Academic Foundation, Values, and Vision

The Theoretical Foundation for Gledingskole

1. Attachment Psychology Theory and Research

The importance of relationships for belonging, learning, and health

Attachment theory has shown us that children are completely dependent on close relationships with safe adults, where the adult sees and understands the child’s needs. Safety and belonging are necessary conditions for good emotional, social, and learning development. It is Bowlby who taught us the importance of attachment, and the Circle of Security tradition has concretized how we can work to promote secure attachment between adults and children.

Attachment psychology has a positive and prosocial foundation, which among other things means that it is assumed children would behave “well” if they have the opportunity and skills to do so. Therefore, it is the adult's task to create safe relationships, show the way – give the child the opportunity to understand what are good choices and appropriate behavior. Remember! Trust in the person gives trust in the information.

Here are some examples of recent literature from attachment psychology, which also provides us with applied knowledge useful in Gleding:

Brandtzæg, Torsteinson & Øiestad (2013): Se barnet innenfra. Hvordan jobbe med tilknytning i barnehagen. Oslo: Kommuneforlaget.

Brandtzæg, Torsteinson & Øiestad (2016): Se eleven innenfra. Relasjonsarbeid og mentalisering på barnetrinnet. Oslo: Gyldendal Akademisk.

Guro Øiestad (2011): Selvfølelsen hos barn og unge. Oslo: Gyldendal.

2. Neurobiological Research on Emotion Regulation and Stress Management

Daniel Siegel has taught us how the brain and mind develop through social relationships. His theoretical contribution is often referred to as interpersonal neurobiology. This knowledge influences what we today know about what children need from their caregivers and how we can promote the development of empathy, mentalization, and good mental health. Siegel has also provided knowledge on how we can understand stress management and practice handling stress. His model, called the “Window of Tolerance,” is an important model frequently referenced by Gleding. This tradition maintains the focus that development is always possible.

Daniel Siegel (2012): The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We are. The Guilford Press; Second edition.

Daniel Siegel (2003): Parenting from the Inside Out. How a deeper self-understanding can help you raise children who thrive. New York: Tarcher Perigee.

3. Emotional Awareness and Emotion-Focused Approach

We have learned much from the emotion-focused approach. Their main point is perhaps that our emotions exist for a reason; they are like a guide to our needs. How we relate to our emotions is largely shaped by how we were met in our emotions as children. The good news is that we can always develop and improve our relationship with our emotions.

Much of the knowledge base in these topics comes from John M. Gottman and Leslie Greenberg. The references below provide a Norwegian introduction and overview of this tradition's main principles and how it can be applied in practice with adults, children, and families.

Stiegler, Sinding & Greenberg (2018): Klok på følelser. Det følelsene prøver å fortelle deg. Oslo: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS.

Vassbø Hagen, Austbø, Hjelmseth & Dolhanty (2019): Emosjonsfokusert ferdighetstrening for foreldre. En lærebok for terapeuter og veiledere. Oslo: Gyldendal.

4. Cognitive Behavioral Theory

A framework for understanding the connection between thoughts, emotions, and actions. This tradition has taught us basic knowledge about how human reactions involve the planes of thought, emotion, and action. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has particularly useful and applicable models when it comes to managing nervousness and fear, or more specifically, when these emotions are troublesome in a child's everyday life. Research has shown that to overcome anxiety, an element of exposure should be included in treatment. CBT has accounted for this. An example of a well-known Norwegian-developed tool from this tradition is Psychological First Aid, or perhaps better known as “red and green thoughts.” In Gleding, we are concerned that children and youth should not have to learn tools only to then manage emotions on their own. When we use techniques from CBT, we therefore think that safe adults should be connected to the child’s process. All emotions are useful; no emotion is primarily “negative.” Being afraid is normal, and we are skeptical of pathologizing this. Sometimes, however, it can become a “false alarm” too often, so that children feel fear in situations that are actually not dangerous. Then they may need help to turn down the volume on the alarm (tolerate the discomfort). Psychological First Aid is a useful tool in such situations. We are sometimes asked what distinguishes Gleding and Gledingskole from Psychological First Aid. Gleding provides a framework for culture and the development of universal human traits such as emotion regulation, empathy, self-esteem, and inclusion. As we have shown above, the view of emotions, needs, and relationships aligns with attachment psychology and emotion-focused approaches. Our tools are universal (for everyone), and not necessarily where difficulties have already arisen. Psychological First Aid is more of a tool that focuses on emotions or situations that cause trouble for the child, within the framework of cognitive behavioral therapy.

5. Growth Mindset: The View of Learning and Development

In social psychology, there has been a focus on the importance of a person’s belief in their own coping ability. Bandura (1986) called this Self-efficacy. In more recent times, Carol Dweck has put the term “growth mindset” on the map, and this is an important inspiration for Gleding and our products. We can also talk about an open versus fixed mindset. Our culture (individualistic culture) tends to promote a fixed mindset, where we believe that innate dispositions, traits, and possibly talents have great significance for what we can achieve in life. Examples: “You are so smart, you truly have a gift when it comes to..., you have a talent for...” In contrast, an open mindset understands the world more from the perspective that one has qualities that can be changed and developed. What matters is not the innate (and static), but more how one develops through effort, failing, and practicing. An open or growth mindset turns out to provide a more robust self-esteem and also better prerequisites for learning!

6. Positive Psychology

Positive psychology is a newer direction in psychology where attention is directed toward psychological health and well-being, rather than mental illness and treatment. Concepts such as happiness, quality of life, coping, optimism, and resilience are central. Martin Seligman plays a central role here, and if you want to read more about the PERMA+ model, this link is a good place to start: https://positivepsychology.com/perma-model/

7. Transactional Model

The model has its theoretical foundation from Sameroff and Chandler (1975), who with a dynamic perspective describe how children and environments mutually influence each other over time. The child’s inherent characteristics and expressions influence its caregivers and how they respond to the child. The adult's dispositions also influence the child. In this way, many transactions occur back and forth between caregivers and the child. Sameroff calls it an eternal dance. And as the child gets older, school, friends, and society at large become part of this dance. Therefore, we cannot only focus on parent-child relationships when we want to strengthen social and emotional development; we must include the other actors as well. We adopt the village model, “it takes a village.”

Illustration from Sameroff (2009).

E - environment, C - constitution (the child)

Sameroff, A. (2009). The transactional model of development. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

8. Systemic Thinking

Finally; our systemic thinking permeates the work in Gleding. We must think holistically when we are building culture, involving the local community and the various arenas in which we live our lives. We believe that we cannot create a more empathetic world without involving local communities. Bronfenbrenner’s developmental ecological model is useful to explain how environmental factors from the broader society to the individual's close everyday context are connected and influence each other through the interaction between individual and environment. The model is widely used in curricula from social sciences and social work, and may perhaps seem a bit obvious and outdated. We believe it is still highly relevant.