Kaisa Vuorinen: Happy Kids Learn Best, But Not Without Happy Teachers
Kaisa Vuorinen, PhD, is a Finnish researcher, educator, speaker, author and the founder and CEO of Positive Learning. Her work focuses on positive education, character strengths, socio-emotional skills, well-being, and flourishing in education. Kaisa has trained teachers and educational leaders in over 30 countries and has spoken at numerous international conferences and educational forums worldwide.
She is the creator and co-author of the award-winning See the Good! approach, which helps schools systematically identify, teach, and strengthen students’ character strengths and socio-emotional skills. Kaisa is the author and co-author of several books and teaching materials, as well as scientific publications, and her work combines research with practical tools for everyday school life.
Key takeaways
- Change the question. Kaisa starts her workshops by asking “what is working despite the difficulties?” rather than “what is wrong?” She says that when we change the question, we change the person we interact with.
- See it, say it, grow it. The See the Good method has three steps. First, notice what’s already working. Second, give people the vocabulary of strengths so they can name them. Third, act on the skills you want to see more of, such as perseverance, compassion and creativity.
- Wellbeing and learning go together. Global studies show that wellbeing and academic learning complement each other rather than compete. Character strengths bring wellbeing into the whole school, covering the heart and hands as well as the mind.
- Happy kids learn best, but not without happy teachers. The teacher-student relationship is the critical part. Teachers who know their own strengths, and their own “why”, feel more motivated and less stressed, and that carries over to their students.
- Resilience is collective. Kaisa’s chosen word is the Finnish concept of sisu, meaning perseverance. She says resilience grows when we come together rather than facing hard days alone, and that skills like this matter even more as AI changes the world.
Chapters:
- 00:02 - Introducing Kaisa Vuorinen, Ph.D. — Founder of Positive Learning
- 03:14 - From Conference to Classroom: How See the Good Began
- 10:56 - Partnering with the University of Helsinki to Build Character-Strengths Education
- 19:54 - Bringing Character Education into Practice: Programs and Implementation
- 26:14 - How to Engage: Books, Platform, and Training
- 31:18 - Scaling 'See the Good': Training Teachers Across Cultures
- 38:22 - From Conversation to Action — Plans for Recordings and Live Shows
- 39:41 - Mini podcasts: exploring and supporting character strengths in young people
- 46:16 - Wrap-up: Introducing the FIRE Acronym (Feedback, Inspiration, Resilience, Empowerment)
Instagram @kaisavuorinenn
Substack Dr. Kaisa Vuorinen
Linkedin Kaisa Vuorinen
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