On Monday, GCC’s CTLE kicked off Day 1 of the fall conference, Anchors Away: Cruising Toward A Positive Classroom, by welcoming keynote speaker Zeena Hicks. Hicks, a “professionally accredited coach with a master’s in applied positive psychology and coaching psychology” and author of 28 Days of Positivity: How to crush negativity and release a lifetime of greatness in less than a month (2023), shared researched-backed strategies for creating a happier life. Of course, she also shared how we can use positive psychology to help our students be successful in school and in their own lives.
Self-Determination Theory
The foundation upon which we use positive psychology strategies in the classroom is that of self-determination theory. Based on the work of psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan (1985), this theory contends that all humans share a basic need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. When these needs are met, we can tap into motivation.
In the classroom, we nurture autonomy when we offer students choice. We might offer several ways to learn about a concept (for example, a video, a podcast, and a traditional reading), or we might offer students a choice in how they can demonstrate what they’ve learned. Having a bit of control over one’s learning, Hicks shared, is proven to increase engagement and motivation.
We nurture students’ competence when we provide them with challenging learning opportunities. When they wrestle through a tough learning exercise and come out on the other side, they strengthen a belief in themselves that they can do challenging work. This, too, in turn, positively impacts student motivation.
Challenging students and offering them autonomy in their learning are familiar concepts to teachers in higher education. We intuitively know that autonomy and competence are part of a rich learning environment. But the third pillar of self-determination theory–relatedness–says that we must also nurture a sense of connection in our classrooms. Some instructors may not see the benefit of taking time to nurture human connection when we have so much content to cover, but as Hicks illustrated during her talk, a feeling of connection and belonging is a powerful tool for motivation.
Here are some simple strategies Hicks shared for fostering connection and relatedness:
- “A random act of Kindness”: It’s simple. Instruct students to do something nice for a stranger. Later in the week, set aside time to talk about their experiences and how doing something nice for someone else made them feel. This strategy encourages participants to feel connected not only to their community but also to their classmates.
- “A Moment of Gratitude”: We tried this activity with Zeena Hicks on Monday. She instructed us to jot down an experience we had that day for which we felt gratitude. We also wrote down why we felt grateful and how the experience made us feel. Next, we simply shared our moments of gratitude at our tables. After sharing, many of us felt a little lighter and more connected to those around us. When we focus our attention on something, Hicks says, we will begin to see it all around us. Regularly focusing on the good in our lives is a way to cultivate more of what makes us happy and unites us with others.
- High-five as many people as you can in one minute: This is the simplest strategy of all! We tried out this activity on Monday, too. People beamed as they zigzagged their way through the crowd, high fives at the ready. The room quickly filled with sounds of laughter!
At the end of our time with Zeena Hicks, she offered us one last powerful strategy for using positive psychology with our students. She calls it “The Best Possible Self Intervention.”
Here’s how you do it: Instruct students to think, for example, of how they want to feel while taking an exam, then ask them to write for five to ten minutes detailing the best possible outcome. After they’ve written about their vision for themselves, guide them to visualize the experience of taking the exam in as much detail as they can muster. Engage the senses. For example, what do they see when they “look” around the exam space? Who is there with them? What do they smell? What sensations do they feel in their bodies?
This strategy can work with bigger goals than just passing a math exam. We might ask students to envision walking across the stage at graduation or to picture a snapshot of success in their future careers. Set aside time for this activity once a week for four to six weeks, she said with a sparkle in her eye, and see what changes.
Hicks noted that this is the type of strategy that takes an investment of time, therefore many instructors may feel they just can’t squeeze it in, but those who do see a tremendous impact in the lives of their students.
This school year, as we collectively focus on improving student retention, many of us are turning to tried and true strategies such as sending students encouraging messages and inviting students to our support hours. Maybe, though, it’s time to try something different? Maybe we should take a page out of Zeena Hicks’ (literal) book and give positive psychology a whirl?
If you missed out on Zeena Hicks and the strategies she shares from 28 Days of Positivity, never fear! You can still catch Day 2 of Anchors Away: Cruising Toward A Positive Classroom this Friday!