Student Level of Happiness and GPA, Is there a co-relation. 03-31

Because I’m Happy

AN INTRIGUING STUDY NOTES A CO-RELATION BETWEEN A STUDENT’S LEVEL OF HAPPINESS AND GPA

As policymakers, administrators, and teachers, we want the children in our classrooms to be happy, of course. But how much does their happiness really matter when it comes to learning? According to a new study by HGSE lecturer Christina Hinton, Ed.D.’12, the answer is clear: It matters a lot.

Hinton examined the interplay of happiness, motivation, and success in a K–12 setting, and she also looked at the school factors that support student happiness.

Using both quantitative and qualitative measures, she found that from elementary school to high school, happiness is positively correlated with motivation and academic achievement. She also found that the culture of the school and the relationships that students form with their teachers and their peers play an influential role in their happiness.

In order to conduct the study, Hinton collaborated with theSt. Andrew’s Episcopal School near Washington, D.C., which educates students in grades K–12. “We developed surveys to collect data on students’ happiness and motivation,” Hinton says. “We also collected qualitative data on happiness and motivation to dig more deeply into the construct. In addition, we collected data on students’ grade point averages. We then analyzed this data to explore the relationships among happiness, motivation, and academic achievement.”

Her analysis found several key associations that open the door to further research on how schools can optimize students’ learning experiences. Among them:

• Happiness is positively associated with intrinsic motivation (a personal drive to learn) for all students, and also with extrinsic motivation (outside sources like rewards, praise, or avoiding punishment) for students in grades K–3.

• Happiness is also positively associated with GPA for students in grades 4–12.
• Happiness and standardized test scores did not seem to be related, but further research is needed to confirm this.

• Happiness is predicted by students’ satisfaction with school culture and relationships with teachers and peers.

The finding that happiness is positively correlated with GPA is significant, Hinton notes, because GPA provides a broader picture of academic achievement than standardized test scores, encompassing multiple types of abilities and the influence of social dynamics.

Moving past quantitative scores, the study examined the relationship between happiness and achievement from the students' perspectives, as well as the source of the happiness that students report feeling in the classroom. “We asked the students what supports their learning, and then we coded the responses for themes,” says Hinton. “Students often reported that happiness, or positive feelings like enjoyment or fun, promotes learning.” They cited many reasons for their positive feelings, including feeling safe and comfortable at school and having secure relationships with their teachers and their peers.

These findings set the stage for important future research, Hinton says, as well as for exploring interventions that can successfully boost students’ overall happiness — and their performance in the classroom.

“In this study, we found that a network of supportive relationships is at the heart of happiness,” Hinton says. “If schools want to support student well being and achievement, they should take seriously nurturing positive relationships among teachers and students.”

View at the original source

The Science of Resilience 03-29

The Science of Resilience

WHY SOME CHILDREN CAN THRIVE DESPITE ADVERSITY

When confronted with the fallout of childhood trauma, why do some children adapt and overcome, while others bear lifelong scars that flatten their potential? A growing body of evidence points to one common answer: Every child who winds up doing well has had at least one stable and committed rela­tionship with a supportive adult.

The power of that one strong adult relationship is a key ingredient in resilience — a positive, adaptive response in the face of significant adversity — according to a new reportfrom the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, a multidisciplinary collaboration chaired by Harvard’sJack Shonkoff. Understanding the centrality of that relationship, as well as other emerging findings about the science of resilience, gives policymakers a key lever to assess whether current programs designed to help disadvantaged kids are working.

“Resilience depends on supportive, responsive relationships and mastering a set of capabilities that can help us respond and adapt to adversity in healthy ways,” says Shonkoff, director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard. “It’s those capacities and relationships that can turn toxic stress into tolerable stress.”

As a growing body of research is showing, the developing brain relies upon the consistent “serve and return” interactions that happen between a young child and a primary caregiver, the report says. When these interactions occur regularly, they provide the scaffolding that helps build “key capacities — such as the ability to plan, monitor, and regulate be­havior, and adapt to changing circumstances — that enable children to respond to adversity and to thrive,” the report continues. The developing brain is buffered by this feedback loop between biology and environment.

But in the absence of these responsive relationships, the brain’s architecture doesn’t develop optimally. The body perceives the absence as a threat and activates a stress response that — when prolonged — leads to physiological changes that affect the brain and overall systems of physical and mental health. The stress becomes toxic, making it more difficult for children to adapt or rebound.

The experiences of the subset of children who overcome adversity and end up with unexpectedly positive life outcomes are helping to fuel a new understanding of the nature of resilience — and what can be done to build it.

Here’s what the science of resilience is telling us, according to the council’s report:

• Resilience is born from the interplay between internal disposition and external experience. It derives from supportive relationships, adaptive capacities, and positive experiences.

• We can see and measure resilience in terms of how kids’ brains, immune systems, and genes all respond to stressful experiences.

• There is a common set of characteristics that predispose children to positive outcomes in the face of ad­versity:
  • The availability of at least one stable, caring, and supportive relationship between a child and an adult caregiver.
  • A sense of mastery over life circumstances.
  • Strong executive func­tion and self-regulation skills.
  • The supportive context of affirming faith or cultural traditions.

• Learning to cope with manageable threats to our physical and social well-being is critical for the development of resilience.

• Some children demonstrate greater sensitivity to both negative and positive experiences.

• Resilience can be situation-specific.

• Positive and negative experiences over time continue to influence a child’s mental and physical development. Resilience can be built; it’s not an innate trait or a resource that can be used up.

• People’s response to stressful experi­ences varies dramatically, but extreme adversity nearly always generates serious problems that require treatment.

View at the original source

Regulating the Teenage Mind 11-26

Regulating the Teenage Mind

ACTIVITIES TO HELP TEENS SET GOALS, STAY ORGANIZED, AND KEEP THEMSELVES ON TRACK

Teenagers don’t yet possess the executive function skills of adults, but they probably need those skills just as much as adults do, or more. They have to manage the increasingly complex demands and fast-flying deadlines of school and extracurricular commitments, they have to think abstractly about moral and ethical dilemmas big and small, and they have to make decisions about personal responsibility and safety, among other daily challenges.

The good news is that the adolescent brain is exceptionally malleable, according to researchers at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. As in the preschool years, there is a window of opportunity in adolescence when capacity spikes and parents and teachers can actively encourage the growth of self-regulation skills, which are increasingly recognized as a critical determinant of long-term success and happiness.

The Center on the Developing Child recently released a practical collection of activities and resources aimed at helping educators enhance executive function at all ages. Below, suggested strategies for encouraging teens to flex their self-regulatory muscles — excerpted from a chapter of the guide that can be downloaded individually here.

SETTING GOALS, PLANNING, AND MONITORING PROGRESS

• Encourage teens to identify something specific, and meaningful, that they want to accomplish. Start with simpler goals, like getting a driver’s license or saving to buy a new laptop, before moving on to larger goals like applying for college.
• Help teens develop short- and long-term plans for steps to reach their goals. Identify problems that might arise and encourage teens to plan for those.
• Help teens root out counterproductive habits or impulsive changes by reminding them to periodically monitor their behavior to see whether they are doing what they planned and whether the plans are working.

TOOLS FOR SELF-MONITORING

• Have teens talk themselves through the steps of a difficult activity or mentally narrate what is happening. Self-talk can bring thoughts and actions into consciousness and can help teens identify negative thinking or behavior patterns.
• Help teens recognize the lessons of difficult experiences or failure. Help them consider what went wrong and what might be done differently next time.
• Help teens become more mindful about the effects of interruptions, particularly from electronic devices. Rather than multitasking, work on ways to prioritize tasks.
• Talk with teens about the motivations of other people, helping them to develop hypotheses about why someone acted in a certain way and what an alternative interpretation might be.
• Encourage teens to keep a journal, which can foster self-reflection, awareness, and planning.

A TEEN’S GUIDE TO STUDY SKILLS

• Break a project down into smaller pieces.
• Make reasonable plans (and a timeline) for completing each piece.
• Self-monitor while working; set a timer, and when it goes off, ask yourself whether you are understanding and completing the assignment the way you planned.
• Set aside time for focused attention, with no distractions or devices.
• Use memory tools — mnemonic devices or written notes.
• Keep a calendar of deadlines.
• After completing a project, pause to consider what went well and what didn’t.
• Think about what you learned from assignments that weren’t completed well.

View at the original source

What Makes Good Teaching? 11-09

What Makes Good Teaching?

IN A SHORT DOCUMENTARY, THREE HGSE STUDENTS — NOW ALUMNI — INTERVIEWED FACULTY TO FIND OUT WHAT GOOD TEACHERS HAVE IN COMMON

In the midst of their master’s work at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Ray Ward, Catherine Park, and Kevin Lee — all Ed.M.’14 — embarked on a mission to answer the question, “What makes good teaching?”

With the help of classmates and faculty members from HGSE and Columbia’s Teachers College, Ward, Park, and Lee received a bounty of answers, many of which can be found in their 12-minute film.

With commentary from HGSE faculty including Heather Hill, Paul Reville, Chris Dede, Kay Merseth, and Terrence Tivnan, along with Christopher Emdin from Teachers College, the film sheds light on strategies, advice, and approaches that make a difference in the classroom, including:

• Know who the student is, and what they care about.
• Model how to learn really well.
• Focus on students; utilize empathy.
• Establish a personal relationship with students to better engage them.
• Take your students seriously. Treat them as people capable of sophisticated thought.
• Be able to think on your feet and improvise
• Love to learn.
• Be reflective.
• Pay attention to how you’re communicating. Tone of voice is important.

View at the original source