Kindness is a type of behaviour marked by acts of generosity, consideration, rendering assistance or concern for others, without expecting praise or reward in return.
The Westport Club’s vision is to make a significant contribution to the quality of community life. This campaign supports our vision and helps us to share kindness and actively model, teach and support this in our local community.
The Kindness Curriculum has been inspired by the Kindness Factory’s mission to make the world a kinder place. The Kindness Factory™ grew from one person’s incredible story of courage, hope and adversity and has now become a global kindness movement, touching the lives of a myriad of people from all walks of life.
Along the way, the Kindness Factory has registered in excess of 2 million acts of kindness, from around the world illustrating so many themes that are important to global citizens who celebrate the goodness of humanity including kindness, compassion and empathy.
As the founder of Kindness Factory, Kath Koschel has spoken to young people and adults in schools across the world, sharing her inspiring story of resilience, gratitude and kindness. Because of her inspirational addresses in school settings, one question was always asked… “How can we continue the legacy of kindness that you have created amongst our students?” Kath turned to Kaplan for assistance and together a Kindness Curriculum has been conceptualised in response to the recurring question – what next?
The partnership with Kaplan has seen her fulfil her dream to develop the Kindness Curriculum for education institutions ranging from early learning centres to secondary schools. It is Kath’s strong belief that teachers, students and school communities are the important elements in generating change for the future. Together Kaplan, Kath and the Kindness Curriculum are taking one step forward in building and sustaining a better world for our global village.
The Kindness Curriculum focuses on the development of core attributes that underpin Kindness namely: Collaboration, Compassion, Empathy, Gratitude, Honesty, Humility, Humour, Mindfulness meditation, Perspective, Positivity, Self- Acceptance and Trust. All learning activities can be easily integrated into daily teaching routines and easily adaptable to meet class and school needs and priorities. They are also suitable as standalone activities to explore, investigate and address specific problems that arise in the lives of young people.
Some activities encourage self-reflection, others require group collaboration and still others are just about engaging students in learning about life in age appropriate ways. All the activities have a clear rationale, a set of learning outcomes, a sequence of learning steps and embedded resources. The activities do not include summative assessment criteria but encourage reflection on personal and collaborative outcomes focusing on the attributes. The ultimate aim of the Kindness Curriculum is to encourage students and communities to contribute to a better world through Kindness.
CLICK HERE to visit The Kindness Curriculum website.
The benefits associated with giving and receiving kindness are tangible and result in overwhelmingly positive outcomes for the world around us. Science confirms the advantages to the body and mind:
CLICK HERE to read more on the benefits of being kind.
