Category: Character Strengths

Character Strengths, Storytelling, Well-being in education

The Story of St Werburgh, or One of my geese is missing

Dr. Jennifer Fox Eades

My version of the legend of St Werburgh: One of my geese is missing 

This is a story that is told about a real woman, who really lived, in the North of England and is now the Patron saint of the city of Chester. Whether or not it really happened, I see Werburgh as a real sign that kindness and hospitality and friendship with creation, really matter….

Werburgh was a saint, everybody said so, and they told stories about her kindness. But Werburgh said she just looked and listened and noticed the important things in life. Like the children who played in her cornfield. So Werburgh noticed when a toy horse was lost. And she helped in the search until the horse was found and the tears dried up and the smiles returned. Because Werburgh thought children were important and ought to be noticed

Werburgh was a saint, everybody said so, and they told stories about her kindness. But Werburgh said she just looked and listened and noticed the important things in life. Like the sparrows who nested in her cornfield. So Werburgh noticed when a wing was injured. And she cared for the bird until the wing was healed and the sparrow flew off once more. Because Werburgh thought sparrows were important and ought to be noticed.

Werburgh was a saint, everybody said so, and they told stories about her kindness. But even saints have their limits. And when Werburgh noticed a flock of geese hissing and honking, and waving their long, snake-like necks AND trampling down her corn with their great, webbed feet she called to her neighbour. And she told him the geese could NOT sleep in her cornfield. However, as she was a saint, after all, they could borrow her barn instead.

Now, geese are not known for doing as they are told but, Werburgh was a saint, everybody said so, so the neighbour did as she asked. And, to his amazement, the geese followed him to the barn, hissing and honking and waving their great long snake-like necks as they went.

The next morning, Werburgh went to the barn and opened the door. She looked and listened as the geese waddled out of the barn hissing and honking and waving their great, long, snake-like necks. And then Werburgh noticed something. She noticed that the geese were hissing more sadly than usual. She noticed that their honks were not as loud or as fierce as they usually were. She noticed that they were shaking their great, long, snake like-necks from side to side – as if they were trying to tell her something. And then she noticed that one of the geese was missing.

She called her neighbour and asked him where the missing goose had gone. The neighbour hung his head in shame. He had thought no one would notice if he took one of the geese. He had thought no one would notice if he killed that goose and ate it for his supper. But the geese had noticed, and so had Werburgh.

Werburgh told her neighbour to fetch the bones of the goose he had eaten. And then she prayed, hard, because Werburgh thought geese were important and ought to be noticed and God must have thought so too because, after she had prayed, so our story says, the dry bones were gone and in their place was a hissing, honking goose.

And the goose lowered its great, long, snake-like neck and bowed to Werburgh, to thank her for her kindness in noticing that it was missing. And all the other geese did the same. And then they spread their wings and with a last loud  honk they launched themselves into the air and flew away.

So when you see geese flying overhead, and hear their honks filling the air, remember the kindness of Werburgh and the glimpse that she gives us of the kindness and the hospitality of the Divine.

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I commissioned this icon of St Werburgh for my 60th birthday.

It is by Yvonne Bell https://christian-art.vpweb.co.uk/

Wergurgh has associations with Macclesfield, where I live. She is thought to have founded a convent near by. Shuttlingslow, a local landmark, can be seen in the background. St Michael’s and All Angels Church has a window dedicated to her and is the church you can see over her shoulder. The colours she wears are those of Riddings Infants, whose children taught me the power of a simple story, simply told.

And I KNOW that canada geese had not arrived on these shores during her lifetime but they have made Macclesfield their home today and it is today that I think we need the help of the saints to remind us to stop, and look and listen.

You can hear me talk about character strengths and virtues in stories and tell this story here

One of my geese is missing – the story of St Werburga

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Character Strengths, Storytelling, Well-being in education

A day in the life of a head teacher using her strengths to support her own well-being and that of her students

Dr. Jennifer Fox Eades

Yesterday I had the privilege of working with 30 wonderful head teachers from Merton, on strengths based leadership and well-being.

One of the highlights of the day was listing to the the story told by Celia Dawson, head teacher of Cricket Green http://www.cricketgreen.merton.sch.uk/.

Celia told us the story of Project Search http://www.cricketgreen.merton.sch.uk/project-search/4578432848

Project SEARCH changes the way people think as it challenges ideas about what        people with a learning disability can do. It raises expectations of employability and the general public can see people with a learning disability hard at work as part of    everyday life.

Only 7% of people with learning disabilities nationally are in any form of paid work, compared with 74% of the wider population. However, many of Cricket Green’s trainees are now in meaningful employment within a local hospital and externally.

We used the #strengths circle reflection tool which I have developed in the course of my work to identify the many strengths that we felt Celia had used to get this important project off the ground. It was, for me, a humbling and inspiring experience. Thank you Celia!

 

 

Character Strengths, Spirituality, The Calm Classroom, Well-being in education

Well-being and character strengths and virtues

Dr. Jennifer Fox Eades

A language for being well in education

Next week I will be speaking to 30 head teachers from Merton about the well-being work in schools on which my PhD was based and which I have written about in books and teachers’ resources.

An important strand of that work is a focus on character strengths and virtues. You can hear me talking about this strand of my work on  You Tube

What are character strengths?

Every religion and every philosophical tradition has a concept of virtue, a way of thinking, feeling and acting that is morally valued or good. And as far back as Aristotle, education has been concerned with character and with morality or goodness, teaching children to understand right and wrong, as well as with knowledge. Aristotle saw the virtues as necessary to a flourishing life or happiness.

More recently, psychologists have linked the use of character strengths and virtues with well-being, vitality and a sense of fulfillment. Psychologists Martin Seligman and Chris Peterson (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) say that there are 6 universally valued virtues

  • Wisdom and knowledge
  • Courage
  • Love and humanity
  • Justice
  • Temperance
  • Spirituality and transcendence

They describe character strengths, like creativity, hope, gratitude, kindness, as the traits that allow us to display these virtues and say that

  • They are valued in almost every culture
  • They are valued for themselves, not as a means to other ends
  • They can be developed
  • They are influenced by our environment, some settings lend themselves to the development of strengths whereas others preclude them

Seligman and Peterson list 24 character strengths, under the headings of the six virtues. I have used this list for 15 years in my work in schools and in my PhD on well-being in education. I kept most of the names of the character strengths but changed the virtue headings to strengths of the head, action, heart, community, self-control and meaning.  I have added a single strength, patience, which is essential to teaching and learning. I have written a simple definition for each strength. I also dropped ‘social and emotional intelligence’ and replaced it with the Aristotelian virtue of friendship.

Some questions for educators to think about:

Is it better to focus on strengths or weaknesses? Always? Sometimes? Never? If sometimes, when?

Do you think there is anything missing from this list?

You can find out more about the classification of strengths that my work is based on  here:  VIA Character Strengths

Tool: A Strengths Prompt

Strengths of the Head

Creativity: thinking a little bit differently                                 

Curiosity: wanting to find out

Love of learning: enjoying, learning new things

Open-mindedness: enjoying difference, open to different people and ideas

Wisdom: understanding what is really important in life

Strengths of Action

Enthusiasm: eager and full of energy, raring to go

Persistence: Sticking at things, not giving up

Courage:  doing the right thing even when we feel scared l

Honesty: telling the truth, being an open, straight forward person

Strengths of Community

Fairness: treating everyone equally

Teamwork: pulling together, working well with others

Leadership: Helping or guiding other people to do something good and to get on well

 Strengths of the Heart

Love: caring deeply and showing we care by thoughts, words and deeds

Kindness: Doing and saying things to make people happy

Friendship: being gentle with ourselves and loyal and kind to other people

Strengths of Meaning

Gratitude: being thankful for good things, saying thank you

Spirituality: thinking deeply about God, love or the meaning of life

Humour: Seeing the funny side of life and making others smile or laugh

Hope: trusting that good things will happen

Love of beauty: noticing and enjoying good or beautiful things

Strengths of Self-control

Forgiveness: letting go of hurt and anger and wishing other people well again 

Prudence: making good choices that effect our future

Self-control: controlling thoughts, emotions and actions so we live well and achieve our goals

Modesty: a true knowledge of our own strengths and weaknesses

Patience: Letting things take the time that they take

 

Character Strengths, Prayer, Spirituality, Storytelling

St Francis, a failure and a friendship

Dr. Jennifer Fox Eades

We think of Francis as a saint. But Francis didn’t think of himself that way, I suspect saints never do. Francis saw himself as a failure and this story is the story of one of those failures. It is a story set nearly 800 years ago, in fact it will be 800 years next year. It is the story of how Francis tried and failed to stop a war.

The war was the 5th Crusade. It is worth remembering that Christians have not always been people of peace. The 5th crusade was a crusade by Christians, against Jews, Muslims and heretics and it was breaking Francis’ heart. Francis had once been a soldier, he knew what violence was and he knew what it was to be a prisoner of war. But when Francis fell in love with the Risen Christ, he fell out of love with everything that puts barriers between people, the barriers of pride, power and wealth.

And in 1219 pride and power and wealth had already killed many people. To try and end the bloodshed, Francis went first to the Christians, begging Cardinal Pelagius, the Christian commander, to end the fighting. Pelagius refused.

So then Francis, and his friend Brother Illuminatus, went to the enemy instead, to the Muslim army against whom the Christians were fighting. They went to stop the war and they went to try and change the hearts of the enemy so that they would follow the Risen Christ.

And they walked, the two of them, unarmed, through the camps of that enemy. They were captured and they were beaten. They were taken, finally, to the Muslim commander, the leader of their enemy, to Sultan Malik-al-Kamil of Egypt, an enemy leader who had offered a gold piece for the head of every Christian. And when Francis was led into the Sultan’s tent he said ‘May the Lord give you peace’. It is said that the Sultan was startled to hear a greeting so close to the traditional Muslim greeting of peace, Assalam o alaikum (as-saa-laam-muu-ah-lay-kum), Peace be upon you.

And in the meeting that followed, I am first going to tell you what Francis DIDN’T DO, because I think it’s important.  Francis did not try to deny the truths of the Muslim faith. He did not insult Islam. He did not argue or attempt to convince this enemy unbeliever that he was wrong.

What Francis respectfully did was to tell the Sultan the truth of why he was there – that he was there because of the gospel of love, that he was there because of his love for the Risen Christ, that he was there because he had been sent there by the God who IS love, And that he was there because of his love for his enemy – for Sultan Malik – al- Kamil. And the Sultan listened to this gentle, foolish, ridiculous man of God, sitting in his tent, speaking truth about love.

And then, in his turn, the Sultan told Francis, truthfully, about the faith and the prayers and the practices that HE loved.  And the gentle, foolish ridiculous man of God listened in his turn. Because that is what love does, that is what friendship does, it listens.

And then Francis left. And the war continued. And the Sultan continued to be a Muslim. Which meant that Francis had failed. He had failed to stop the war. He had failed to convert the Sultan.

But it is said that the Sultan was changed by his encounter with Francis, with the gentle, foolish follower of the Risen Christ. It is said that after meeting Francis he treated Christian prisoners with unusual and unexpected kindness and respect. And perhaps that is as much because of what Francis didn’t do, as what he said. As much because of what Francis WAS – a gentle, foolish, ridiculously loving man of God.

And it was not only the Sultan who was changed. Francis loved the fact that the Muslims prayed 5 times a day. So when he went home he asked his brothers and sisters to do the same. And though Francis refused the many rich gifts that the Sultan offered him, because Francis was not terribly interested in stuff, he did accept the gift of a horn used to call Muslims to prayer. And when he got home he used it to call Christians to prayer. Five times a day.

And perhaps he listened, too, to the beautiful Islamic tradition of the 99 names of God. Because when he got home he wrote a song, the song we are about to share, called the Praises of God. There are not 99 names in it. But then Francis was a humble man. But, if you count carefully, there are 33 names in it. 33 names of the God Francis loved, the God who sent him not to argue with his enemy but to listen and to speak truth about love and to be changed by his enemy, to become his enemy’s friend.

Francis saw himself as a failure. I think that the Sultan and the Risen Christ saw Francis as a friend.

Sources

www.darvish.wordpress.com

www.aleteia.org

 

Character Strengths, Joy in education, Storytelling, Uncategorized, Well-being in education

A Saintly Request!!!

Dr. Jennifer Fox Eades

A special request! In the past I have written stories for school assemblies, simple versions to tell aloud. Quite a few of those stories figure saints – St Werberga (One of my geese is missing!) St Bridget, St Columba. These feature together with traditional folk stories and other faith stories in a book I published with TTS called Character Strength Assemblies https://www.tts-group.co.uk/assemblies-for-cha…/1009310.html

I would LOVE to write a similar book that collects together saints from different traditions and, for that matter, secular saints. Saints have BIG characters and are great for children to know about and think about. Could anybody, especially those from other faith traditions, help me out here with ideas for who to include and some stories???

Character Strengths, Well-being in education

New book chapter

Dr. Jennifer Fox Eades

I am very pleased to say that I have just had a chapter published in this new book on positive psychology. It is co-written with Judith Gray, formerly head of Frodingham Infants and details the work we did together on Celebrating Strengths.

Celebrating Strengths combined ideas from positive psychology with psychodynamic theory and theology and philosophy to create what I think was a unique educational philosophy and approach to school life – and Judith was an important part of that process.

Character Strengths, Well-being in education

Character strengths and virtues in education – how and why?

Dr. Jennifer Fox Eades

In my latest video I talk about how and why you might want to introduce character strengths and virtues in education. There are three main reasons – to help to manage or contain anxiety, to build relationships and to help teachers and students alike to stay hopeful. And I break all the good rules of talks by adding a fourth reason – it gives us a language to discuss – not to impose – ideas of right and wrong and what constitutes a good life.

Well-being in education – character strengths and virtues

Character Strengths, Storytelling, Well-being in education

Character strengths in action: Using your whole body to tell a story

Dr. Jennifer Fox Eades

You can, and I do, often use simple props to tell a story. You can also use your body. A mixture of tai chi moves, with signs from British Sign Language help me, as the storyteller, to embody the story. Because I am using my whole body, I am fully present, aware of where I am, my audience and my whole self as I tell the story. It is less a cognitive and verbal activity, than a way of inhabiting the story and drawing my listeners into the story with me.

I demonstrate this method of storytelling here

A retelling of Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom, using BSL signs and tai chi moves to enhance the storytelling

As well as the character strength of #wisdom, students see many other strengths in this story, including #humour, #persistence, #teamwork and #spirituality.

Here’s a picture from Frodingham Infants that is based on the story,

Frodingham Infant School Scunthorpe UK

 

I hope you enjoy it 🙂