“Bring your smile to school each day”

This caption appeared on a poster displayed in a school we visited during our study tour to Pennsylvania. It would be nice to think that children in the US do smile everyday, both in and outside of school, but unfortunately this isn’t always the case. Children in Penn State seem lucky though; school provides a safe environment where they can smile and be nurtured especially in those where the PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) program is being implemented.

Although our visit was at times disrupted by snow, we had several opportunities to observe classroom lessons as well as presentations from Mark Greenberg, and his colleagues at Penn State University, on the logic underpinning the PATHS program, fidelity and implementation issues and other proven Blueprint models.

PATHS was described to us whilst we observed lessons and we listened with enthusiasm to advice about the importance of maintaining fidelity through ongoing coaching and mentoring support. Without these things, the program would drift and quality would be compromised. Questions and concerns arose - how could we adapt to suit our local conditions in N. Ireland and at the same time maintain high fidelity? The answer from the Prevention Research Center (at Penn State University) was that as long as we remained faithful to the underlying logic and undertook a thoughtful adaptation process; programme units could be adapted to suit local conditions.

Six Principals from Northern Ireland participated in the study tour and the learning we gained gave us confidence that we could implement PATHS within our schools if supported to do so. The message was clear. Although there were issues of concern with regard to parental engagement and the readiness of the schools; with specialist support and technical assistance from the outset we could achieve and implement a high fidelity progra