Using a Strengths-Based Approach to Help Students Realize Their Potential
2022
Taking a strength-based approach to education can support developing a culture of feedback in the classroom. This article introduces the SPOT process to help students nurture their strengths:
- Strength observation: Proactively searching and noting for student strengths
- Progress over perfection: Shifting the frame to emphasize the importance of progress
- Opportunity to shine: Designing opportunities for students to demonstrate their strengths, which build self-efficacy and give them reasons to persist
- Teach, try, and tap into strengths: Supporting students in naming their strengths, learning from the strengths of others, and acknowledging their potential for growth
The resource explains each dimension of the SPOT process in further detail, including tangible examples from the classroom and key questions to ask in a strength observation. While the resource is written primarily for a middle and high school audience, it is equally relevant to higher education classrooms.
Using a Strengths-Based Approach to Help Students Realize Their Potential
Source:
McClure B, Reed K. Using a Strengths-Based Approach to Help Students Realize Their Potential. KQEQ MindShift 2022. https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/60088/using-a-strengths-based-approach-to-help-students-realize-their-potential.