If all we focus on is what to do after things have already begun to go wrong, we are missing out on a huge opportunity to do more about promoting those things that can go right.
Decades of research shows that positive education has a powerful, positive impact on pupils (and on teachers). They can improve academic performance as well as wellbeing and can easily be folded into how teachers deliver their daily lessons.
For me one of the most important aspects of teaching grit, determination and perseverance (which I believe are pivotal aspects of growth mindset) is understanding that failure does not define you.
From workplaces to schools, from social media to TV shows it seems to me we are missing something important – how we can flourish and thrive both mentally and physically.
Fortunately, compassion is a developable trait. There is not a set amount of compassion that you are born with, and that you then use up through life. We can learn to become more compassionate. We can practice it and build it as a skill.
How many times a day does your child hear that they are stupid, useless or worthless? Would you be horrified to discover it is probably dozens of times? No matter where they are or what they are doing they will hear these things because they are spoke by the voice in their heads – their inner critic.
Of course, every job has its downsides, and for a little while now one of mine has been reading about and witnessing first-hand the alarming deterioration in children’s mental health.