Why won’t it Stick? Positive Psychology and Positive Education

Abstract

Following the launch of the positive psychology movement teachers and educators emerged as early adopters of this fledgling science. This approach was called positive education. It describes scientifically validated programs from positive psychology, taught in schools, that have an impact on student well-being. The growing body of evidence about the reach of positive psychology has formed a convincing case to consider well-being an operational goal for educational systems. It is argued that this goal is pivotal and should be pursued in the same way in which we develop strategies to harness academic growth, school retention rates, and student engagement. National education policies can have widespread influence at the grassroots level on school improvement, good quality of classroom teaching and learning, student performance, creating confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens, but not necessarily on the preventative skills for lifelong well-being. In this article I take stock on the positive education movement. Three approaches to positive education are identified and eight hurdles to the field are noted as reasons why positive education won’t stick in policy. Then, I reflect on two case studies: a Well-being Summit and Round Table held at Wellington College and No. 10 Downing Street and Dr. Martin Seligman’s role as Adelaide’s Thinker in Residence as examples of grass-roots initiatives in well-being. Finally, six strategies are suggested for researchers and practitioners to grow the field. Last, I argued that until research centers focus on the development of common definitions of the key terms underpinning positive psychology, positive education and well-being the impact of the movement will be limited to a handful of institutions as models of best practice.

The Contribution of Food Consumption to Well-Being

“…Two prominent meta-analyses concluded that positive psychology interventions can have a modest impact on increasing well-being and decreasing ill-being [45, 46]. However, when the methodological shortcomings of these analyses are addressed (e.g., small sample size bias), positive psychology interventions seem to have no effect or at most a small impact on ill-being and well-being [47]. In particular, the effect sizes approach zero when small sample size bias is accounted for.…”

Program Logic Modelling and Complex Positive Psychology Intervention Design and Implementation: The ‘Resilient Futures’ Case Example

“…In short, while there is emerging evidence regarding the efficacy of PPI's in improving wellbeing and reducing depressive symptoms, greater attention needs to be paid to their design and implementation in real world and complex settings (e.g., White 2016). We now demonstrate that the program development and implementation science literature offers significant utility in this regard.…”

Editorial: Positive Education: Theory, Practice, and Evidence

“…This introductory article aims to highlight the studies in this special issue and motivate readers to appreciate and build on these contributions. White (2016) suggested that we must provide scientific evidence, organizational benefits, and philosophical arguments to support the integration of wellbeing in education. Therefore, we intend to provide suggestions following White's opinion.…”