Gavin R. Slemp

Positive Education in Australia: Practice, Measurement, and Future Directions

Positive education (PosEd) combines the concepts and scholarship of positive psychology (PP) with best practice guidelines from education to promote student flourishing within educational settings. In this chapter, we first review the conceptual approaches to well-being upon which much of PosEd in Australia is based. Second, based on our experiences with research, teaching, and consulting, we identify issues that might impact the successful implementation of PosEd, including the frameworks used, the extent to which implicit or explicit strategies are employed, the importance of sustained and rigorous evaluation, and the impact of student, teacher, and other stakeholder buy-in. Third, we illustrate our own research that addresses some of these challenges, including the development of measurement tools to profile well-being and the undertaking of longitudinal studies evaluating PosEd programs. We then consider areas of future inquiry and practice that are particularly relevant to the Australian context, including (1) the need for research and applications to expand to diverse populations, such as Indigenous Australians, migrants, refugees, at-risk students, and disadvantaged groups, (2) systems approaches to implementation and research, and (3) strategies to produce and evaluate lasting change. We conclude that there is much potential for PosEd in Australia, but care needs to be taken so that it becomes a core part of education as a whole, and not simply a short-lived fad.

University Settings: A New Frontier for Positive Education

There are few times during students’ lives that are as emotionally varied and confusing as the years they spend at university. Oftentimes, these years are filled with excitement and positive change, during which many students discover new interests, meet new friends, and relish a newfound freedom. Yet at the same time these years are a stressful period of life, replete with significant life transitions: the completion of secondary school, living away from home and managing financial pressures for the first time, making new friends, adapting to autonomous learning, forging a potential career path ahead, and perhaps above all, trying to find an identity and purpose in life. It is not unusual for students to feel lost, anxious, and lonely trying to navigate their way through these many coinciding life challenges. While many adults indeed look back on their university years fondly, there are others who shudder at the unpleasant memories, glad the experience is over, and others still who never made it through university at all.