Moving Forward with Hope

Instructions

Before you begin:

• For you and/or your colleagues: Consider something that you would like to work on right now (e.g., work-life balance, improving my relationship with a colleague, seeing my students’ strengths, etc.)?
• If sharing this activity with high school or college students, provide some examples of goals before getting started (e.g., learning how to study more effectively for tests with outlines or concept maps, developing skills for navigating anxiety around public speaking, or carving out a regular studying time and sticking to it). You might also brainstorm a few possible goals or invite students to generate ideas in pairs or small groups.
• What value (or values) might inspire me to meet this goal (e.g., self-compassion, kindness, perseverance, purpose, curiosity, etc.)?

Key Questions (Feel free to use the handout provided.)

• Identify one long-term goal (for the upcoming season, the next six months, or even the next academic year) aligned with a value or values you hold and write it down.
• Outline three concrete steps you’ll take to meet your goal (e.g., create a study schedule or a work schedule that supports your goal, commit to a certain number of minutes on task per week, and/or engage in mindfulness or self-compassion practices during times of stress).
• For each step, identify a possible obstacle and a way around it (e.g, time pressure at school, daily stressors, lack of sleep, etc.).
• Then take twenty minutes to visualize, as vividly as possible, how you’ll meet this goal. As you imagine meeting this goal, draw on all your senses and picture what it would feel like to experience this outcome you desire for your life.

Evidence That It Works

Ninety-six college students who participated in a short practice like this one reported increases in hope, purpose, and career calling (compared to students in two other groups: one group receiving no intervention and one group participating in a progressive muscle relaxation exercise). One month later, students in the hopeful thinking group (only) also reported greater practical progress toward their goal.

Why Does It Matter?

Hope features two forms of thinking: pathway and agency. Pathway thinking focuses on picturing a way forward, along with alternative routes. Agency thinking involves believing in one’s capacity to meet goals through motivation and persistence.

The secret sauce that enriches both these building blocks of hope? Our values, which can play a powerful role in guiding our intentions—especially long-term even more than short-term actions. Indeed, one study found that hope influenced the actions teachers take to enact their vision of what it means to be a teacher.

As educators, we can channel these two forms of thinking into our value-driven work with students and colleagues so that hope, as value-based action, positively influences our professional lives—and ultimately, our students’ academic outcomes.

Further, studies tell us that higher levels of student hope (supported through goal-setting processes similar to this practice) can be powerful enough to positively influence grade point average, regardless of socio-economic status. When students experience hope through agency and pathway thinking, they are more likely to perceive obstacles and stressors as challenges rather than threats.