Welcome to the Strength-Based HUB

Follow Us On Twitter

The words we choose to use is the first step to creating a culture of success for all: our students, community and most of all ourselves. When our words are strength-based, we create the form and substance of a new reality which emphasizes strengths over deficits and opportunities over obstacles. You are invited to join the IFT Strength-Based Teacher Driven Movement by following us on Twitter and participating in the strength-based conversation. Start here.

Follow Us On Instagram

Our strength-based journey begins with the first picture and continues as teacher cultivate and grow a culture of success for all. Through the pictures we take, we document the excitement and enthusiasm of the strength-based movement. These images represent a composite of the greatness of public education and the hopes and dreams of a learning environment where all students can achieve success. Join us in this great adventure. Start here.

Follow Us on Facebook

Start interacting with colleagues about those things that matter most to the teaching profession, our students and the future of public education. Through Facebook, teachers and school community members have the opportunity to educate, organize and mobilize around Strength-Based Teacher Driven Change. Post, comment and collaborate with colleagues to create and invent new programs and strategies to co-construct a culture of success for all. Start her e.

Your Strength-Based Profile

Your Strength-Based profile is a pathway for teachers to connect with you; to reach out, collaborate and create. By sharing your strengths, interests, hopes and dreams for children and young adults, public education and the teaching profession, we are all empowered by the words your write. Start here.

Strength-Based Chapters

Our local CTA chapters can take the lead by educating, organizing and mobilizing members to construct a public school system based on student talents. Instead of our schools and classrooms being driven by deficit-based policies and bureaucratic mandates, public education would begin with the talents of each student. Start here.

Strength-Based Groups

Start Collaborating - Begin your HUB experience by forming or joining a group. Groups can be created around any topic or experience. Within a HUB group you can collaborate, discuss and exchange ideas on how strength-based thinking can become part of your classroom, school and district. Start here.

Strength-Based Schools

Should California become the first strength-based public education state? Is it time to reject externally driven standards and create a culture of success for all students? Through strength-based teaching and learning practices, teachers can change public education from the inside-out. Join the conversation.

Strength-Based Principals

What makes a principal strength-based? What are their characteristics? Strength-based principals know how to apply their talents to create a teaching and learning environment where all school-community members use their strengths to create a culture of success for all students. Join the conversation.

Strength-Based Teachers

A key to being a strength-based teachers is to emphasize strengths over deficits and opportunities over obstacles. The strength-based teacher starts with the talents of his/her students and from there builds a curriculum that matches the individual strengths of students. Join the Conversation.

Gallup Strenghts

The Gallup strength-based model emphasizes brain development in the formation of talents and strengths. At a very early age, your brain produces trillions of synaptic connections. But the brain is designed to focus on only a limited number of your strongest neural connections -- talents. Your natural talents are transformed into strengths through the nourishment of knowledge and skills. As you surround your talents with knowledge and skills they are transformed into powerful strengths.

Appreciative Inquiry

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is grounded in cognitive psychology where people discover, dream, design and deliver on producing an optimistic future based on existing strengths and successes. AI focuses on achievements, assets, unexplored potentials, innovations, opportunities, and individual positive experiences. Simply speaking, individuals and groups “will” their way to greatness by creating a powerful vision of success and developing a practical and pragmatic approach for its achievement.

Positive Deviance

The Positive Deviance (PD) behavioral approach is a strength-based strategy for social change. Within every community, PD thinking believes there are certain individuals or groups (the positive deviants), whose behaviors enable them to find better solutions to a problem than their peers. These positive deviants have access to exactly the same resources and face the same challenges and obstacles as their peers. Thus, solutions are internally driven and not dependent on external programs and individuals for success.

Teacher Driven Change

Teacher driven strength-based approaches emphasize talents over weaknesses and opportunities over obstacles to create a learning environment where every student to do their best. What makes strengths-based approaches particularly important is they provide a clear focus and direction for teacher driven change. Click here to find out more about how strength-based thinking plays a key role in teacher driven change.

Ovation Tool Kit

Ovation! is a member recognition program for local chapters. It is the work of Teacher Think Tank members. Ovation! promotes local recognition of CTA colleagues. Chapter leaders can use the Ovation! toolkit to identify and celebrate members who have outstanding projects, programs and support systems that parallel the Seven Factors driving a student culture of success. Click here for more information.

IFT Grants

Grants focus on how teacher driven strength-based change can improve the teaching and learning process. Grants should describe the importance of a strength-based school community in creating a culture of success for all students. The Strength-Based Matrix is a framework for your grant proposal. Grants should detail how you will use each factor to improve the teaching and learning process. Click here for more information.

Trent Stillman

Being a part of an IFT Think Tank is an amazing experience. I have had opportunities to explore and promote teacher designed and led strength-based changes for our public schools. I encourage all teachers to find out about the IFT and the HUB is the best place to start.

Tricia Hyun

The "HUB" has the potential to be a rich and rewarding place for teachers to meet, chat, share, and create. All that’s necessary is a few deeply passionate CTA members who are ready to join-together to make strength-based teacher driven change a statewide movement.

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IFT Strength-Based HUB