This week I attended an online webinar with Jade Crathern (Board President) on 'What Boards need to know about Wellbeing'. The webinar was presented by Dr Helen Street an international expert on school-based wellbeing. Her book 'Contextual Wellbeing: Creating Positive Schools from the Inside Out' has become an educational best seller and continues to inform the support of wellbeing in schools worldwide.
She talked about the importance of explicitly teaching wellbeing strategies to children and young people. She impressed upon the attendees the importance of individuals having a sense of belonging and engagement. If young people have a sense of belonging and engagement they are less likely to:
- participate in risky and antisocial behaviour
- drop out of school
- engage in substance abuse and drugs
- be depressed
- have issues with truancy.
Dr Helen Street presented the three keys that students need to develop motivation and self determination which is intrinsically linked to positive wellbeing.
- Autonomy and Agency - young people need to have a choice and some control over the things that they do
- Progress and a sense of competency - young people need to know that the emphasis should not be solely about reaching the outcome but about the process and continually growing and learning
- Cohesion - relationships are key and a sense of belonging within the group/s that one belongs to e.g. school class, sports teams etc
Helen stressed the importance of relationships between students and staff which also helps young people feel connected.
She spoke at length about competition and not always having a focus on winning. She explained that extrinsic rewards diminish young people's motivation. Helen said we want to build students who make good choices when 'no-one is watching' and who deal with failure well because the emphasis is not always on winning.
All of these things build resiliency and positive wellbeing in our students.
Both Jade and myself were very pleased and reassured that many of Dr Helen Street's ideas were in line with the Montessori philosophy and methodology. I felt encouraged and heartened by listening to this presentation. It once again reaffirmed the common sense and holistic approach that Dr Maria Montessori devised over 100 years ago and made me grateful to be working with like minded adults who also passionately believe in the Montessori approach to working with, and educating, young people.
Cathy France
Principal