Positive regard through valued participation

A sense of positive regard is related to a young person's perceptions of the opportunities they have to make a contribution to the day to day activities of the school and to what extent their contributions are recognised, valued and acknowledged.

The Gatehouse Project Adolescent Health Survey of Year 8 students, undertaken in 1997, included a range of questions about student perceptions of the opportunities for participation and positive feedback. Student responses confirmed a strong relationship between students' perceptions of positive regard and their well-being. For example, students who reported that they were not always acknowledged for their contribution at school were twice as likely to report depressive symptoms than those who perceived their contribution was recognised by teachers. In addition, while an overwhelming majority (over 90%) of young people reported that they were generally treated in a friendly way at school, those students who perceived that they were not treated in a friendly way were four times as likely to report depressive symptoms. For details of findings about these relationships, see the Publications section.

In the school audits, school teams considered which existing programs, policies and practices might foster participation and positive regard and which might work against this, at the level of the classroom, the whole school and in links with the community. For those areas that were working well, they looked at what was needed to maintain and strengthen them. How might we tackle those areas that were of concern? The critical friend was available to help access information about programs and policy development that might help address concerns.

Starting points

The potential for increasing student participation and positive regard is great and many strategies can be implemented that are very simple. While special one-off events can be valuable, the challenge is to provide a daily experience of genuine valued participation and acknowledgement for all members of the school community. In work with teachers, students and parents, the powerful impact of everyday relationships has been emphasised. Simple relationship building and maintenance like smiling, saying hello and asking questions that demonstrate interest in others as individuals contribute to a greater sense of positive regard. We need to consider the impact of the way we communicate critical appraisal. We can look for opportunities for students to participate in authentic tasks and activities, especially opportunities that involve planning and implementing things perceived to be of importance to the school. We can also develop a broad range of ways of acknowledging contributions of all students. Displays of student work or photos of groups of students can be overt reminders that all students are valued. We need to be alert to those students who may be continually overlooked and find ways to make them feel noticed and valued.

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