This chapter introduces positive education as an innovative educational paradigm targeting students' traditional learning skills and well-being. By fostering crucial components of well-being, like the PERMA well-being model, positive education employs effective positive activities and practical exercises to directly promote student flourishing. Supported by strong empirical evidence, the effectiveness of positive education is underscored. The chapter also discusses the development of a unique positive education model, “6+2,” specifically tailored for China, which incorporates the positive-self module, the physical and mental health regulation system, and the character strength and virtue cultivation system into the PERMA framework. Furthermore, the chapter reviews existing literature on positive education and positive psychological interventions implemented within school contexts. This comprehensive examination contributes to the growing body of knowledge on the implementation and impact of positive education in educational settings.
TopIntroduction
A new educational paradigm known as “positive education” seeks to enhance students' traditional learning abilities and general well-being by nurturing crucial well-being factors like the PERMA model through the use of successful positive activities and useful exercises. These activities and exercises directly contribute to students’ flourishing (Green et al., 2011; Norrish et al., 2013). The whole class benefits from this holistic approach, which also helps dispel the stigma attached to using conventional mental health treatments (Cage et al., 2019). Additionally, learners are more likely and inspired to engage, resulting in a learning environment that supports autonomy, is linked, and fosters competence and encourages intrinsic drive. Right now, positive education is generally embraced in a variety of cultures and nations (Seligman & Adler, 2018). Strong empirical evidence supports the effectiveness of positive education in improving students’ academic performance and well-being (Carr et al., 2020).
Positive education can promote both well-being and academic achievement because well-being acts as a protective factor that leads to more positive emotions and greater performance. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions (BBT) proposed by Fredrickson (1998) states that good emotions increase intrinsic motivation, expand pupils' thinking and action repertoires, modify cognitive processing style, and create persistent personal resources like social support and resilience. These personal resources assist students in effectively dealing with future adversities and conflicts and contribute to upward spirals of mental well-being, resulting in more positive emotions and better performance. Additionally, Ryan et al. (2002) claim that when individuals' core psychological desires for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are met in the learning environment, they demonstrate higher levels of intrinsic motivation and well-being.
Therefore, in this chapter, we will review the literature on positive education and positive psychological interventions implemented within the school context. Put simply, we will present a conceptual framework for positive education and provide examples of valid positive psychological interventions and their implementation.