Page 144 - Ana Kozina and Nora Wiium, eds. ▪︎ Positive Youth Development in Contexts. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2021. Digital Library, Dissertationes (Scientific Monographs), 42.
P. 144
positive youth development in contexts
self-love was highlighted in the students’ responses as they recognised the
need to value themselves and their qualities more, which they perceived
as a foundation for building loving relationships with others. Connection
is an indicator of positive youth development that chiefly focuses on rela-
tionships (Lerner, 2007) and thus it is unsurprising that Love can serve as
a pathway to promoting Connection. As one student wrote, “when we are
loving, positive, open, and smiling, others accept us more easily”.
Kindness is important for promoting Caring and Connection. Kindness
is another character strength that is usually highly expressed by student
teachers (Gradišek, 2012), for example: “I always like to do someone a fa-
vour, it is never difficult for me to help”. Kindness indicates the orientation
of the self towards the other and is manifested in the tendency to help oth-
ers, be generous, compassionate and caring (Peterson & Seligman, 2004).
This makes it no surprise that it contributes to Caring, which is composed
of empathy (the ability to feel another’s pain) and sympathy (feeling bad
when another person is suffering), but also refers to someone who has a
“big heart” and is “kind, who listens, who always seems to know the right
thing to say or offer, who seems genuinely interested in us” (Lerner, 2007,
p. 166). Kindness is also relevant for Connection – it places emphasis on the
well-being of others and thereby prevents the possibility of Connection be-
ing used selfishly or manipulatively (Lerner, 2007). Kindness has a recipro-
cal effect: “If you are kind to someone, he or she is likely to be kind to you and
the relationship will grow. If love is then added to that – even better!”.
Fairness is important for promoting Character and Caring. Fairness
and Character clearly overlap. Fairness, by definition, is the product of
moral judgement, the process “by which people determine what is morally
right, what is morally wrong, and what is morally proscribed” (Peterson &
Seligman, 2004, p. 392). Similarly, Lerner (2007) recognises people of char-
acter as those who have a clear and consistent sense of right and wrong and
who treat everyone with equal consideration, meaning that everyone has
equal opportunities. The students also acknowledged this congruence of
the two concepts, as evident in one response: “By definition, fairness tells me
not to praise myself for the actions of others, not to cheat, or to discriminate
between people. If I don’t behave according to the rules, I’m willing to admit it
and take responsibility because that’s fair”. In terms of the role of Fairness in
promoting Caring, students recognised that Fairness is important for em-
pathy, for treating people fairly and equally – “to be able to care for others,
we need to be fair to others and to ourselves”.
144
self-love was highlighted in the students’ responses as they recognised the
need to value themselves and their qualities more, which they perceived
as a foundation for building loving relationships with others. Connection
is an indicator of positive youth development that chiefly focuses on rela-
tionships (Lerner, 2007) and thus it is unsurprising that Love can serve as
a pathway to promoting Connection. As one student wrote, “when we are
loving, positive, open, and smiling, others accept us more easily”.
Kindness is important for promoting Caring and Connection. Kindness
is another character strength that is usually highly expressed by student
teachers (Gradišek, 2012), for example: “I always like to do someone a fa-
vour, it is never difficult for me to help”. Kindness indicates the orientation
of the self towards the other and is manifested in the tendency to help oth-
ers, be generous, compassionate and caring (Peterson & Seligman, 2004).
This makes it no surprise that it contributes to Caring, which is composed
of empathy (the ability to feel another’s pain) and sympathy (feeling bad
when another person is suffering), but also refers to someone who has a
“big heart” and is “kind, who listens, who always seems to know the right
thing to say or offer, who seems genuinely interested in us” (Lerner, 2007,
p. 166). Kindness is also relevant for Connection – it places emphasis on the
well-being of others and thereby prevents the possibility of Connection be-
ing used selfishly or manipulatively (Lerner, 2007). Kindness has a recipro-
cal effect: “If you are kind to someone, he or she is likely to be kind to you and
the relationship will grow. If love is then added to that – even better!”.
Fairness is important for promoting Character and Caring. Fairness
and Character clearly overlap. Fairness, by definition, is the product of
moral judgement, the process “by which people determine what is morally
right, what is morally wrong, and what is morally proscribed” (Peterson &
Seligman, 2004, p. 392). Similarly, Lerner (2007) recognises people of char-
acter as those who have a clear and consistent sense of right and wrong and
who treat everyone with equal consideration, meaning that everyone has
equal opportunities. The students also acknowledged this congruence of
the two concepts, as evident in one response: “By definition, fairness tells me
not to praise myself for the actions of others, not to cheat, or to discriminate
between people. If I don’t behave according to the rules, I’m willing to admit it
and take responsibility because that’s fair”. In terms of the role of Fairness in
promoting Caring, students recognised that Fairness is important for em-
pathy, for treating people fairly and equally – “to be able to care for others,
we need to be fair to others and to ourselves”.
144
