Over the past several weeks, we have been diving deep into the 7 Steps of Hope Work. Before showing the overall benefits of Hope work, let’s recap one more time what those 7 Steps are:
Recap: The 7 Steps of Hope Work
- Introduce Hope: We show that Hope isn’t an emotion or reaction, but it’s a mindset that they can learn.
- Goal Setting: We help them develop personally relevant goals.
- Pathways: We establish ways for them to reach their goals, showing that it’s possible.
- Willpower: We find the child’s source of motivation, help them identify it, and help them utilize it to use their pathways.
- Problem Solving: We identify obstacles that might occur and prepare strategies to help the child overcome them.
- Create Hope Visual: We create a visual map to refer to everything they learned and planned during Hope Work to help them succeed.
- Re-Goal Setting: As children grow, their goals grow with them and we help them learn to re-goal set for consistently helpful strategies and success.
Now that we’ve talked in-depth about each of the steps, how does nurturing Hope affect children long term?
Hope Buffers Adversity
Believing that you have the power to make tomorrow better than today makes dealing with today’s misfortune and difficulties more palatable. The seven steps of Hope work provide students with strategies that they can use today, tomorrow, and every day – giving them something protective and effective to help them whenever adversity arises. Over time, this makes hardship easier to deal with and feel less threatening, helping them feel more secure in their future and themselves.
Hope Improves Academics
Schools teaching Hope with My Best Me have a 68% reduction of suspensions and expulsion, 81% fewer drops outs than average, and have a 44% lower occurrence of absenteeism. Furthermore, students experiencing Hope work and becoming more hopeful increase their grade-level averages and have a much higher chance of graduating with good standing from their school. In addition, 59% of hiring managers look for new hires with SEL traits, meaning students are also more likely to be hired after high school, during college, and after higher education.
Wrapping it Up…
Hope is much more concrete than simple optimism. It is a valuable strategy, a source of comfort, and a meaningful step toward a better tomorrow every day, no matter the circumstance. We do Hope work…because Hope works.
Hope Rising SEL’s definition of Hope is making a difference in many schools and communities across the country.
If your school isn’t using My Best Me yet, we would love to help you bring Hope to your school. Our sales team is ready to answer your questions and demo My Best Me for you. Contact us to start spreading Hope in your school.