STEAM Week 2017


Putting the TEAM in STEAM


E


ffective collaboration is a cornerstone skill in STEAM education, so in advance of the third annual STEAM


Week, BHS staff arranged for a special workshop to help students understand and make the most of teamwork. “We wanted to expand the STEAM Week experience for the students in a meaningful way,” says Catherine Hollingsworth, Deputy Head of School. “All of the STEAM Week projects are conducted in groups and require collaborative problem-solving skills, so we brought in an expert to help the girls understand and participate in that process.” Lorrie Peniston, who has a Masters


Degree in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP), facilitated several “Shine Your Best Self” workshops and worked with BHS on developing a ‘Positive Education’ programme. The Shine Your Best Self workshops aim to inspire self-awareness, self-efficacy and teamwork to achieve greater STEAM- project success, and introduce students and staff to the concepts of ‘Positive Education’. BHS hopes to expand upon this in the 2017/2018 school year to support its mission to build resilience and well-being in all students.


Prior to the workshop, each student completed a thorough questionnaire, which identified their individual strengths. The girls were told to “shine their light” on their strengths, not be afraid to appear boastful about what they were good at, and, more importantly, taught how to listen and look for strengths in others. This approach, they were told, would ultimately bring a positive mindset to their STEAM teams and help with the success of their projects.


During the workshops, Lorrie presented students with the concept of the negativity


12 Torchbearer Fall 2017


Group decision making: Collaborating on the design and construction of their own boat put these students’ new teamwork skills into action.


bias; how the brain automatically looks to the negative. She also talked about confirmation bias; how the brain looks for evidence to support these negative beliefs, and therefore confirms them to be true. However bleak this may seem, Lorrie explained to the students that it is possible to re-wire the brain to focus on the positive, and she presented her audience with tools to recognise and focus on their strengths.


When asked how they felt after the workshop, one Year 10 student said: “It was really interesting; I was surprised that my answers to the questionnaire showed that social intelligence and leadership were some of my top qualities. I think this will give me the confidence to speak up during my STEAM project and make sure my ideas are heard.”


Knowing one’s strengths is also an


extremely important aspect of resilience; something which BHS works to instill in its students from a very young age, and about which Lorrie is a passionate advocate: “Resilience is teachable, and is the ability to bounce back from adversity, to grow and thrive in the face of challenges. The building blocks of resilience provide the psychological capital to confront life’s changes, stresses and difficulties in ways that enhance wellbeing.


“It is so important for young people to develop a level of competence where they can figure things out for themselves and learn what they’re capable of. “It’s also extremely important for them to


recognise their strengths which will allow them to bounce back from failures, big and small. It allows them to take calculated and appropriate risks, and that’s how they grow.” Lorrie has nearly three decades of experience in various professional roles, working with adolescents, adults, couples and families, and integrates Positive Psychology with traditional psychotherapy. She became one of the first 200 people to graduate with a MAPP degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a distinguished Ivy League school, and the academic home of the science of well-being. Lorrie has received extensive post- graduate training in resilience and is part of Penn’s elite resilience training team, which made her a perfect choice to facilitate these workshops with BHS’s Secondary students.


The mission of BHS states that we aim to foster confident, resilient and responsible global citizen. Lorrie says, “The science of positive psychology can and should be integrated into our educational systems to foster well-being development for children.”


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