Positive Psychology in Education: Your Ultimate Guide

School is the training ground that helps shape individuals into the people they will become.

The experiences that our children and youth have in school dictate the pathway they take to facilitate future growth.

Positive school experiences have been connected to positive long-term outcomes, such as being less likely to engage in risk-taking behaviors (e.g., alcohol and drugs) and a strong sense of preparedness for their personal aspirations (Furlong, Gilman, & Huebner, 2014).

Positive psychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on the development of individual strengths instead of weaknesses. Instead of placing a focus on the components of mental illness, positive psychology focuses on how the positive events in a person’s life form their identity (Peterson, 2008).

This is further translated into positive education, where the focus is on providing a school environment that encompasses everyone’s strengths and positive qualities.

Our guide will give you an understanding of positive education and the theoretical concepts that make up this movement, as well as resources to help you create a more positive environment for education.

Whether you are an educator or a parent looking to integrate positive psychology into your children’s upbringing, this guide is a great place to further develop your understanding of positive education.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free. These science-based exercises explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology, including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients or students.

Positive Psychology in Education: An Overview

In positive education, the aim is to develop scientifically validated positive psychology programs in school settings that promote student and staff wellbeing.

Ensuring the wellbeing of students is a top priority in positive education, as wellbeing is believed to be pivotal in improving academic outcomes, school retention, and student engagement (Furlong et al., 2014).

Positive education interventions aim to facilitate skills that help students achieve a high level of life satisfaction and overall wellbeing, centering on character development and proactive programs to boost mental health (White, 2016).

This focus revolves around subjective wellbeing, which is the scientific term that researchers use to measure how well an individual perceives their life to be going. Mainly done through self-report scales, subjective wellbeing is measured as an individual’s general level of satisfaction about different aspects of their life (Diener, 2021).

Increases in student wellbeing have been shown to increase the quality and quantity of student learning, as a more positive mood boosts attention and motivation in students (Seligman, 2011).

Since school is one of the primary places where children and youth engage in identity and social development, it is the ideal setting to promote positive psychology interventions that increase student wellbeing.

Positive education and Seligman’s PERMA model

Positive psychology is largely centered around individuals continuously seeking what makes them happy, regardless of their age, orientation, or life status. Seligman’s (2011) PERMA model provides insight into the factors that form the foundation for a successful life and gives an individual further insight into their personal strengths.

According to Seligman (2011), it is the combination of positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment (PERMA) that forms the foundation for individuals to live their most fulfilling life.

Since PERMA is strongly rooted in promoting happiness, each of the five tenets represents a core element of happiness and wellbeing (Seligman, 2011):

• Positive emotion
  Involves not only feeling good but also an acknowledgement that the past may not have been ideal, promoting a positive outlook surrounding future prospects.
• Engagement
  A passion or activity that an individual can become engaged or absorbed in that gives them personal fulfillment.
• Relationships
  Intimate connections with other people (e.g., family, friends) who provide the individual with emotional support.
• Meaning
  An individual’s reason for continuing to persevere, often related to their work, passions, or personal connections, despite battling hardships.
• Accomplishments
  The ability to achieve a goal and take pride in what they have done.

Applying this model in school settings has become popular because of its focus on promoting the development of positive self-concept and increased wellbeing among students and staff.

One example of the PERMA model being applied in an educational setting is in Hong Kong, where a positive education model has been used in senior and primary schools (Kwok, 2021).

The program is guided by a six-level implementation process and strengths-based approach, where students are encouraged to examine and develop their character strengths.

The implementation process is broken down as follows (Kwok, 2021):

1. Learn it
   Refers to learning opportunities that are provided to the school community (e.g., teachers, parents, students) to understand the science of wellbeing.
2. Live it
   Emphasizes the importance of participants enacting evidence-based wellness practices in school.
3. Reflect it
   Providing everyone with opportunities to reflect on their experiences.
4. Conceptualize it
   The ability to have a deeper understanding of the concepts and principles of positive education.
5. Apply it
   Designing and conducting positive education programs in schools.
6. Embed it
   Advocates building school-wide policies and a positive culture within the school community.

The implementation process acts as a guideline for future positive psychology interventions at the school level. Since putting this process in place, there has been an increase in the wellbeing and decrease in the mental health problems of students (Kwok, 2021).

In Great Britain, the PERMA model has been applied alongside a wellness program to help post-secondary students. The program consisted of eight online sessions with a counselor. Each of the sessions focused on increasing students’ understanding of wellness through coaching and providing general interventions and tactics to increase wellbeing (Morgan & Simmons, 2021).

Having the PERMA model as an online intervention makes it more accessible, especially to students afraid of being judged.

Having the online module allows individuals to be more anonymous when seeking help, which could motivate those who are more hesitant to seek out interventions.

3 Proven Benefits According to Research

Positive psychology has several benefits that have been highly documented in research.

The major benefits are centered around providing individuals with the skills to maintain long-term happiness, which are concurrent with a decrease in mental health difficulties and increased wellbeing and life satisfaction (Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005; Shoshani & Steinmetz, 2014; Pavot & Diener, 2008).

A decrease in depression and anxiety-related symptoms

To help facilitate happiness and wellbeing, Seligman et al. (2005) came up with several techniques to aid the integration of positive psychology. Although the research was initially done with adults, these techniques can be applied in classroom settings to help integrate positive psychology into students’ daily lives.

The first activity involved having individuals list three good things that happened during the day. They were then asked to provide an explanation detailing these events and give reasons why they were so beneficial.

The second activity surrounded using signature strengths differently. Each participant was given an online inventory of character strengths and then asked to identify their top five character strengths.

After identifying their strengths, participants received individualized feedback and were asked to strategize workable ways to use these strengths in daily life. These strategies were found to decrease depression and anxiety-related symptoms among participants (Seligman et al., 2005).

Increased wellbeing

General increases in wellbeing are not only synonymous with a decrease in depression and anxiety, but have also been found to be related to the implementation of positive psychology.

An individual who has a high level of wellbeing is more likely to experience positive emotions more frequently (Shoshani & Steinmetz, 2014).

Positive psychology emphasizes a focus on individual happiness. It also changes the general perspective surrounding mental health and wellbeing, as an individual’s mental health is not just assessed based on whether or not they have a mental health diagnosis.

Personal recovery is centered on moving toward better mental health. Individuals in personal recovery are working away from floundering and toward flourishing by developing valued societal roles (Slade, 2010).

Positive psychology encourages individuals to work toward a flourishing mentality, whether or not they have diagnosed mental health issues. At the subjective level, positive psychology focuses on wellbeing to contribute to happiness in the present and an attitude of hopefulness and optimism about future experiences.

Greater life satisfaction

Positive psychology practices promote the development of positive attitudes (specifically happiness), and individuals who embody positivity may be more likely to have higher levels of life satisfaction.

Life satisfaction is an assessment of an individual’s general sense of satisfaction with their life. It can be broken up into different domains, such as our job, personal relationships, and housing satisfaction.

Generally, domain satisfaction and overall life satisfaction are significantly correlated (Pavot & Diener, 2008).

Positive psychology aims to make individuals more focused on positivity and happiness. Further, positive psychology practices aim to improve overall life and domain satisfaction by targeting individuals’ thoughts, actions, and behaviors to make individuals more productive, happier, and fulfilled in every domain of their life.

How to Apply Positive Psychology in Schools

The rapid growth of the positive psychology movement has resulted in the application of this model for students of all ages.

Central to integrating positive psychology in learning contexts is facilitating hope. Correlational findings indicate that a child’s higher hopeful thinking is positively associated with perceived competence and self-worth (Marques, Gallagher, & Lopez, 2017). Hope is integrated throughout positive psychology practices that emphasize setting and achieving goals.

Hope can be one of the most easily integrated concepts in schools, as it is centered around goal setting. Students who have low levels of hope experience higher levels of anxiety, especially in assessment situations, whereas students with higher levels of hope have greater reported scholastic and social competence (Marques et al., 2017).

Applying positive psychology in school settings involves helping students set, prioritize, and place clear markers on what they want to achieve. Once students achieve the goals they have set, they may feel more accomplished and experience positive emotions, such as satisfaction.

The expression of positive emotions allows for them to be more focused on what will help them be happier in their educational and everyday lives, which is the foundation of positive psychology.

Positive Education Practices: Strengths, Resilience, & More

Specific practices in positive education are focused on interventions that increase an individual’s ability to recognize their strengths and flourish, despite difficult experiences.

Strengths-based interventions are commonly used when introducing students to positive education.

The Values-in-Action classification provides individuals with 24 strengths and six universal virtues (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). When using strengths-based interventions, participants are advised to select between three and four signature character strengths that characterize them best.

After selecting their signature strengths, individuals are encouraged to use their character strengths in new ways. The How to Use Your Signature Strengths worksheet will give individuals ideas for how to further develop their signature strengths and use them in an impactful manner.

Despite our best efforts, we often face events that challenge our strengths and falter our positive outlook. In positive psychology, resilience means using your strengths to cope and flourish, despite challenging experiences (Diener, 2021).

When dealing with adversity, there are specific mindsets surrounding resilience:

1. Permanence
   The idea that this difficult time will never end.
2. Pervasiveness
   That the difficult time will affect all areas of our life.
3. Personalization
   That the event has affected us the most out of everyone.

Teaching resilience is an important part of positive education, as resilient students bounce back from difficult situations and approach new experiences with confidence.

Resilience also allows students to adjust to different situations with ease and overcome difficulties they might encounter in school settings.

Applying the Growth Mindset in Education

Having an open mindset and being prepared to learn and grow are key in education. If a student goes into an educational environment with an attitude that they can improve their abilities through hard work and practice, then they may be more open to new experiences and less afraid of failure.

Dweck (2007) explores the impact of our beliefs on our mindset, stating that individuals can adopt a growth or fixed mindset. These mindsets are largely based on our experiences from an early age, as responses and opportunities we have for learning can impact how we approach new skills throughout our entire lives.

While individuals with a fixed mindset believe that their intellectual and personal abilities are set, a growth mindset is based on the belief that you can cultivate your intellectual ability through perseverance (Dweck, 2007).

Encouraging a growth mindset means nurturing an individual’s ability to grow and helping them realize they can continue to achieve beyond their initial potential through hard work and perseverance.

Before schools begin developing students’ strengths, they may nurture a growth mindset in students to ensure that students have a healthy attitude toward learning. Growth is nurtured through recognizing that learning is an opportunity, not a required process that students need to experience.

In education, a teacher’s approach to praising students plays a substantial role in developing students’ mindsets. Consider how a teacher approaches students when praising the completion of a task. When teachers focused their praise on a student’s intelligence (e.g., “You’re so smart”), students were more drawn to simpler tasks (Dweck, 2007).

However, when teachers praised students for the effort they put into the task (e.g., “You worked so hard”), it motivated students to move onto more arduous tasks (Dweck, 2007).

Therefore, it is important for educators to focus on praising students for the effort they put into tasks, rather than implying that intelligence is a fixed quality. This approach will allow students to believe that they can consistently improve with effort and be more inclined to engage in challenge-seeking behavior.

4 Positive Teaching Strategies for a Happy Classroom

A common mantra among educators is that in teaching others, we teach ourselves.

If we apply this mantra to positive teaching strategies, it highlights that teachers are often learning how to incorporate positive psychology alongside their students.

It is important that teachers have specific strategies that are centered around positive psychology principles. Having a strategy to integrate positive psychology in your classroom is imperative in facilitating this mindset in your students and ensuring that it reflects across all of your daily activities.

A few teaching strategies to help build a classroom rooted in positive psychology practices are included below (Gilpin, 2008).

Planning lessons around student strengths

Some children may be more motivated and interested when a concept appeals to something they are comfortable with or involves an activity where they are confident in their abilities through previous experience.

One of the most important activities a teacher can engage in is to get to know their students’ strengths and incorporate them into their daily lesson planning. Getting students more comfortable and confident with their abilities can help increase their motivation to learn (Gilpin, 2008).

One theory that has been proposed is to combine Gardner’s (1993) multiple intelligences approach with Seligman’s (2011) strengths approach. Teachers can use a Strengths and Intelligences Observational Chart to observe students and note areas where they display a particular strength or an affinity for a virtue or character strength.

By engaging in this observation, teachers can document where they see their students’ strengths and intelligences in daily activities and plan activities that will engage and excite each individual student.

Practicing gratitude

Gratitude can help improve an individual’s overall wellbeing (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). A central component of practicing positive psychology is reframing difficult experiences from your past and making them a workable or teachable moment that makes the present situation more positive and carries over to your future.

Teachers can encourage students to do this by having a daily gratitude practice in their classroom. At the end of each school day, teachers can have their students list three things they were grateful for that day and state three things they can improve upon.

For younger students, this can be simplified by having a gratitude circle, where each student shares the best part of their day and the most challenging part of their day. This allows students to incorporate gratitude automatically as a part of their mindset, increasing the likelihood that they will continue this practice into adulthood.

Teaching forgiveness

Engaging in meaningful forgiveness is linked to higher wellbeing, as individuals are less inclined to hold on to negative emotions, such as resentment or anger (Snyder & Lopez, 2005).

Teaching forgiveness may be easy to overlook in education. Forgiveness is not reconciliation or forgetting the challenging event. In positive psychology, forgiveness is viewed as an opportunity to release negative emotions surrounding the event and the person who caused it.

There are several steps involved in teaching students to forgive, including:

• Objectively identifying and recalling what happened
• Empathizing with the person who caused it
• Reflecting on a time when they were forgiven and embracing that feeling
• Making a commitment to forgiveness by writing it down or saying it out loud
• Holding on to that commitment by reminding themselves they have already forgiven when memories of the event resurface (Gilpin, 2008)

Teachers can use each of these steps as a teachable moment, guiding students through the steps when forgiving another person and identifying moments where students might need to practice it in their daily lives.

Leading by example

In positive education, teachers need to lead by example. If teachers consistently model a positive psychology mindset and take care of their wellbeing, then students may be more likely to engage in these practices as well (Gilpin, 2008).

In addition, school leaders should consider the importance of instituting programs to enhance the wellbeing of their educators.

4 Best Classroom Activities, Interventions, and Ideas

The best activities to help engage your students in positive education are simple, consistent, and fun.

Since a large part of positive psychology is being able to understand and be aware of individual strengths, it is important that students are given opportunities to recognize their own and others’ positive qualities.

Providing a classroom culture that is focused on positivity and reflection is key to positive education.

Here are some ideas and activities for incorporating positive education in your classroom.

Welcome message

Have a welcome message on your door or written in a central place in your classroom to help everyone who enters your class feel that they belong.

You can even take this a bit further and have the welcome message reflect a piece of positive philosophy, such as ‘take a deep breath, do your best, and show what you know.’

Morning meetings

Having a short morning meeting or a time where you touch base with your students is important in promoting positive psychology practices.

Morning meetings can be used as a time to ground students in the activities for the day and encourage them to reflect on how they can use their strengths to achieve their goals.

Emphasize ongoing reflection

Reflection gives students the opportunity to check in with themselves. It also can act as an excellent tool for practicing empathy, as students can use this time to put themselves in another person’s shoes.

Our article Learning Through Reflection provides several options for reflective questions to help inspire students.

Practice daily mindfulness

Mindfulness is an excellent practice that helps teach students how to pay attention to their surroundings and ground themselves in the present moment.

Positive education emphasizes immersing yourself in the present and letting go of past negativity.

3 Worksheets for a Positive Education Program

Having a sound basis to help establish a positive education program is key, as it allows for educators to integrate positive psychology easily into their classroom activities.

To help educators form the foundation for their positive education program, we have provided several worksheets to help supplement lessons on positive psychology practices (adapted from Selva, 2018).

1. Daily Mood Tracker

This daily mood chart helps students track their mood throughout the day.

This simple self-report chart will help students better understand their mood throughout the day and week. Teachers can also use it as a group mood chart to track the class’s engagement levels.

2. Pleasant Activity Scheduling Worksheet

This worksheet helps students focus on activities that give them joy to increase positive emotions throughout the day.

Teachers can encourage students to use this to track activities and events that bring them joy in the classroom.

Follow the link for more activity scheduling worksheets.

3. Understanding Empathy

This lesson plan explores the principles of empathy and what it looks like in specific situations.

As part of the lesson, students will watch a short video describing empathy and its importance for relating to others.

They will then pair up and complete the accompanying worksheet, which involves considering the possible outcomes and emotional consequences of demonstrating or not demonstrating empathy in a series of scenarios. Students will then role-play these different scenarios with their peers.

9 Must-Read Positive Education Books

Positive education is an important topic for several different audiences looking to understand how positive psychology can help promote increased wellbeing in children.

We have selected the best positive education books for educators and parents/guardians (adapted from Lino, 2017).

Books for teachers

1. Teaching That Changes Lives: 12 Mindset Tools for Igniting the Love of Learning – Marilee Adams

This book serves as a practical guide for teachers to ignite a “learner mindset” among their students, enabling them to make an authentic difference in their lives.

Following the story of Emma, a sixth-grade teacher on the verge of resigning, this innovative and practical guide applies the principles of positive psychology to help teachers transform their classrooms and inspire their students’ love for learning.

Find the book on Amazon.

2. Positive Discipline in the Classroom: Developing Mutual Respect, Cooperation, and Responsibility in Your Classroom – Jane Nelsen and Lynn Lott

This book draws on time-tested research in the field of positive discipline to improve children’s academic outcomes and strengthen trust between students and their educators.

Among the topics explored are respectful communication, solution-oriented approaches to bullying, and strategies to encourage students’ efforts.

The latest edition of this book also has advice to help teachers navigate the new digital distractions that fight for students’ attention in the classroom.

Find the book on Amazon and, if you’re interested, check out the other titles in the Positive Discipline series.

3. Breaking Free from Myths About Teaching and Learning: Innovation as an Engine for Student Success – Allison Zmuda

This book aims to dispel the myths about teachers and education that hold students back from reaching their full potential.

Zmuda provides strategies for educators to dispel preconceived notions.

The strategies are rooted in positive education, and the book provides practical guidance for teachers surrounding student engagement, motivation, and creating authentic assessments.

Zmuda challenges educators and administrators to think critically about dispelling myths around learning, highlighting the importance of a positive attitude in teaching practice.

Find the book on Amazon.

4. Why We Teach: Learning, Laughter, Love, and the Power to Transform Lives – Linda Alston

A seasoned teacher herself, Alston describes the ways she creates joy in her classroom.

Instead of solely focusing on the challenges that teachers face, Alston describes how positivity and care for students can impact individual growth and facilitate long-term success.

Alston gives real-life examples from her own teaching experience in early education and ends each chapter with an affirmation to inspire further reflection from readers on their own practices.

It is an inspirational read for teachers who are looking to examine the impact that positive education practices could have on their students.

Find the book on Amazon.

5. Better Than OK: Helping Young People to Flourish at School and Beyond – Helen Street and Neil Porter

This book provides workable strategies from positive psychology experts to help children flourish. It has a collection of essays that cover topics from encouraging lifelong learning in children to developing a positive mindset surrounding challenges in school and at home.

The goal of this book is to help teachers provide motivation for children to thrive in the classroom, not just do the bare minimum to get by.

It is an excellent read for seasoned and new teachers looking to gain perspective and ideas to practice positive education strategies in their classrooms.

Find the book on Amazon.

6. Positive Education: The Geelong Grammar School Journey – Jacolyn Norrish

This book follows the inspiring story of an Australian school that radically applied the science of positive psychology to prioritize the welfare and health of its students in the cultivation of a ground-breaking positive education program.

With a foreword from the father of positive psychology, Martin Seligman, the story of Geelong Grammar School represents a hallmark example of positive psychology’s power to better the wellbeing of students, teachers, and the broader community.

Find the book on Amazon.

Books for parents and guardians

1. Playful Learning: Develop Your Child’s Sense of Joy and Wonder – Mariah Bruehl

This book will give parents and guardians ideas to design thoughtfully planned learning experiences that tap into children’s natural inclination to play and discover.

All the activities explored throughout the book are hands on, fun, and easy to implement, drawing on positive psychology principles to support the development of a range of cognitive and creative skills for children aged 4–8.

Find the book on Amazon.

2. Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Kids Roots and Wings – Kenneth Ginsburg and Martha Jablow

This book offers important insights for parents and guardians to support children in developing resilience.

It is particularly suited to adults who wish to help children who have experienced adverse life events or trauma.

With a range of useful topics including coping, managing stress, and strengths-based relationships, this book offers powerful advice for educators wishing to understand the factors that can support or stifle a child’s development of resilience.

Find the book on Amazon.

3. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character – Paul Tough

This book draws on research and inspiring stories to answer the most fundamental questions about child development and education.

Besides helping teachers understand why some children succeed while others lose their way, it provides a range of tools to help teachers steer disenfranchised children back on the path to success.

Find the book on Amazon.

Education Resources From PositivePsychology.com

PositivePsychology.com has several resources that are relevant to positive education. We have provided a selection of them below:

• Positive affirmation cards
  To engage in positive thinking, students may need specific phrases that they can repeat when they are experiencing negative emotions. These affirmations can provide students with positive phrases to say when they are experiencing negative thoughts about themselves. Teachers can encourage students to decorate and cut out these cards so they can reference them when needed.
• Exploring Character Strengths
  This worksheet contains questions aimed at older students. Getting students to reflect on these questions can help them discover their inner signature strengths and use them in their daily life.
• PERMA model activities
  This article provides practical applications leading to happiness and wellbeing using the PERMA model and explains how you can apply it in your therapeutic practice.
• What is positive education?
  Our article explaining positive education provides several resources related to positive education, including videos, activities, and classroom resources for teachers.
• 12 Positive Psychology PDF’s to Print and Hand Out
  This article provides you with free positive psychology PDF’s, to apply more positive psychology in schools.
• 17 Positive Psychology Exercises
  If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others enhance their wellbeing, check out this signature collection of 17 validated positive psychology tools for practitioners. Use them to help others flourish and thrive.

A Take-Home Message

Positive education is a growing movement in today’s schooling system.

Encouraging students to celebrate and develop their strengths and increase their self-concept is key to positive education.

Emphasizing components of positive psychology, such as gratitude, forgiveness, and resilience, can help equip students with coping strategies to deal with stressful situations throughout their life.

Focusing on positive education can also help teachers and other staff members promote a more positive environment.

Ultimately, positive education emphasizes a more fulfilling educational experience for everyone, as it encourages all individuals involved to work toward their full potential by emphasizing the presence of positive emotions.

We hope this guide provides you with strategies to implement positive education in your classroom, school, or family. Remember, a good teaching strategy is to model the behavior you want to see in your students or children.

Practicing positive psychology in your own life and embodying the concepts you want to teach can allow for a more authentic presence in your classroom and perhaps encourage your students to follow your example.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free.