A video recording of the FL2 online seminar (webinar) held at the end of 2016 is now available from the Workshops page, together with some of the handouts we distributed at the face-to-face workshops.  

As a result of another OLT-funded project, a team based at the University of Melbourne has developed a full suite of resources for academics wishing to "develop policies, curriculum and teaching and learning environments that better support student mental health". The project website offers learning modules covering curriculum design and teaching strategies, as well as tips for looking after one's own wellbeing, and much more.

The Greater Good centre at the University of Berkeley recently published an article titled "How to Nurture Empathic Joy in Your Classroom", which offers some easy-to-implement strategies. While the article focuses on school teaching, most of the content can be applied to University teaching as well. The article concludes by reminding us that it is important to look after ourselves, as well as our students, and to practice self-compassion and self-care.

If learning more about supporting your students' and your own wellbeing is part of your new year's resolutions, then you'll have many opportunities to achieve your goals in the coming weeks. In addition to the "Reading for Wellbeing" course (starting on January 30th), which we mentioned in a previous post, there are at least two other relevant MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) being offered: Monash University is offering "Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance", starting on February 6, for 6 weeks. The "Science of Happiness" MOOC offered by the Greater Good Centre at the University of Berkeley is a self-paced course, and can be joined at any time. 

The FL2 Team has been busy travelling around Australia to deliver workshops - we are very grateful for the wonderfully positive responses we have received, and loved meeting with colleagues, exchanging ideas and experiences.
We are aware that quite a few colleagues were unable to attend their local workshop, and have now set a date and time for the online seminar (webinar): it will take place on November 29th, at 2pm (Adelaide time). If you know of anyone who might be interested in participating, could you please direct them to our Workshops page, where they will be able to access further information and the registration form.

A free online course titled Literature and Mental Health: Reading for Wellbeing, offered through the FutureLearn platform, looks at "how poems, plays and novels can help us understand and cope with deep emotional strain". The course was developed at the University of Warwick, and includes interviews with Stephen Fry, Sir Ian McKellen and Melvyn Bragg. You can read more about the development process in an article published by The Independent.
Registrations for the next availability of the course (starting 30 January 2017) are now open.

A lot is happening in September! The project workshops begin on Thursday, 15 September, at Flinders in the city (Adelaide), with other capital cities to follow. We cannot wait to share our experience with fellow language educators, and to receive some feedback on the FL2 activities. 
In the meantime, the 5th Australian Positive Psychology and Wellbeing Conference, organised by the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute, will also take place  in Adelaide from 22-24 September. Conference events include a public Q & A session titled Resilient Learners in the 21st Century: Positive Education at Scale, and hosted by ABC Radio National Breakfast host Fran Kelly to investigate how to build positive education at scale. This event will be held at Adelaide Town Hall on Wednesday, 21 September from 6.30pm to 8.00pm.

The FL2 team will be running free practitioners' workshops to disseminate information about our activities, and provide opportunities for participants to be actively involved in reflection, discussion and creation of materials that integrate positive psychology, transition pedagogy and CLIL principles.
The FL2 workshop schedule, information flyers and registration form are available now.
We look forward to seeing you there!

Our paper, titled Flourishing in a second language (FL2): Integrating positive psychology, transition pedagogy and CLIL principles, will be presented on Thursday, July 14, at the inaugural SWAPv Conference. The Conference, which will be held at Flinders University (Tonsley Campus), is organised by the  International Student Wellbeing and Prevention of Violence Research Centre, in partnership with SAHMRI Wellbeing and Resilience Centre, Office of Indigenous Strategy & Engagement, Headspace, and Relationship Australia. We look forward to hearing the many interesting presentations that have been included in the Conference program.

The Individuals in Contexts - Psychology of Language Learning 2 conference will take place on August 22-24 in Jyväskylä, Finland. The three invited plenary speakers are:

• Phil Benson, Macquarie University
  
• Maggie Kubanyiova, University of Brimingham
  
• Sarah Mercer, University of Graz, who is also part of the FL2 project International Advisory Group.
  

The conference promises to be extremely interesting and relevant to the FL2 project. Unfortunately we are unable to participate, but we look forward to reading any publications or report on the conference.