How Early Childhood Hope Lessons Impact Students and Teachers

Abstract

While focusing on instruction and academics, today’s classroom teachers must also meet the individual needs of students who come to the learning environment socially and emotionally unprepared. Positive psychology Hope lessons may be one way to strengthen skills which must be in place before learning can happen. This case study explored the perception of eight pre-kindergarten teachers as they reflected on early childhood Hope Theory lessons involving goals, pathways, and motivation. Through interviews, observations, and artifact analysis, over the course of a seven-month span of time, this work explored whether Hope instruction made a positive difference for students and determined how including these lessons in the school day impacted teachers. The term “impact” for this dissertation is defined by the researcher as the assessment of the perceived effect of Hope lessons on teachers and students following lesson implementation based on data collected from participant interviews, observations, and artifacts. Findings indicated that teaching Hope is possible, even with young students, and that Hope positively impacts social-emotional wellbeing and academic growth. Hope lessons were found to build relationships between students, teachers, parents, and the community at large. Including the concept of Hope within school curriculum was determined to be important. The results of this study inform future practices for all educators, and recommendations are presented for administrators, teachers, social-emotional and academic curriculum decision-makers, teacher-preparation entities, and legislators.