What is Strength-based Learning?
What is Strength-based Learning at George Street Normal School?
Strength-based learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or skills by applying what makes you strong. Put simply, it is about learning that builds on past success.
Strength-based Learning at George Street Normal School:
• focuses on identifying, developing and celebrating strengths where children are allowed to participate and excel in what makes them feel strong
• provides children with opportunities to maximise their strengths in a personalised learning environment
• caters for individual differences, offering children choices about what or how they learn, providing learning enrichment programmes and building capacity for resilience
• is an attempt to provide a balance in emphasising what children can and can’t do. We encourage children to manage their weaknesses and build on their strengths.
• supports our school vision statements that describe shining children as being “the best they can be” and “happy with who they are”
• is implemented as a comprehensive set of strategies collectively referred to as the ‘Sundial Project’.
Strengths at George Street Normal School are defined as:
• that which makes a person feel energised, empowered and strong. We describe a relationship between and combination of what children enjoy, are excited by and excel at, as a ‘3eMe’ strength identity
• the action strengths, character strengths and thinking strengths that everyone has
• the vital spark in successful learning that links motivation, engagement, achievement, belief and confidence.
Why are Strength-based approaches important?
In our hurry to have all children good at all things, there is the temptation for teachers and parents to spend too much time concentrating on deficit. We want children to leave our school knowing more about their strengths than anyone else. We believe that it is this confidence about who they are and what they can achieve that will help them become happy and successful. This is what some children say:
“Teachers let me use my strengths to my advantage”
“I am given choices in my learning”
“I have discovered strengths. I have learnt that I am good at a lot more things.”
“Everyone at school, students and teachers have made me feel really happy about myself. They make me shine and congratulate me when I’ve done well or even if I tried my hardest.”
Teachers observe that some children have benefited from improved concentration; there are fewer behaviour problems and more enthusiastic participation in school life since the introduction of strength-based learning. Comments from teachers have included:
"Children have a greater degree of ownership when working on their strengths”
"Children achieve quickly and highly when given the opportunity to experiment and develop while pursuing an area of strength"
"Children are much more motivated when they are working towards a strength-based goal.”