Social and Emotional Education (CSEE).
  (2009). School climate research summary. Center
  for Social and Emotional Education (CSEE).
  Retrieved from www.schoolclimate.org/climate/.../s
  choolClimate-researchSummary.pdf
• Emmons, R. (2007). Thanks! How the new science of
  gratitude can make you happier. New York, NY
  Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Emmons, R., MCollough, M. (2009). Highlights
  from the research project on gratitude and
  thankfulness Dimensions and perspectives of
  gratitude. UCDavis Psychology Department.
  Retrieved October 28, 2009 from
  http//psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons
• Froh, J. J., Sefick, W. J., Emmons, R. A.
  (2008). Counting blessings in early adolescents
  An experimental study of gratitude and subjective
  well-being. Journal of School Psychology, 46(2),
  213-233.
• Gordon, A. K., Musher-Eizenman, D., Holub, S. C.,
  Dalrymple, J. (2004). What are children
  thankful for? an archival analysis of gratitude
  before and after the attacks of September 11.
  Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology,
  25(5), 541-553.
• Morain, C. (2007). Emmons Studying the new
  science of gratitude. Dateline UCDavis.
  Retrieved October 28, 2009 from
  www.dateline.ucdavis.edu/printable_dl_detail.lasso
  ?id9839
• Peterson, C., Seligman, M. (2004). Character
  Strengths and Virtues A Handbook and
  Classification. Washington, DC American
  Psychological Association.
• Scherer, M. (Ed). (2007). Engaging the Whole
  Child Reflections on Best Practices in Learning,
  Teaching, and Leadership. ASCD.
• Uhl, C. (2005). The last class. College Teaching,
  53(4), 165.