PQ Educator

 In my last post I discussed the concept of toxic positivity, and how sometimes our best efforts to promote positive culture in schools can backfire and actually make things worse.  Now that you know what Positive Intelligence is NOT, I want to help you understand more about what it is and why I think it's going to be crucial to strengthening school systems. Positive Intelligence was founded by Stanford neuroscientist and Fortune 500 executive coach Shirzad Chamine.  After creating and leading CTI, one of the world's foremost executive and leadership coach training schools, Shirzad wanted to investigate why the insights people gained in coaching often did not lead to a lasting change in habits.  Research indicated that insight is only a small factor in changing behavior: instead, we need to build "mental muscle".  Just as analyzing how to make a layup in basketball is not the same as practicing it every day, gaining insight is limited in its application if the brain i

 Positive Intelligence (PQ) Is NOT Toxic Positivity! If you have been an educator during the last few years, chances are you have experienced toxic positivity.  According to verywellmind.com, toxic positivity is " the belief that no matter how dire or difficult a situation is, people should maintain a positive mindset. While there are benefits to being optimistic and engaging in  positive thinking , toxic positivity rejects all difficult emotions in favor of a cheerful and often falsely-positive façade." Sound familiar?  On top of an already unsustainable workload, educators now are expected to soldier on through a global pandemic, sudden shifts to remote learning and back in person, political unrest and climate disaster.  Administrators are often at a loss for how to support teachers through it all, and may unwittingly resort to toxic positivity in an attempt to keep everything from crashing down.   Maybe you have been told to hide your negative emotions and put on a happy f