In 2000, Professors Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi formally defined positive psychology as “a science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions.” Although sometimes called the scientific study of happiness, positive psychology is concerned with more than hedonic enjoyment or being continually in a good mood. Rather it is about flourishing and being socially and mentally well. As such it is as much about how we successfully manage life’s challenges as it is about how we embrace positive experience.
In 2005, Dr Trent Barry, a parent, introduced his children’s school to the idea of positive psychology. The school was Geelong Grammar School (GGS) in Victoria, Australia. Following a visit from Martin Seligman in 2006, the GGS staff members decided to pursue the idea of applying the concepts and practice of positive psychology to the school community. In 2008, this idea became a reality and positive education was born.
Today, in 2015, thousands of schools have embraced concepts of positive education in their pursuit to better student wellbeing and engagement in learning. Consequently, myriad wellbeing programs and initiatives have been adopted by schools worldwide in an attempt to foster student wellbeing with a solution-focused and positive approach to mental health. However, despite findings demonstrating the significant impact of many aspects of positive psychology to improve student wellbeing and mental health, several barriers to effective progress are becoming increasingly evident.
First, the lack of consensus about the key elements required to support youth wellbeing have led to a series of school- based wellbeing trends, rather than a unified view of positive education. The self-esteem movement of the 1970s and 1980s gave way to a focus on resiliency, which has now been put aside in favour of mindfulness programmes and initiatives in many schools. These changeable and often heavily resourced programmes have led to some scepticism over the overall effectiveness; and much confusion over the essential ingredients of effective school based practice.
The second major concern is the alarming prevalence of mental health issues in young people. The Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing suggested that 14% of young Australians experience significant mental health problems. In 2014, Professor Patrick McGorry stated: “mental ill health is now the most important health issue facing young people worldwide. It is the leading cause of disability in people aged 10–24 years, contributing 45% of the overall burden of disease in this age group.” Mindframe, the Australian national media initiative, reported that 12% of 13-17 year- old adolescents with mental health problem have thought about suicide, and 4.2% had actually made a suicide attempt. Many young people with mental health problems also reported engaging in substance use, with 23.1% reported smoking, 36.7% reported drinking, and 18% reported marijuana use.
Both researchers and clinicians have suggested that this high prevalence of mental disorder is not only alarming, it is increasing. These figures both challenge the impact of current in-school approaches to wellbeing and argue for a greater provision of services. No doubt schools are in a prime position to nurture positive mental health in young people, however how they can effectively do this remains a contentious issue.
In recent years educational research has turned its attentions to the student voice in an attempt to better understand the factors that impact the students’ experience of school life and a positive school environment. As suggested by Dr Julia Flutter from The University of Cambridge, students’ perception of the environment may be more influential than factors identified through more objective means.
Here in Australia, several schools pioneering whole-school positive education programs, such as Geelong Grammar School, St Peters College in South Australia and Knox Grammar School in Sydney, have all spent considerable time gathering student views and perceptions of the specific positive education programmes within their individual schools. Although these schools are still in the early stages of examining their data, the results are promising with a sense that overall, students value positive education as a whole-school approach to learning.
None-the-less, there appears to be a lack of studies or initiatives that have asked students from a wide range of Australian schools to define positive education in succinct terms. It also remains unclear whether students and teachers have similar ideas about positive education and how best to pursue a cohesive classroom. The Voices for Living project provided an opportunity to explore these gaps in knowledge and understanding. In particular, the project aimed to gather succinct students’ and teachers’ perceptions about factors that make education positive and classroom enjoyable, in addition to providing an opportunity to showcase student and teacher voices at the 2015 Positive Schools Australia conference series.
The Voices for Living project was introduced to schools and communities across Australia in early 2015. Students and teachers from schools across Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, as well as members of the community, who were interested in the project, were invited to present a combination of image and video answers to a series of pre-set questions about their thoughts on positive education and their school experience. Image responses consisted of photos of participants holding their brief (one to three word) answers on A4+ pieces of paper. Video responses consisted of 10-20 second videos of participants presenting a response verbally and/or visually. All responses were captured using smart phones or iPad.
We received over 1000 responses, with a large majority (92%) of responses coming from students and teachers. The enthusiasm shown by the students and teachers in participating in the project further affirmed the need for the school community to be involved in assessing and shaping school- based wellbeing and education delivery.
Following presentation of the responses at the conferences, we decided to further explore student and teacher responses to three key questions set out in the project. A total of 458 responses to our selected three questions were received from 21 schools across Australia. The majority of these responses were from students (80%). Primary school students (age between 5- to 12-year) made up 57% of all the students’ responses, secondary school students (age between 13- to 17- year) 33%, and the remaining 16% preferred to stay anonymous.
The first question we explored was: ‘What is the most important thing you learn(t) at school?‘ Responses indicated that the majority (54%) of students believe that basic literacy skills are the most important thing they learn at school. In contrast, the majority (56%) of teachers reported higher level needs such as resilience as their most preferred answer. Love/belonging needs and safety needs were reported as the third and fourth most important categories for this question by both the teachers and students.
Secondly, we chose to look at the question: ‘What makes a class fun to be in?’ The responses demonstrated that the majority (more than 50%) of both students and teachers believe it is the people who make a class fun to be in. While students indicated the activities they engaged in as the second most reported factor in making a class fun followed by their emotional engagement, teachers reported vice versa. The physical environment was reported as the least important factor in making a class fun to be in by both the teachers and students.
Finally we explored answers to the question: ‘What makes education positive education?’ The responses showed that once again, the majority of students and teachers reported that a combination of the people and higher level need or emotion engagement make education positive education. 42% of students and 53% of teachers indicated relationships as the most important ingredient a positive educational experience. In contrast, the physical environment and the content or subject topic were rarely reported as factors contributing to positive education.
Overall, we found that the teachers and students participating in the project believe that positive school-based relationships (be they between students, teachers, principals or other school staff members) are imperative in making a class fun to be in. Moreover positive relationships are believed to be fundamental for defining education in positive terms. This suggests that, although students associate schools with academic achievements, their relationships with their friends, teachers and other school staff members play the most important role in determining the emotional quality of their schooling experience. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of school social networks in nurturing positive education and students’ wellbeing.
It is undoubtedly naïve to expect any one facet of social and emotional functioning to hold the answer to the issues Australia faces with poor youth mental health. However, the findings from this project highlight the vital role that school based social cohesion and classroom relationships play in promoting wellbeing and a love of learning in young people.
Taking the time to build a cohesive classroom with positive relationships may well be the most important factor in building a sustainable and effective education program, and in nurturing mental health effectively in all Australian schools.
Further information on references can be requested from Fenny Muliadi at fenny@positiveschools.com.au
Voices for Living project responses can be viewed at The Positive Times blog www. positivetimes.com.au. Voices for Living is supported by members of the National Australian Positive Schools Initiative, in cluding Positive Schools partners Geelong Grammar School Institute of Positive Education. Dr Helen Street and Neil Porter are co-founders and convenors of Positive Schools. Fenny Muliadi is a provisional psychologist, Doctor of Clinical Neuropsychology candidate and Positive Schools administrator. www.positiveschools.com.au