This article in Greater Good, the online magazine of the at UC Berkeley.
It鈥檚 one thing to teach kids to say 鈥渢hank you鈥� when they receive a gift or when someone does a favor for them. But how can we help children understand what really means, in ways that will make them more likely to feel it deeply, express it authentically, and reap its ?
One way to increase kids鈥� gratitude is to guide them to not only acknowledge that someone else did something for them, but to also consider why the person did it, what the cost to the person was, and what benefits they have received from it. The idea is that gratitude happens when you realize that another person has intentionally done something that benefits you, especially at a cost to themselves.
This thinking process, which researchers refer to as 鈥渂enefit appraisal,鈥� highlights the interpersonal nature of gratitude and may help strengthen our relationships. In one study, elementary schoolers who were taught benefit appraisal reported more positive emotions and showed more grateful attitudes and behaviors than other students, both immediately and months later.
In partnership with the Greater Good Science Center and the John Templeton Foundation, , an evidence-based social-emotional learning program for students in grades K-5, has added a new component based on the science of gratitude鈥攊ncluding benefit appraisal. In addition to incorporating gratitude into their professional development workshops for educators, they developed gratitude lessons and practices for their classroom curriculum for grades 4-5.
The pilot group of teachers who have tried the gratitude curriculum have responded very positively, reporting benefits for themselves and their students such as strengthened classroom relationships and community, higher levels of positive emotions, and more generous and compassionate action.
We are grateful to for allowing us to share three sample activities for helping students deepen their understanding and practice of gratitude鈥攁long with insights from some of the teachers who have used them.
is the research assistant for the 鈥檚 education program and a Ph.D. student in education at UC Berkeley.
