Students in our school systems today are taught science, math, English, history, and perhaps a foreign language and a musical instrument. These are essential topics, but are children taught everything they need to succeed in society when they graduate? I think one major topic is lacking: social skills. We may believe that parents are responsible for teaching their children how to interact socially but all too often these skills are not taught at home or in the classroom. I think one of the main reasons that parents do not teach these concepts is that they do not know what to teach. When I was taking social psychology a few semesters ago, I found myself wishing that I had been taught so many of the principles while I was in elementary and high school.
According to Webster-Stratton and Reid (2004) socially competent children are more likely to be academically successful. The social skills that they list as necessary for school age children include: “emotional literacy, empathy or perspective taking, friendship and communication skills, anger management, interpersonal problem solving” (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2004, p. 96). I believe that many of these core competencies can be taught through social and positive psychology.
According to the concept of belief perseverance, we have the tendency to maintain our original beliefs despite being taught that they are incorrect (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012). Even when we are exposed to the truth multiple times, our beliefs will most likely not change unless we adopt an alternative strategy. This alternative strategy is when we think about why the new information we are being taught is correct and come up with an explanation for why our old beliefs are incorrect (Schneider et al., 2012). Because it is so difficult to change our beliefs once they have been formed, I believe that we should attempt to instill correct beliefs in people at as young an age as possible. While I do not have any children of my own, I do have eight nieces and nephews, and I am researching ways to teach them some of the principles I wish I had learned at a young age.
In the realm of positive psychology there are 2 main concepts that I believe would be useful to children: optimism and hope. The concept of “learned optimism” can be taught to children and proves helpful in academic pursuits, results in improved mental and physical health, prevents depression, and reduces anger in adolescents (Lopez & Snyder, 2011, p. 665). Hope is a construct that is defined as an individual’s belief in their ability to devise paths to a goal and their ability to follow those paths to attain their goals (Lopez & Snyder, 2011). Children with high levels of hope are more capable of solving the problems they will encounter throughout their lives. Hope and optimism will improve their sense of self-efficacy and their perceived ability to steer the course of their lives.
I also think there are several concepts related to social psychology that would be beneficial for my nieces and nephews in their social interactions. These include:
- Attribution theory – internal vs. external attribution for self and for others
- Self-Concept – introspection and how it helps us improve ourselves
- Attitudes – how they shape who we are and what we believe
- Stereotypes – prejudice, discrimination, self-fulfilling prophecies
- Pro-social Behaviors – what motivates us to help others
I plan to use the concept of intrinsic motivation versus external rewards (Schneider et al., 2012) as I teach this material by focusing on how fun it is to learn new things. I am hoping to impart some of the joy that I experienced when I first learned these concepts. It will be a lot of work to determine the right methods to teach these concepts to young people, but I think my efforts will be rewarded by seeing them become mature, well-rounded adults.
References:
Lopez, S., & Snyder, C. (2011). Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 636-675). Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Webster-Stratton, C., & Reid, M. (2004). Strengthening Social and Emotional Competence in Young Children—The Foundation for Early School Readiness and Success. Infants & Young Children, 17(2), 96-113. doi: 10.1097/00001163-200404000-00002
Tags: attribution theory, Belief Perseverance, education, hope, learned optimism, optimism, positive psychology