APPLYING POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY PRINCIPLES ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE LESSONS IN THE NEW UKRAINIAN SCHOOL

Abstract

Introduction. The challenges of the pandemics and war have shifted the comprehension of living from the usual and familiar to the dimensions of the marginal and unknown. To cope with them, specialists in various fields have started to search for effective survival techniques and approaches. One of these is the application of positive psychology in education. School plays a paramount role in the younger generation formation process. Therefore, teachers have significant leverage over students. Skillful application of positive psychology principles in the educational environment ensures the ability of students to find the lifelines necessary to maintain balance in an unstable world. Purpose. Taking into account the outlined research and theoretical developments, the article offers practical examples of using the principles of positive psychology in the English language teaching process. Methods. The article is based on applying models of positive psychology PERMA (by M. Selingman) and EMPATHICS (by R. Oxford) in the process of teaching English in correlation with the key principals of the New Ukrainian school. Results. The authors traced the correlation between the topics of positive psychology and the key principles of the NUS and proposed practical ways to implement them using English language teaching tools through content (texts, posters, videos, audio and authentic materials), classroom dynamics (group work, role-playing games, projects, practicing routines like “Gratitude Diary” or “Moments of Happiness”, mindfulness, self-reflection, etc. and stimulation of higher order thinking skills through tasks for analyzing situations, evaluating one’s own and others’ actions, simulating and developing behavioral scenarios in modelled situations; synthesizing information, as well as using creative tasks and art techniques. It is noted that during English lessons it is worth integrating the development of key language skills with the students’ emotional intelligence tools, through the implementation of the principles of positive psychology in particular. Originality. The current researches in the field of ELT approaches haven’t discussed the potential avenues for applying positive psychology principles in the Ukrainian schools. Conclusions. Our research demonstrates that positive psychology is an effective tool for developing learners’ soft skills. A properly trained English language teacher is sure to successfully combine linguistic and socio-emotional competences through appropriate content, interaction with students, and the involvement of cognitive processes of analysis, evaluation, and creativity.