• Our Website
• What is Optimism?
• Why is Optimism Important?
• Links to DliT
• Test Your Optimism
• Explanatory Styles
• Teaching Strategies
•Optimism is about looking at things in life in a
positive way and believing in positive outcomes.
•It is about believing in yourself and generally
expecting the best.
•Optimistic people see and focus on the good things
in life, rather than the bad.
•The glass is half-full, not half-empty
A number of learning theories relate to the topic of
optimism, both in the way that young people learn and
in the importance of optimism as part of the learning
process.
•Bandura's Social Learning Theory - we learn by
modelling our behaviour from other people. Hence, if we
want children to be optimistic then teachers need to
demonstrate optimism in the classroom.
•Maslow's Heirarchy of Individual Needs - focuses
on the individual's own capabilities and personal
learning needs of which optimism is a key component.
•Seligman's Learned Optimism
Learned Helplessness
• 1965 experiment by
psychologist Martin Seligman
• Contradicted Skinner's theory
• Some dogs didn't try to escape
shocks. They had learnt that
nothing they could do mattered,
so there was no point trying to
escape the shock.
• Inescapable shock, no control
over environment
• Behaviorism --> Cognitive
Psychology – what you think
determines behaviour, not just
rewards or punishment
"The basis of optimism does not lie in
positive phrases or images of victory, but
in the way you think about causes."
Martin Seligman, 1995
• A way of thinking about the causes of things that happen to us in our lives.
• Developed throughout childhood
• Teachers therefore play an important role
• Permanence : temporary or permanent?
• Pervasiveness: specific or global?
• Personal : internal or external?
So, a person who is optimistic generally explains bad events
due to temporary, specific and external causes, while good
events are seen as resulting from permanent, global and
internal causes. The inverse applies to the pessimist.
Permanent or temporary? Specific or global?
Permanent or temporary? Internal or external?
• Recognising learned helplessness
• Empower the student – control of their environment
• Promote an optimistic explanatory style:
• Criticising students
• Encourage students to be realistic
• Reward positive attitudes to learning
• Recognition of success
• Responding to failure – behavioural focus
encourage a temporary, specific, external view
Example:
“ I failed my English test because I am stupid.”
“ I didn't pass my English test because I
didn't study the texts.”
 Create a supportive, successful environment.
 Develop the mental and emotional skills of the
students.
•Show students they are valued and special
•Provide ample opportunities for students to
achieve successful, personal outcomes
•Offer practical support to develop emotional
and mental balance ow students they are valued
and special
•Provide ample opportunities for students to
achieve successful, personal outcomes
•Offer practical support to develop emotional
and mental balance