“The Best Thing Was to Realize that I Am Not a Nobody. I Am Meaningful.” Students’ Perceptions of a Strengths-Based Approach to Guidance

Abstract

This article reports findings from a study among 9th-graders who participated in a strengths-based intervention in two West-Finnish comprehensive schools. The intervention pursued to develop the students’ psychological capital (PsyCap), awareness of their strengths, and experiences of student guidance. The following research question was set for this study: How do students perceive the change in themselves during a strengths-based intervention? This research used the phenomenographic approach. The students were chosen from the original group of students participating in the intervention so that those who showed highest increase in PowerZone during the initial and end measures of the intervention were invited to interviews. Altogether six girls and four boys were interviewed personally. The results showed how strengths boosted students’ optimism evincing changes in perceptions of one’s own strengths; changes in attitudes toward schoolwork; and changes in attitudes toward the future. This research contributed to the discussion a very important viewpoint, namely that of the young people themselves. Their experiences should be at the core and considered carefully when developing new methods and tools for student guidance and counseling.

Keywords

• positive psychology
• human strengths
• strengths-based guidance
• positive psychological capital (PsyCap)
• phenomenographic research