It is important to emphasize that the Group-Facilitator Training Program described in this article requires that the educational system, teachers and families reframe teachers’ roles and expand teachers’ professional development to help them acquire additional competencies and develop group intervention skills to be applied day to day. Additionally, teachers’ professional development and teacher education and certification programs should include group facilitation, preventive educational programs and computer literacy.
To conclude this paper’s message, the author recommends reading Positive Education: Positive Psychology and Classroom Interventions, a seminal article by Seligman et al. (2009), which states, “Positive education is defined as education for both traditional skills and for happiness. The high prevalence worldwide of depression among young people, the small rise in life satisfaction, and the synergy between learning and positive emotion all argue that the skills for happiness should be taught in school.”
Contrary to the term, “social distancing,” which was and still is a tool for maintaining physical distance, the author suggests adopting the term “maintaining friendships while physically distancing,” or, as emphasized in Metallica’s song, “Nothing Else Matters”: “So close, no matter how far…”
Listening to “Nothing Else Matters” will take on even deeper meaning during these challenging times. Enjoy!
