Diaries of Hope

Positive psychology is sometimes difficult when times are tough and the world and its events overwhelm us.  This was how I felt this morning - a little short in my usual glass.

However, my day was lifted by some of the adult learners' working with us today to promote and develop adult learning, who reminded me that hope is really important to them in their learning journey.

Having a goal is one thing, but on its own it's not enough-we have to get back up when we've been knocked down, and we have to keep getting closer to our goal to feel like we're being successful.

Their positivity meant that when I got back to the office I decided to read some more about this.  What I discovered reminded me of my initial training and helped me make new plans -'Hope is not just a feel-good emotion but a dynamic cognitive motivational system....Hope leads to learning goals, which are conducive to growth and improvement. People with learning goals are actively engaged in their learning, constantly planning strategies to meet their goals, and monitoring their progress to stay on track. Significant research shows that learning goals are positively related to success across a wide spectrum of human life—from academic achievement to sports, arts, science and business.'


Let's not reduce the focus of adult learning to only earning and skills-I often hear that our future is STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)-but what is science if it's not on the side of hope.

Our job as adult educators is to help adult learners find a positive learning journey-one that encourages them to dare to dream of building the kind of future they want.

Now that's what I'd always dreamed of - a world where anything is possible with hard work and a spoonful of hope!