With school shootings, bullying and teen depression reaching a crescendo, thousands of educators from around the world are meeting in Fort Worth this week at the World Positive Education Accelerator June 25–28 to deal with the growing number of kids struggling to cope with school, their peers or society in general.
"Essentially we're meeting in Fort Worth and redesigning what 21st-century global education looks like," says Sir Anthony Seldon, president of The International Positive
Education Network (IPEN), a co-convener of the four-day conference. "We want educators to walk away empowered with the tools, resources and connections to make real, lasting change."
The need is high. Statistics paint a grim picture with studies showing one in five children will experience a major depressive episode before graduating from high school. Many enter universities unable to tolerate points of view other than their own. Alarmingly, employers find that new grads entering the workforce lack the "soft skills" needed to succeed in the workplace, such as tolerance, effective communication or critical thinking.
Conference attendees from as far away as Australia, the U.K., Latin America and Dubai are sharing results of their research about how utilizing positive psychology — the scientific study of positive human functioning and positive education and its application in the classroom — can lead to the development of individuals who are resilient, learn more and exhibit a mindset of well-being.
Together with peers worldwide, U.S. public and private school teachers, as well as policymakers, are learning more about what positive education is and how to integrate the latest research into curriculums that boost student well-being, resilience and "grit." The meeting is the largest of its kind ever held and provides cutting-edge-yet-practical, science-based tools and solutions that can be implemented in classrooms.
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