If you're unfamiliar with the CASEL framework, we highly recommend reading this article first, as it will greatly enhance your understanding of soft skills.
Check it out here.
Introduction to Positive Attitude:
A positive attitude is a mental outlook that focuses on the good and expects positive outcomes. Developing a positive attitude helps in overcoming challenges, achieving goals, and enhancing overall wellbeing. This soft skill is crucial in every stage of life, enabling individuals to navigate personal and professional hurdles with optimism and resilience.
Core Area of Competence:
The soft skill of positive attitude is found in the following core areas of competence, and more specifically under a core behavior of each area:
Self Awareness: Awareness of personal strengths, challenges, and goals.
Self-management: Manage and express one’s emotions, thoughts, impulses and stress in constructive ways.
Social Awareness: Awareness and empathy for individuals, their emotions, experiences and perspectives through a cross-cultural lens.
Core Behaviors that require the Positive Attitude skill:
6-8 Years:
Self-awareness:
Optimism and Positivity: Recognizing and focusing on positive aspects when facing challenges.
Example: When a rainstorm cancels an outdoor picnic, a child enthusiastically suggests a living room picnic instead, seeing it as an adventure.
Self-management:
Resilience in the Face of Challenges: Demonstrating the ability to bounce back from setbacks with a positive outlook.
Example: A child attempts a challenging puzzle, fails to complete it, but remains cheerful and vows to try again later, believing they can do it with practice.
Social Awareness:
Encouraging Others: Offering words of encouragement and positivity to peers facing difficulties.
Example: A child notices a friend feeling sad about not being able to climb the jungle gym and says, “It’s okay, we can try together next time!”
9-11 Years:
Self-awareness:
Acknowledging Personal Growth: Identifying and feeling proud of personal achievements and progress, maintaining a positive view of self-improvement.
Example: A learner reflects on their improvement in math, recognizing their effort and progress, which fuels their motivation to continue learning.
Self-management:
Adaptive Thinking: Adjusting thoughts and approaches in response to new information or challenges, maintaining positivity through change.
Example: When a team project direction changes due to feedback, a learner quickly adapts and suggests new ideas, staying positive about the outcome.
Social Awareness:
Positive Peer Influence: Spreading positivity by influencing peers with a can-do attitude towards group tasks and challenges.
Example: A student uplifts their study group's spirits by focusing on each member's strengths when they encounter a tough chapter, encouraging a positive study session.
12-14 Years:
Self-awareness:
Gratitude and Appreciation: Expressing thankfulness for people, experiences, and opportunities, no matter how small.
Example: A learner keeps a gratitude journal where they write down three things they're thankful for each day, enhancing their overall positive outlook.
Self-management:
Handling Disappointment Constructively: Managing emotions effectively when things don’t go as planned, maintaining a hopeful perspective.
Example: A learner doesn’t make it to the soccer team but decides to use the experience to improve their skills and try again next year, remaining optimistic.
Social Awareness:
Empathy and Support: Showing understanding and compassion towards others’ struggles, offering support with a positive spin.
Example: A learner notices their younger sibling feeling discouraged about not being able to solve a math problem. They sit down together, the learner patiently explains the steps, and celebrates even the smallest progress, ensuring the younger one feels supported and motivated to keep trying.
15-17 Years:
Self-awareness:
Future-Oriented Positivity: Maintaining a positive outlook on future possibilities, including career and personal growth opportunities.
Example: A high school learner uses rejection as motivation to explore alternative pathways and opportunities, remaining optimistic about their future.
Self-management:
Stress Management with Positivity: Employing positive affirmations and outlooks to navigate through stress and pressure.
Example: Before taking challenging exams, a learner practices positive self-talk, focusing on their preparation and effort rather than fearing failure.
Social Awareness:
Constructive Conflict Resolution: Addressing disagreements or conflicts with a positive and open-minded approach, fostering harmonious relationships.
Example: When a disagreement arises during a group project, a learner proposes a compromise, focusing on the strengths of each idea to find a solution that benefits everyone.
Promoting the Soft Skill:
For Parents and Care Givers:
Encourage expression of gratitude: Start a family gratitude jar where everyone can contribute notes about what they’re thankful for each week.
Model positive behavior: Show how to look for the silver lining in difficult situations and verbalize your thought process.
Foster an environment of encouragement: Celebrate efforts and improvements, not just achievements, to reinforce a growth mindset.
For Tutors:
Integrate positive affirmations: Begin classes with a moment for learners to share something positive about their day or something they’re looking forward to.
Encourage group support: Create a classroom culture where learners are encouraged to support and uplift each other, especially during challenges.
Reflect on learning experiences: Regularly discuss what was learned from both successes and failures, highlighting the value of each experience.
Feedback and Reflection:
For Parents and Caregivers:
Provide Specific Praise: Focus on recognizing specific actions or behaviors that demonstrate a positive attitude. For example, "I noticed you kept trying even when that puzzle was difficult, and you didn’t give up. That’s a great attitude!"
Reflect Together on Challenges: Share a time when you faced a challenge and maintained a positive outlook. Ask your child about a recent challenge they faced and how they felt they handled it. Discuss the power of staying positive and how it can change outcomes.
Celebrate Effort and Resilience: Make a point to celebrate efforts, not just achievements. Recognize moments when your child shows resilience in the face of setbacks, highlighting how their positive attitude is a significant accomplishment in itself.
Goal Setting with a Positive Spin: Encourage your child to set personal goals that include maintaining a positive attitude in specific situations. Review these goals regularly, celebrating the progress and discussing adjustments as needed.
For Tutors:
Constructive Feedback in Learning: When giving feedback on assignments or class participation, include comments on students' attitudes. Highlight instances where a student’s positive outlook contributed to their learning or the classroom environment.
Encourage Reflective Journaling: Introduce reflective journaling as a class activity, where students can write about times they persevered, maintained a positive outlook during challenging learning experiences, and how it affected the outcome.
Goal Setting in Educational Contexts: Work with students to set academic and personal development goals that incorporate maintaining a positive attitude. This could involve dealing with academic pressure, group work dynamics, or personal challenges.
Facilitate Peer Feedback: Organize activities that allow students to give and receive feedback from peers. Guide them to focus on how a positive attitude was demonstrated or could be improved in future scenarios.
Additional Resources:Check "The Power of Positive Thinking" by Norman Vincent Peale offers timeless advice on cultivating a positive mindset.
Listen to "The Good Life Project" which provides inspiring stories and practical advice on living a more meaningful and positive life.
Visit Positive Psychology to read more about how to have a positive mindset.
Conclusion:Cultivating a positive attitude is a lifelong journey that enhances resilience, happiness, and success. Parents and tutors play a crucial role in modelling and reinforcing this valuable soft skill, setting the foundation for learners to approach life’s challenges with optimism and confidence.
References:Bulunuz, M. (2015). The role of playful science in developing positive attitudes toward teaching science in a science teacher preparation program. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, (58), 67-88.
de Moura Pereira, V. A. B., & Figueira, A. P. C. (2011). Project" Positive Attitude": Promoting school success through social and emotional abilities development. Design for elementary and middle school students, in Portugal. Revista Interamericana de Psicología/Interamerican Journal of Psychology, 45(2), 185-191
Malinowska-Cieślik, M., Mazur, J., Nałęcz, H., & Małkowska-Szkutnik, A. (2019). Social and behavioral predictors of adolescents’ positive attitude towards life and self. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(22), 4404.
Nja, C. O., Orim, R. E., Neji, H. A., Ukwetang, J. O., Uwe, U. E., & Ideba, M. A. (2022). Students' attitude and academic achievement in a flipped classroom. Heliyon, 8(1), e08792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08792
Valeriu, D. (2015). Factors generating of positive attitudes towards learning of the pupils. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 180, 554-558.