We Read to Become Happier

We read for different reasons. We read because we “must”, to find out information, out of curiosity, but I would like to believe that a lot of those who read do it for the wellness that reading offers.

A few months ago, while studying for the “Literature and Mental Health” course, run by Warwick Business School together with ReLit (The Bibliotherapy Foundation), I discovered an article on bibliotherapy, “Books do furnish the mind: the art and science of bibliotherapy”, written in 2016 by two medical consultants, Jonathan Bate and Andrew Schuman, both Oxford professors, that made me understand, once again, the importance of reading for our mental and emotional wellbeing.

The short article is extremely comprehensive and it presents the evolution of the term “bibliotherapy”. This term is more than 100 years old and it was first used in 1916 by the American essayist Samuel McChord Crothers. In his essay he takes an interview to his imaginary friend who is a bibliotherapist at the “Tired Businessmen Institute” and where he carefully prescribes his patients books that can help them get rid of depression or unemployment. This imaginary bibliotherapist analyses the therapeutic value of the books he prescribes for each and every case in order to notice their positive results. 

The miraculous power of books dates back a few millennia, even if at that time it was not named “bibliotherapy”. According to the Greek historian Siculus, above the entrance to the sacred library of pharaoh Ramses II it was written “the place where the soul is healed”, and the Renaissance man Michel de Montaigne stated that there are three ways to cure the most terrible mental illness – loneliness: to have a lover, to have friends, to read books, but out of the three options, the one that can last all life is the presence of books. The relation with the books that we know and adore creates a unique state, beneficial and repeatable with every reading. Have you ever wondered why we can sometimes go back to rereading certain books or why a certain poem touches and takes us to a world where everything seems easier, better? 

In the 19^th century, the philosopher John Stuart Mill affirmed in his autobiography that William Wordsworth’s poetry cured him of depression; in 2017, his poetry is once again remembered in connection with a difficult loss and the way in which these poems can help you get over the pain you feel because Wordsworth himself suffered these terrible losses: two of his children died before having turned eight. In fact, poems are the “pills” to be administered most efficiently due to their short, yet memorable form. It is more practical to recommend a poem or an anthology of poems than a long novel which demands time and concentration, but what counts most is the impact that the literacy work, be it a poem or a Victorian novel has on our life.  Read to discover yourselves! 

Women and the French Revolution

Women have struggled for centuries to gain the same rights as men and not be seen as slaves. The French Revolution was the certain means of accomplishing that. Almost. This category of citizens went back and forth in order to establish their rights.

On 5th October 1789 – women of Paris were angry about the high price of bread so 3,000 women marched to the Hotel de Ville to demand bread. This march of the Women was a visible representation of citizen unrest and became an event with major consequences for the monarchy. The king received a delegation of 15 women and 15 National Assembly deputies, which had not happened previously.

However, from existing patriotic clubs for women in 1792, the times changed so that married women were not allowed to purchase land. With this in mind and having to face every day, women became ‘revolutionary’ themselves as well. The most virulent of these women scared the male revolutionaries as it happened on the 18th November 1793 when a red bonnet group of women led by Claire Lacombe got into the General Council of Paris. As a consequence, the National Convention forbade all clubs and gatherings that involved women. Women no longer had the right to even take part in political reunions and they were excluded from the affairs of the city.

If in September 1792 women were given the right to divorce, Napoleon’s code of 1804 changed all that. Divorce was made harder to obtain, particularly for women. the remarkably egalitarian law of 1792 was repealed and provisions were introduced which restricted divorce by mutual consent and imposed a double standard test of adultery, to the advantage of women. Later on, the women failed in making men recognize their political rights. In Amar’s discourse of 30th October 1793, he clearly stated that “nous croyons donc qu’une femme ne doit pas sortir de sa famille pour s’immiscer dans les affaires du gouvernement.” (we thus think that a woman must not leave her family in order to get involved in the affairs of the government.) The civil code of 1804 stated in article 215 that a woman cannot utter a judgment without her husband’s authorization.

Nevertheless, there were a few successful female artists during the period of the revolution. Among them, Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun, one of the only four women artists to have been accepted in 1783 into the Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, a major achievement for a woman in the 18^th century. She painted portraits of Marie Antoinette and various aristocrats. Many years later in her memoir she regretted the disappearance of the sort of gallantry associated with the Ancien Regime, affirming that the women ruled then and the revolution has dethroned this. Another successful woman, Labille – Guiard was an artist that actively favored the revolution.

Emancipating women legally an politically met with incomprehension.  “Since women have the same moral and intellectual capacities as men, anything but equality for women, argued Sophie Condorat, is by definition incompatible with the Rights of Man and discriminatory.”

To sum up, this obvious injustice of laws reduced women to the condition of slaves that will have to wait centuries to liberate themselves from the atrocities of man-imposed rules. 

Foreign Affairs

English has always been a passion for me, whether it was reading and exploring new words and their meaning or listening to my favorite artists performing their songs in English or laughing at my favorite sitcoms while wondering what on Earth that certain expression may mean.

I started learning English at school, when I was eleven, the old fashion way: reading, translating and then working on some grammar rules. No speaking or listening exercises until I finished high school, so I always felt the need to develop these skills more and I managed to do so while in college. However, only in high school did I realize I would really enjoy studying it further and discovering how multi-faceted it could be.

Now, in the 12th year as an English teacher I am extremely proud I can inspire mu students so much that they make their English a priority in their studies and I am delighted whenever one of them decides to work for a Cambridge examination (and even more delighted when, after months and months of studying hard, they pass it with flying colors.

To sum up, English has turned me into a more creative person, one always eager to explore, discover, apply and then pass it on. 

What is CPS?

 As defined in the PISA 2015 draft, CPS, short for Collaborative Problem Solving, is “a critical and necessary skill across educational settings and in the workforce (…) It is the capacity of an individual to effectively engage in a process whereby two or more agents attempt to solve a problem by sharing the understanding and effort required to come to a solution and pooling their knowledge, skills and efforts to reach that solution”. 

Since “no man is an island” (John Donne), we, as teachers, are bound to know how to tackle such an issue in order to teach it well and emphasize its use when it comes to collaborating to solve a task. Even if great minds can think alike, different minds can bring to the table different talents and ways of seeing the world and creativity should always be an aspect we cherish and assess when solving a task. CPS is more complex than usual group work because it includes a lot of different behaviors and strands, at different levels. 

The social and cognitive skills involved in CPS are quite complex and they demonstrate the vast area of expertise that those who have to finalize a task should possess. On the one hand, certain students can be good at looking for information, while others excel at organizing it and setting the right strategies to reach their solution, not after serious negotiation has taken place. On the other hand, when working together, students inevitably see how things can be done differently and they definitely learn from their peers, even without realizing it. This exchange of certain skills is one of the aspects that are of extreme importance when students are involved in CPS activities because they can all evolve and learn from each other without the stress of being too aware of that process and having to reach a certain level of knowledge.

Teaching Character

With a score of 87 points out of 100, here's to my graduation of a four week course in "teaching character", developed by Relay, a New York school of education with innovative programs designed for effective and successful teachers :)
I decided to take this course out of curiosity and it was quite a surprise to discover new sides of a subject ignored in the Romanian educational system. I learned about the micro-moment triangle involving character behaviour language, constructive responding and a growth mindset; I completed quizzes, gave constructive responses and found out that, at the end of the lesson, besides the knowledge we so eagerly want to transmit, there is always something else to be learned from each of the two sides involved in the teaching - learning process.
And this was not all. There was also a final project that required creating a macro - structure that implicitly (or explicitly) teaches character as well, and literature was once more my "salvation", constructing such a structure with the help of literary characters that also teach students about gratitude and good deeds. I definitely feel I am a better teacher! :)