Centre for Advancement in Inclusive and Special Education

Faculty of Education The University of Hong Kong

Webinar 1

Overview
Using a cognitive-behavioural research based framework, attendees will deepen their understanding of social-emotional difficulties that students commonly experience including anxiety, feeling down and academic procrastination that contribute to under-achievement and low social-emotional wellbeing. A focus will be on the negative attitudes and delays in social-emotional learning skills that can be overcome in school in order for students to excel and flourish. Attendees will become familiar with 12 positive attitudes (e.g., self-acceptance, high frustration tolerance) which support core social-emotional skills (e.g., resilience, confidence) that lead to positive student outcomes. Attendees will learn through the use of curriculum-based, classroom activities how to cognitively restructure students’ negative attitudes into positive ones. Attitudes of students determine how they think, feel and act when confronted with challenges and demands of growing up in a COVID-19 world. Research from the field of cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT; REBT) has highlighted unhealthy attitudes that contribute to negative student outcomes.

Topics

  • A research-based, cognitive-behavioural framework.
  • The inner world of students with social-emotional challenges
  • The five social-emotional blockers (e.g., anxiety, feeling down, procrastination) that students can experience
  • The negative attitudes/self-talk that contributes to the five social-emotional blockers
  • Examples of positive attitudes/self-talk that students can use to overcome each of the five social-emotional blockers
  • The ABC model of resilience
  • Teaching students how to challenge and change their negative, extreme and rigid thinking.
  • What parents need to know and do

About Michael Bernard
Michael E. Bernard, Ph.D. is an international consultant to universities, organisations, educational authorities and governments. Since 2004, he has been a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Melbourne Graduate School of Education and is an Emeritus Professor, California State University, Long Beach. He is the Founder of You Can Do It! Education (www.youcandoiteducation.com.au) a program for promoting student social-emotional well-being and achievement that is being used in over 6,000 schools in Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Singapore, England, Romania and North America.

  • He is the author of over 50+ books, 30+ book chapters, and 30+ journal articles in areas associated with student wellbeing and achievement, peak performance, resilience and positive parenting.
  • With his business partner and wife, Patricia Bernard, he has created an on-line positive parenting program consisting of eLearning programs, articles and audio-video motivational programs for young people (www.youcandoiteducation.com.au/parents).
  • He has worked as a consultant school psychologist helping families and schools address the educational and mental health needs of school-age children.
  • Michael was a co-founder of the Australian Institute for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy and is the author of many books on REBT.
  • Over the past decade, he has focused on the design and conduct of high performance mindset and resilience professional development programs.
  • He has offered high performance mindset professional development for school leaders at the Bastow Institute for Educational Leadership. Over the past decade, he has offered a variety of professional development workshops for staff at early learning centres, primary and secondary schools.
  • Michael helped establish the Master of Educational Psychology program in the then, Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne.
  • Michael was the first sport psychologist of the Collingwood Football Team

Sample Books

Bernard, M.E. (2021). The High Performance Mindset at Work, Home and Life. Melbourne: Wilkinson.
Bernard, M.E. & Terjesen, M. (Eds.). (2020). Rational-Emotive, Cognitive-Behavioral Approaches to the Problems of Childhood: Theory, Practice, Research, Applications. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.
Bernard, M.E. (2020). The Successful Mind in Study, Work and Life. East Melbourne, VIC: The Bernard Group.
Bernard, M.E. (2019). The Successful Mind at School, Work and Life. East Melbourne, VIC: The Bernard Group.
Bernard, M.E., & David, O. (Eds.) (2018). Coaching for Rational Living. New York: Springer Press.
Bernard, M.E. (2018). Stress Management for Teachers and School Principals. A Professional Development Program. East Melbourne: The Bernard Group.
Bernard, M.E. (2018). You Can Do It! Early Childhood Program Achieve, 3rd Ed. East Melbourne: The Bernard Group.
Bernard, M.E. (2018). NEW Program Achieve (years 1-6; years 7-12). A social emotional learning curriculum. East Melbourne: The Bernard Group.
Bernard, M.E. (Ed.), (2013). The Strength of Self-Acceptance. New York: Springer.