Positive Psychology and Positive Education: The Solution we Have Been Waiting For, or Just Another Fad?
Several years ago, I noted a shift in my experience of the Australian education system. Whether it was students, parents, teachers or leaders, I repeatedly witnessed an emerging trend; increased anxiety, pressure, overwhelm and burnout were changing the nature of our schools. Love of learning and passion for teaching felt like a rare luxury amid saturated curriculum, rigid system expectations and immense pressure to perform. Furthermore, an environment of competition through comparison began to operate as a vacuum for innovation, creativity, problem-solving and connection. When exploring insights from leaders in the field, many of these concerns were echoed – the role of the teacher was becoming increasingly complex and demanding and levels of student anxiety were “skyrocketing”.
The science of Positive Psychology empowered me with a revived sense of hope. The field not only offered an avenue to support our education system but restore and revitalise it. However, was this just another enticing trend promising in theory what it could not translate into practice? Let’s explore…
What is Positive Psychology?
The field of Positive Psychology utilises the scientific method to measure, understand and build qualities that enable individuals, institutions and communities to thrive. Through exploring what is and what could be, it endeavours to improve quality of life, prevent pathologies and establish pathways to move individuals towards their full potential. Grounded in theory and backed by evidence, Positive Psychology explores the mechanisms that foster excellence, build happiness and lead to wellbeing. According to Positive Psychology researcher Dr. Paul Wong, The good life is grounded in four foundational pillars: meaning, virtue, wellbeing and resilience. Each of these pillars, influenced by culture, are the major components of Positive Psychology. This science seeks to increase wellbeing and decrease mental illnesses through building the human resources that enable people to transform negatives and work at their best regardless of external challenges and individual limitations.
The exploration and study of what constitutes the good life dates to ancient Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Whist some sub domains of the field, such as resilience, had already started to collect strong research attention, the field was yet to produce a cumulative and rigorous body of evidence. A trend was appearing in psychological research – a treatment paradigm, with almost exclusive attention on negative aspects of health. Therefore, Dr. Martin Seligman (now considered the father of modern Positive Pscyhology) used his 1998 American Psychological Association presidential speech to elicit a call for a reorientation of psychological science towards a “positive psychology”. He emphasised the need to not only study and heal what is damaged, but to build what is best, taking the study of mental health north of neutral – into the “positive”.
An evolutionary perspective is consistently supported by theorists in the field. The rapid advancement of the modern world has led to social and environmental conditions that bear little resemblance to the ancestral environment in which our bodies and minds adapted to thrive in. According to evolutionary theorists, many of the distressing or ‘negative’ aspects of the human condition were born as adaptive mechanisms promoting survival. Understanding the function of experiences can help individuals navigate challenging emotions and harness the positive experiences which serve the human condition. Furthermore, it is well supported that humans have an innate “negativity bias” whereby negative experiences and emotions elicit stronger psychological and physiological responses than positive ones. This serves the function of eliciting approach and avoidance motives - behaviours which avoid the bad and seek out the good, enabling survival and ongoing evolution. According to many researchers in the field, these adaptations can have detrimental effects in modern environments due to the power of negative stimuli and our constant and pervasive pursuit of “better”.
The objective of the field of Positive Psychology is to understand the mechanisms involved in flourishing. According to researcher Corey Keyes, a state of flourishing includes both feeling good and functioning well. Research into human flourishing operates at three levels - subjective experiences, positive individual traits and group development. Meaningful living is operationalised through the avenues of self-acceptance and self-reflection, by navigating the social and cultural world in which we exist. It supports individuals to develop their own wisdom to identify opportunities to leverage the change they can control and to let go of what they cannot.
Since its inception, the field of Positive Psychology has evolved. Dr. Paul Wong highlights that a second wave or PP 2.0 has emerged. This evolution came out of several criticisms surrounding what is regarded as “positive” and “negative”. For example, under different conditions, a positive emotion such as love can be destructive, whereas shame or anger can serve as powerful motivators towards positive action, and in turn flourishing. More importantly, however, is the foundational acknowledgement of the complexity and value of the full spectrum of human experience and emotions. The second wave appreciates the complex, uncertain nature of life, acknowledging that optimal functioning and flourishing includes healing, building what is best in life and transforming negativity and adversity. This evolution highlights significant improvement to the credibility, relevance and transferability of Positive Psychology in an increasingly complex world.
What Does it Mean for Education?
Quite simply, a science dedicated to building wellbeing is exactly what the education sector needs. Not only because it has gone through unprecedented upheaval throughout the COVID pandemic, childhood anxiety and depression are rife and teachers and principals are expressing concern of burnout and overwhelm, but also because higher wellbeing is synergistic with increased learning outcomes.
Through multiple lenses, the science of Positive Psychology offers a tangible framework to support our schools in their most fundamental and valued ways. When asked, school leaders consistently display sophisticated understandings of wellbeing and the importance of it, yet this is often followed with remarks of concern. The term wellbeing is becoming a “dirty word” used to “tick boxes” with the delivery of “band-aid strategies” and “surface-level programs” doing little to address the legitimate needs within the space.
So, What is Positive Education?
Positive education is the intersection where best practise teaching meets Positive Psychology. There is now a substantial body of evidence that supports the notion that building resilience, engagement, meaning, strengths, emotional management, attention, relationships, coping and goals can be facilitated at every level of an education system and within the confines of traditional curriculum. More importantly, integrating the science of wellbeing on a large scale is feasible, cost effective and highly advantageous.
So, what does the research say? First, let’s give positive emotion the scientific credit it deserves. Not only does it serve as a buffer from high stress, but Dr. Barbara Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build Theory of Positive Emotions demonstrates that positive emotions broaden our attention, enhance cognition and promote action - all avenues with major implications for academic success.
Secondly, several studies have been conducted where students, regardless of their academic capabilities, were randomly assigned to varying “ability groups” or identified as “bloomers”. Results indicated that those students ‘labelled’ as the brightest achieved higher academic gains than those assigned to other groups – a subconscious operation that teachers were unaware of. This confirms the notion that the way we perceive the potential in our students directly influences their achievement.
Finally, as a part of his doctoral thesis, Alejandro Adler conducted a mass scale experiment exploring the questions, “can wellbeing be taught in schools on a large scale?” And “does teaching wellbeing improve academic performance?”. The study was replicated three times across varying cultural, social and economic contexts with each replication building in scale and scope. Study Three consisted of 694 secondary schools with a participant number of 694 153 students. At the end of the 15-month intervention period, across all three studies, students in the intervention schools performed significantly better on in their standardised national exams and reported significantly higher levels of wellbeing. When exploring the mechanisms of how wellbeing improved academic performance, Adler identified quality of relationships, engagement and perseverance as the strongest mediators.
Positive Psychology does not offer a quick fix, one-size-fits-all map towards wellbeing. It is neither a “happiology” nor supportive of toxic positivity. The complexity of the individuals, environments and contexts that impact a situation cannot be minimised. Whilst Positive Psychology interventions and programs provide strong foundational avenues for increasing wellbeing, what works for one individual in one context may not be replicable for others. Therefore, the development of a broad and adaptable toolkit of knowledge, interventions and practices is essential to equip individuals to navigate life effectively. Furthermore, building wellbeing is an active practice. As individuals connect deeply with the theory of the field and with ‘self’, they will be able to leverage the ways they think, feel and act moving them towards higher functioning. It is critical to underscore that to achieve this level of self-regulation and success within organisations (whether they are schools or other workplaces), the practice must be embedded into all facets of the organisations’ culture and practices. Without sustained practice, benefits will be limited.
So, when answering the primary question, does Positive Psychology offer a legitimate avenue for change or boil down to just another fad? The answer is – it’s up to you. Will you embrace the knowledge of the field and do the necessary work to embed it into the culture of your school and workplace? Or will you let this opportunity pass you by..?
