International research continues to reveal that the quality of classroom instruction directly influences the development of students’ academic skills and achievement. However, as seen below the impact of instruction is enhanced (or inhibited) by students’ attitudes, and social-emotional skills for learning (SEL’s).

Goals of the AB4L Professional Development Program: 

• To increase knowledge of the role students’ attitudes and social-emotional skills play in their engagement and learning. 
• To learn about a group of attitudes and behaviours for learning that research indicates as having a major influence on student engagement in learning and in their development of their literacy, numeracy and other academic skills.
• To learn how to integrate the AB4L program in the teaching of literacy, numeracy and other key learning areas in order to increase student engagement and achievement.

Published research indicates that the AB4L teaching program strengthens students’ attitudes and social-emotional skills needed for engagement, cooperative learning, independent classwork and homework and leads to an improvement in reading comprehension of students in the lower 50% of achievement.

1. Develop the positive mindset of students
2. Share with students the goals/targets of the lesson and have them set their own learning goals
3. Identify behaviours for learning
4. Discuss positive and negative self-talk for learning
5. Communicate behaviour-specific feedback for learning

AB4L enables a student to:

• Begin their lessons with a positive mindset 
• Set a goal for what they want to learn during the class period 
• Apply behaviours for learning throughout lessons and during homework (e.g., staying calm when they don’t understand what the teacher is explaining, raising their hand to answer a difficult question; staying on task and not being distracted by others when working independently)
• Employ positive rather than negative self-talk when faced with schoolwork that is hard or when making mistakes