Creating Peace of Mind: Focusing on What Matters in a Changing World

CREATING

PEACE OF MIND

Focusing on What Matters in a Changing World

Jill M. Reid

AuthorHouse™

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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© 2016 Jill Reid. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/21/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5049-6624-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-6625-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015919909

Print information available on the last page.

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Contents

Preface

Part I How Is the Water? A Foundation for Creating PEACE of MIND

• A Changing Tide: Accepting Change as Part of Life

• A Clear Reflection: How Clear Feedback Moves Us Forward

• The Ripple Effect: How Beliefs About Ability Can Change Everything

• Riding Unexpected Waves: Learning To Swim No Matter What

• Muddying the Waters: How Society and Assumptions Can Keep Us Swimming Upstream

• A Single Drop: Building Identity Supports PEACE of MIND

Part II Lessons From Nature: Growing PEACE of MIND

• Gardeners in Training: How Leaders Shape Learners

• Purpose: Perfection or Progress?

• Engage: A Seed Is Just a Seed until It Gets Sown

• Adapt and Adjust: Surviving Setbacks Without the Sugarcoating

• Contribute: Growing Community and Being Fruitful

• Evolve: How Is It Growing? Regular Weeding

Part III Tools for Building— Instead of Fixing

• Building Versus Fixing: No One Should Ever Feel Broken

• Planning Ahead: Having Tools at the Ready for Emergencies and Regular Maintenance

• FACE IT: Moving Through Frustration

• PEACE of MIND Activities for Concept Development

• Apple Applications: The Story of Ace and Able

• Changing the PACE: Graphic Organizer for Supporting Change

• Teacher Workshop Outline

• Parent Workshop Outline

• Student Workshop Outline

Appendix

References and Suggested Resources

Acknowledgements

To all the truth seekers who are willing to risk sharing their visions for a better world.

To my son Landon who grows through daily challenges with a smile that lights up the dark. You are my inspiration and my partner in this laboratory of life!

Preface

As an educator, I am fascinated and empowered by all the amazing research and innovation that has come about as a result of technology and social media connections in the last decade. The field of education has rumblings of change—and incredible things are happening in some places—but I remain frustrated that large-scale reform seems to be moving at a slow pace.

When I read Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, I became a crusader. Her practical research goes counter to what many parents and teachers are doing. As a new parent, this scared and inspired me to figure out why people were not shouting about this from the mountaintops. I wondered why it was not changing the world for the better.

Everyone I shared the mindset message with had one of two reactions. They were either fascinated or confused because they had no concept of it to understand. I began offering professional development opportunities and talking to parents about mindset. I also attempted to adapt to many other changes facing education, but I realized certain challenges were holding up progress. We are only focusing on a small aspect of the bigger picture!

This book is the result of that realization and the reflection, problem-solving, and investigation I have done to figure out how to do something about it. I hope to help simplify and integrate multiple ideas and fundamental truths into one framework that can support everyone in working together for progress. It has a focus on words and the intentions they carry. If we can share a common language and confirm our common purpose, there is no limit to the progress we can make together.

What does a parent do when a child faces learning challenges? What about when a highly capable child experiences attitude changes toward school? How does an administrator empower a veteran teacher who is resisting change? I would once have said it depends on the specifics of the situation. It does, but to a degree, the barriers are the same. If we could incorporate an understanding of the common components of change and growth, we would all be much better off. We would be better able to adapt and communicate about struggles. We could invest together now to build a pathway forward and a stronger future for ourselves and our children.

The world continues to change quickly, and humanity is faced with the daunting task of adjusting all our systems and structures to sustain rapid evolution on many fronts. This book offers a framework that incorporates sound psychological research with common-sense principles to assist everyone in charting a sustainable path forward in an uncertain future.

The details of each situation will be different, but the key elements remain the same. Understanding those components—and how they can be supported—can be empowering for all involved. Creating PEACE of MIND explains how to build capacity to understand and integrate change and be prepared for the future. Those grappling with the movement of personalized learning will find parallels and clarity for moving forward with deeper understanding of the concepts included.

I am writing with a focus on education as it is my area of experience and is my primary purpose for writing. However, I have found that the best advice is not applicable only to children, education, business etc. The best advice I have encountered is human advice and can apply to any situation. Information alone does not change the world…people who use it do. This book does not hold all the answers, but it asks important questions. I hope you will find some of your own truth, some answers, and many questions on your journey to creating PEACE of MIND.

PEACE of MIND Overview:

Here is the lay of the land as we begin our journey. The book has three parts and follows three general analogies. Part one is a brief description of some foundational principles and supportive research. Part two explores applications of the research in more depth using an acronym for purpose, engage, adapt, contribute, evolve (PEACE) and a mindset for integrating new developments (MIND). Part two also includes contrasting profiles that could be causing challenges and ideas for how adults can support positive changes. Part three is a toolbox for building instead of fixing. It contains ready-to-use materials to build, support, and maintain a PEACE of MIND culture in your community.

PEACE of MIND: The Big Picture

Purpose: Research has found major differences in success indicators that have to do with beliefs about abilities. We will focus on two distinct perspectives. Ideally, we want to support personal progress or process-related growth as a pathway to success. Society often encourages a purpose of perfection or assumes a fixed level of ability that must be repeatedly proven by positive outcomes or judgments. Is the purpose to learn or is the purpose to prove my perfection? The answer to this question impacts everything else. The importance of purpose is supported by research and writings by Albert Bandura (self-efficacy), Carol Dweck (growth versus fixed mind-set), and Angela Duckworth (grit/persistence).

Engage: The equation Attention + Motivation/Effort = Engagement helps demystify this widely used term. The opposite of engagement is disengagement, and identifying the reasons students disengage can be useful for those supporting them. This concept ideally