About Us

What is Strengths Gym?

Strengths Gym® is an exciting new approach to teaching well-being in school. The Strengths Gym course draws on the latest research from Positive Psychology - the science of human goodness, strengths, and excellence.

Teachers and students work together to learn about, recognize, build upon, and use their strengths more. Increased strengths use is associated with greater well-being and effectiveness - in education and life. Strengths Gym shows students and teachers how to use strengths more in the classroom, at home, and in life. Rather than taking the traditional approach of focusing on unwanted or risky behavior and its consequences, Strengths Gym looks at what we DO want: considerate, responsible, moral behavior that helps students to flourish.

The course provides a flexible, easy to use lesson format for ease of planning and is designed to encourage intrinsic motivation and satisfaction for students.

Our commitment is to the teaching of values and ethics. We encourage students to think not only about themselves, but also what they have to meaningfully contribute to the world.

Who we Are

Carmel Proctor

Carmel is a doctoral student in the School of Psychology at the University of Leicester and has a MA in Measurement, Evaluation, and Research Methodology from the University of British Columbia, Canada from where she originates. For her first degree she attended Simon Fraser University and was awarded a Certificate of Liberal Arts and a Bachelors degree in Psychology. Carmel has worked as a psychometrician and research assistant on many studies conducted at the University of British Columbia Hospital prior to relocating in the UK. For the past three years she has through the application of applied positive psychology been developing the Strengths Gym programme in schools in Guernsey and working with teachers and students in secondary school.

Jenny Fox Eades

Jenny is a post graduate research student at Edge Hill University, studying for her PhD in Education. She originally trained as a special needs teacher at the University of Manchester and has an MA in Psychoanalytic Observational Studies from the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, London and UEL. Her first degree was in Archaeology and Anthropology from Cambridge University and she has a Diploma of Higher Education in Theology from Westminster College in Oxford. She also has qualification in counseling and group psychotherapy. She studied on Authentic Happiness 4 with Martin Seligman and is a founder member of Positive Workplace International. She is the director of Celebrating Strengths and has been applying positive psychology in schools in the UK since 2004. She now has links with schools in Australia and New Zealand and has run workshops in Melbourne and Canberra.

Media

Why are some kids more violent than others?

Researchers at SFU and Kwantlen offer up some findings after studying students in Grade 8

Renee Bernard Jan 06, 2012 21:33:13 PM SURREY NEWS1130 article - Why are some kids more violent than others? The preliminary findings of a local study has revealed some answers, after conducting a survey of 400 grade 8 students. Researchers at Kwantlen and Simon Fraser universities discovered boys between the ages of 12 and 14 who have high self-esteem and a sense of gratitude are less likely to fight. Lead researcher Dr. Roger Tweed says the challenge now is to find ways to build those traits in all children. "We don't want to go on to blame these kids now and say 'ok, the kids who are violent are lacking in these things.' The thing we're starting to find out is that these traits matter, and the next step is to look at what builds these traits. What can we do for kids to help build these things up?" He believes the findings point to the need for schools to focus on building their students' self-confidence. "There are some programs that do that kind of thing. For example, Strengths Gym that's coming out of Guernsey (in the UK). They're working on strategies for building these strengths in kids." The study is part of a broader look at why young people gravitate to gangs, prompted by the increase in local gang activity over the last decade.

One of the key aims of Strengths Gym is for students to become more aware of strengths – in themselves, in other people, and in the world around them. This can lead to increased self-esteem, academic achievement, and ‘prosocial’ behavior (e.g., better teamwork, improved social skills).

If you are interested in purchasing copies of the Strengths Gym courses, please contact us. If you can provide details on the number of students and your location, we will provide you with a custom quote for the materials and shipping.