Positive education interventions are very slowly making their way into some mainstream schools and colleges. However, there are very few that offer a whole-school approach. Notable ones are Wellington College, an independent school in England and Geelong Grammar in...
My whole life long, I’ve been a misfit. In school, I was the nerdy kid with glasses who was always studying. At university, I went out only 2 times in my first year, only to overcompensate and subsequently turn into a party animal. And after graduating, when my peers...
What am I good for? I recently attended the International Meaning Conference (IMeC) in London (July 2019), which held many inspiring talks by inspiring people. It led me to reflect on the journey of positive psychology and how it has come a long way from being all...
There is no denying that family life can be demanding, juggling parenting with working and running a home. Children need interaction in some form or other and often there isn’t the time or opportunity to give them the attention that they need. Parents look to their...
As I set out to write this piece, I thought of who my audience might be. Should I write for elementary age learning, adult learning, in the classroom, or online? After a few seconds of thought, I determined that there are benefits across the board. Learning and...
The science of Positive Education What is positive education? Well it is perceived in Positive Psychology as positive emotions and attitudes derived from subjective wellbeing student’s experiences within their schooling environment. So how would we create a school...
In the early days of positive psychology, there was a ‘neck up’ approach; how to be happy, how to live well, how to be ‘positive’. One of the ground-breaking pioneers in promoting a more holistic approach was Kate Heffron (Heffron, 2013) who started to consider the...
Children are amazing because they are mindful. When a child is shy they may express their feelings of shyness without fear, they are just ‘being’. They may be open to and aware of what they are experiencing in that moment without repression. Children start life...
At the start of the year I can look back over the first term of teaching in the academic year, and this year I am very appreciative of an unexpected experience I had. In the autumn term I write references for my students who are applying to university. This is a time...
Ancient wisdom has suggested that books can be therapeutic from Plato’s time through the enlightenment to modern day Bibliotherapy courses. Literary fiction has been a source of fascination for me since the eighties when my teacher announced that the study of...