The 3 P’s: a quick exercise for teachers and education staff

About this resource

This short reflective exercise introduces the ‘3 P’s’ – a simple approach to help education staff notice and reframe unhelpful thinking patterns.

Based on the idea of learned optimism, it supports staff to pause and reflect on how they interpret everyday challenges at work. By shifting perspective, staff can begin to respond to setbacks in a more balanced and hopeful way, which can strengthen resilience over time.

The exercise can be used for individual reflection or shared within staff meetings to support discussion about resilience and self-care.

Using this resource

This resource is designed for: 

• education staff across all settings
• senior leaders and mental health leads.

Learning outcomes

This resource addresses the following learning outcomes:

• Access and utilise tools, strategies and resources to support their own mental health so that they can look after themselves.
• Share simple evidence-based strategies and exercises with staff and pupils/students to help them manage their mental health and develop their own coping strategies.