Paxton Popoffalot Chats with Ms Smithers Again

Mr Popoffalot of What's Up? News has popped by for another chat about the Have a Go Spaghettio! Success Helper approach to student personal development. Mr P. has interviewed Ms Smithers before, and he is eager to follow up and learn some more.

Mr. Popoffalot

‘How are things going Ms. S.?’ asks Mr. P.

Ms. S. replies:

Well, we’re well into the term and classroom discourse is very Have a Go Spaghettio! rich. All the students have set their personal Success Helper goals for the term, the Have a Go capability they want to work at. E.g., Ahmed has a Red Success Helper goal, Bridget, a Yellow SH goal, etc. They each have identified a habit of thinking which may be Brain Bully stopping them from doing stuff because they might be too scared, worried etc.

Mr. P. A great idea. So, they decide what they want to get better at. This gives them agency.

Yes indeed. Agency or locus of control, where personal goals are set and work planned to realise them. Locus of control and frustration tolerance are Blue and Purple SH capabilities, and it is important for students to know that each SH capability can be associated with others.

For instance, Red SH is linked to Blue, the ability to hang tough, and Purple SH, the ability to manage frustration.

Students are acclimatising to a classroom culture characterised by Have a Go concepts and principles and the language associated with them. Practice is the key and Dr Albert Ellis, who created REBT said, practice, practice, practice! And when that’s done, practice some more!

Ms. K. Smithers

‘Gee I’m glad I popped by today, Ms. S!’ exclaims Mr P.

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) tells us that extreme unhealthy negative emotions and behaviours are linked to habits of thinking that are irrational, where a person is oblivious to any evidence that would point to a different or alternative view of what may be happening. These are constructed over time and become deeply held core philosophical beliefs that effect how we perceive ourselves, others, and life in general. Have a Go Spaghettio! provides a framework that teachers can use to help children understand their thinking nature, that thinking – feeling – behaving are interconnected and that understanding this will help them learn to self-regulate, develop an ability to monitor how they assess  situations, to make reasonable, Brain Friend or rational appraisals of events.

REBT teaches us that how we react emotionally and behaviourally to challenging events in our lives, is linked to the type of mindset we have constructed. A healthy Have a Go! outlook unconditionally accepts the ‘self.’ This means that failure and the assessment of us by others do not nor can’t define our global self-i.e., we ‘are’ not what we do nor are we how others might esteem us.

Unconditional other acceptance regards others as having unconditional worth as we do, and unconditional life acceptance means that we won’t, nor can we expect that life should be easy and that we must not be inconvenienced. These constitute what REBT calls a rational way of thinking that allows us agency in our decisions, the ability to tolerate frustration which helps to develop a strong sense of self-worth or confidence.

General Semantics teaches us that the mindset we construct is a virtual map of life, the territory. If our map approximates how things are, we are thinking in a rational self-helpful way. If our virtual map is a poor representation of reality then we operate from an irrational, self-destructive perspective. Alfred Korzybski, who created General Semantics theory says that when we apply a label to our ‘self’ and decide we are ‘it’ our ‘map’ is out of sync with reality as one abstracted ability or characteristic from the many can’t realistically determine or describe us in a global sense. Cognitive Scientist, Professor Donald Hoffman would concur who says;

"What we perceive is never the world directly, but rather our brain’s best guess at what that world is like, a kind of internal simulation of an external reality. Still, we bank on the fact that our simulation is a reasonably decent one."

These principles underpin and are taught through the Have a Go Spaghettio! pedagogy. It teaches children things like the following:

• We are thinkers and construct what we believe i.e., our belief rules
• They can be helpful, Success Helper/Brain Friend habits of thinking
• They can be unhelpful Success Stopper/Brain Bully habits of thinking
• What we do is not ‘us’ and how others view ‘us’ is not ‘us’
• Things aren’t so bad that we can’t stand it.

'What are the the nuts and bolts of this pedagogy, the basics of this philosophical approach to Social Emotional Learning?'   asks Mr. P.

As constructivists we formulate a way of seeing the world that is not the world itself. It's what Donald Hoffman, cognitive psychologist, calls a virtual model of a reality of our making. We wouldn’t talk in these terms but general classroom discourse points to this idea so that when older, children will be able to get their heads around this principle.

We teach children that thinking, feeling, and acting are connected to each other. This is the ABC Theory of Emotional Disturbance principle, and it helps us learn the discipline of monitoring how we feel and act and how our belief constructions influence the strength of emotion we may be experiencing. We teach children the rudimentary tools which they can use when they are older and reach formal operations from 12 years onwards and can now think about their thinking (metacognition).

These ideas are enclosed, live within the 6 SH Helper Thinking Capabilities of the Have a Go Chart. Each time we refer to it, talk about it, we are reinforcing the think, feel, do connect. Each colour coded entity represents the thinking, feeling, and behaving that will help us in our lives and learning.

A Have a Go Spaghettio! educator is a Rational Emotive Behaviour Educator. Ms Smithers is on the ball, and her students are learning about constructivism, Success Helper/Success Stopper thinking, how its linked to their behaviours and emotions.

Give it a try banana pie!

Mr. Popoffalot asks Ms. S, 'how important is Success Helper thinking feedback and general classroom discourse?'

That’s a good question Mr. Popoffalot! It is an essential feature of the Have a Go approach to SEL in all settings and especially with our youngest learners.

The six colour coded Success Helper capabilities help the teacher tailor their feedback to the SH behaviours observed.

Here is an example:

Ahmed has been working hard on his Red Success Helper capability. He has chosen this goal and written it down. This is his goal for the term. He has written, ‘I want to try new things without feeling too scared to try.’ This requires a habit of thinking which says ‘I can try  and keep trying to get better. I can try new things. If I succeed that’s great if I don’t it’s not the end of the world.’

As his teacher, I am aware of his Red SH goal, and whenever his behaviour suggests he is actioning this new SH way of thinking I will catch him in the act! I will say things like, ‘you’re sticking with it!’ or ‘It took courage to ask that question. Red SH thinking at work!’ Any behaviour that reflects any of the SH capabilities especially in this case the Red SH will be monitored, so I’m ready to catch them doing it!

Conversely, I may say things like, ‘don’t forget your Red SH goal. Brain Bully thinking will stop you trying. Don’t let Brain Bully win!’

This kind of classroom banter will reinforce the Have a Go! 6 Habits of thinking, feeling and acting SH capabilities taught in a general sense. A positive indicator of a Have a Go classroom culture emerging is when the students themselves prompt each other and encourage each other as they address challenges in their learning and relationships.

'Well thanks Ms. Smithers for your valuable time. Perhaps we can meet again in the not too distant future.’ 

'My pleasure Mr Popoffalot and thanks for popping in!’