An applied framework for Positive Education

The increasing momentum of the Positive Psychology movement has seen burgeoning research in positive mental health and adaptive functioning; a critical question is how this knowledge can now be applied in real-world settings. Positive Education seeks to combine principles of Positive Psychology with best-practice teaching and with educational paradigms to promote optimal development and flourishing in the school setting. Interest in Positive Education continues to grow in line with increasing recognition of the important role played by schools in fostering wellbeing, and the link between wellbeing and academic success. To date, however, a framework to guide the implementation of Positive Education in schools has been lacking. This paper provides an overview of the Geelong Grammar School (GGS) Model for Positive Education, an applied framework developed over five years of implementing Positive Education as a whole-school approach in one Australian school. Explicit and implicit teaching in combination with school-wide practices target six wellbeing domains, including positive emotions, positive engagement, positive accomplishment, positive purpose, positive relationships, and positive health, underpinned by a focus on character strengths. The Model provides a structured pathway for implementing Positive Education in schools, a framework to guide evaluation and research, and a foundation for further theoretical discussion and development

Flourishing and Positive Education

The Model of Positive Education is a flexible, science-informed framework for supporting the flourishing of students, staff, and school communities. This chapter explores the primary objective of Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School, namely learning to flourish. It is introduced by Professor Felicia Huppert, who explains how mental health and wellbeing exist on a spectrum from languishing to flourishing, and then discusses the empirical basis of flourishing and the understanding of optimal wellbeing as both feeling good and functioning well. The school’s definition of flourishing as “feeling good and doing good” is proposed, and it is emphasized that Positive Education encourages students and staff to think of how their actions can have positive consequences for others and the community. The chapter also discusses the vital role that building awareness around mental illness, and supporting students and staff who are struggling, plays in creating a nurturing and caring school community

The subjective wellbeing of \u27at-risk\u27 indigenous and non-indigenous Australian adolescents

Quantitative comparisons of subjective wellbeing (SWB) between samples of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adolescents are scarce. This paper contributes to this literature by studying adolescents \u27at-risk\u27 of disengaging, or who have already disengaged, from school, their families or society. A three-group cross-sectional comparative design was employed, comparing Indigenous (N = 3,187) and non-Indigenous (N = 14,522) \u27at-risk\u27 adolescents with a mainstream sample of Victorian high-school students (N = 1,105). Age and gender differences in SWB within the three groups were also explored. All participants completed the Personal Wellbeing Index-School Children (PWI-SC), which measures SWB. Mean SWB was significantly higher in the mainstream sample than in both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous \u27at-risk\u27 groups. However, within the at-risk adolescents, the Indigenous sample scored higher than the non-Indigenous. In the mainstream sample, male and female SWB did not significantly differ, whereas males scored higher than females in both at-risk groups-with males scoring higher on all seven PWI-SC domains. Finally, in all three samples, a decline in SWB from early to mid-adolescence was observed. This suggests that mid-adolescence is a challenging time for all young people as they approach adulthood. The implications of this research for educational and government policy concerning youths in Australia is discussed. For example, the importance of obtaining normative data that will assist in the identification of young people who are most at-risk for experiencing low personal wellbeing and who are in the greatest need of support. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Is the Study of Happiness a Worthy Scientific Pursuit?

Positive psychology, Happiness, Set point theory, Well-being, Hedonic and eudaimonic happiness, Strengths,