Imagine this conversation between you and your child, who has just come home from school:

“Mommy, mommy, guess what?”

“What, sweetheart?”

“I used bravery and perseverance today!”

“You did?”

“Yeah, our teacher gave us a really hard project today in science class. At first I was scared and didn’t want to do it but then I decided to use my strengths.”

“What did you do?”

“I used my bravery to start working on the project and then I just keep going and going until it was done. And my teacher gave me a gold star for working so hard!”

This is a typical conversation that emerges from the first grade students at Shanghai American School in Shanghai, China, where educator/consultant Sarah Pearlz is training the teachers on bringing a strengths language into the classroom. Here are examples of what they do:

• Teachers read stories and ask the children: What strengths did the main character show?  Did you notice any characters being curious? Using fairness?
• Teachers infuse strengths into the lesson plans. Bravery is taught, prudence is explained, kindness is discussed.
• Students identify their own top strengths, referred to as “my signature strengths.”
• Students discover and practice ways of using their signature strengths at school, with their homework, and in play with other students.
• Students are directly encouraged to turn to their character strengths when they are trying to manage a problem or a conflict with another student.

Watch the 9-minute video here.

The results at Shanghai American School?

Nothing short of extraordinary. Here’s what the teachers observed:

• Spontaneous strengths use. The children learn the language and quickly begin to apply it at home and school.
• Increases in confidence from the beginning of the school year.
• Increases in problem-solving and openness to new things.
• Greater happiness from the beginning of the school year. (This is aligned with scientific findings that character strengths use is connected to well-being in youth and children.)
• Feeling more authentic (yes, the kids do use that word). They report feeling a sense of ownership of who they are. They see themselves in a new light – from a different angle.
• Transformed parent-teacher meetings. Teachers (and students, when present) share with parents the character strengths of the child and how the child uses them during the school day. Teachers also query the parents’ about their character strengths.
• A new perspective for parents. Here’s an example: A very critical father, upon learning about his son’s signature strength of creativity and his son’s use of creativity in solving complex problems, wrote a letter to his son with the following statement: “Your mother and I were so amazed and surprised at who’ve you’ve become this year.”
• Strengths spreading throughout the school: Other teachers hear the excitement from the students and teachers and want in on the practice. Teachers appreciate that this approach is not about doing “one more thing” rather it’s about enhancing the work they are already doing.

Video resources on character strengths in education

Shanghai American School: Shanghai, China:  video (1^st graders)

Bella Vista Elementary School: Salt Lake City, Utah: video (4^th graders)

Newark Boys Chorus School: Newark, NJ: video (whole school)

St. Peter’s College: Adelaide, Australia video (high school students)

Book resources

Strengths Gym (2011) by Carmel Proctor and Jenny Fox Eades. This practical book focuses on various exercises for working with each of the 24 character strengths. It comes with a CD of worksheets and exercises.

Smart Strengths (2011) by John Yeager, Sherri Fisher, and David Shearon. This guide-book is for parents, teachers, and coaches interested in building character strengths and resilience in youth.

Celebrating Strengths (2008) by Jenny Fox Eades. This book is for teachers and school professionals interested in bringing character strengths into the school culture.

Scholarly articles

Gillham, J., Adams-Deutsch, Z., Werner, J., Reivich, K., Coulter-Heindl, V., Linkins, M., Winder, B., Peterson, C., Park, N., Abenavoli, R., Contero, A., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Character strengths predict subjective well-being during adolescence. Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(1), 31-44.

Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2006). Moral competence and character strengths among adolescents: The development and validation of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth. Journal of Adolescence, 29(6), 891-909.

Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2006). Character strengths and happiness among young children: Content analysis of parental descriptions. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7, 323-341.

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York: Oxford University Press and Washington, D. C.: American Psychological Association.

Proctor, C., Tsukayama, E., Wood, A., M., Maltby, J., Fox Eades, J., & Linley, P. A. (2011). Strengths gym: The impact of a character strengths-based intervention on the life satisfaction and well-being of adolescents. Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(5), 377-388.

Seligman, M. E. P., Ernst, R. M., Gillham, J., Reivich, K., & Linkins, M. (2009). Positive education: Positive psychology and classroom interventions. Oxford Review of Education, 35(3), 293-311.

Shoshani, A., & Ilanit Aviv, I. (2012). The pillars of strength for first-grade adjustment – Parental and children’s character strengths and the transition to elementary school. Journal of Positive Psychology, 7(4), 315-326.

Shoshani, A., & Slone, M. (2012). Middle school transition from the strengths perspective: Young adolescents’ character strengths, subjective well-being, and school adjustment. Journal of Happiness Studies.

Weber, M., & Ruch, W. (2012). The role of a good character in 12-year-old school children: Do character strengths matter in the classroom? Child Indicators Research, 5(2), 317-334.

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    Last reviewed: 14 Dec 2012