The same information expounded in The Happy Movie that the Wei Family loves so much, is available in a course given by the Institute of Child Education & Psychology (ICEP), which teamed up with Action for Happiness to add to its offerings an online class which imparts the skill of how to teach happiness to others. Isn’t this a marvellous idea?
I was blessed to receive one of a handful of scholarships to take the course Teaching Happiness: Positive Psychology for behaviour and learning, and I’m just wrapping it up this week. I loved The Happy Movie and the concepts it propounds, so I knew I would enjoy this course. But I didn’t expect that so many of the fundamental principles the course teaches would work a direct transformation in me. Moreover, I’m astonished at how rapidly the transformation has taken place. The changes this course has awakened in my own thoughts and attitude is dramatic and gratifying. One basic premises of the Teaching Happiness course is, that the teacher must first work on increasing his/her own happiness, before attempting to teach these skills to others. The premise is that students of a happy teacher will be provided with two resources for increasing their own happiness: they will be impacted by awareness of their teacher’s authentic happiness, and they will also have a behavioural reference and role model close at hand.
I already realize that I will grow enormously with the fundamental principles for happiness under my belt. I expect that my family life will improve greatly too as a result of my having this knowledge and being transformed by it, and that my sons will grow enormously through indirect and direct exposure to these principles. Over time, I believe that the members of my family will have endless opportunity to increase wellness and empowerment in the lives of people we are surrounded by, through the sharing of these skills.
The knowledge and power I’ve been gifted through this body of knowledge are precious stepping stones to have had set down in my life’s footpath as guides to follow. I’m profoundly grateful for having been initiated into what is clearly among the world’s most delightful, hidden treasures.
If you’re a teacher, a coach, or simply a person interested in becoming authentically happier and creating that blessing in the lives of people around you, you will certainly benefit from this course. Please take a look at it, and let me know what you think.
The principles of practicing and increasing happiness are largely derived from the work of Dr. Martin Seligman.