The Strengths Movement

THE STRENGTHS MOVEMENT:
Developing Positive Partnerships Between Business, Schools and the Home

By Jenifer Fox

What is the Strengths Movement? At its core, the Strengths Movement is a social movement intended to change how we view ourselves, others and our world. The Strengths Movement has its roots in the positive psychology movement. Its central premise is that people will be more productive, better adjusted, healthier and experience more meaningful lives when the focus at school, work and in personal relationships is on their strengths rather than their weaknesses.

The central aims of the Strengths Movement are:

1. To reform our struggling educational system.
2. To provide a solid stem line of talented workers from school to the workplace.
3. To align communities around positive values and strengths.
4. To establish active, working partnerships between schools, businesses and the home.

The world is going through unprecedented global changes and our educational systems are not prepared to handle these changes. Businesses and non-profit organizations all over the world are engaged in innovative educational reform efforts. However, there will not be mass systemic change unless these efforts are tied together. The Strengths Movement sets out to tie all efforts together under one cohesive idea: the way for all children and adults to succeed in the future is by focusing on their strengths. It is time to shift the focus away from remediation of weaknesses and toward discovering the potential of strengths in every child.

A vast collection of committed individuals does not constitute a movement. A movement must have followers and actions. Movements usually spring up in response to a threat.

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