Helen McGrath

Wellbeing and resilience in young people and the role of positive relationships

This chapter explores the development of the constructs of well-being and resilience and the role of positive family, teacher and peer relationships in the development of young people’s resilience and well-being. Over the last 10 years, there has been a gradual shift in both research and community and school practices away from the concept of youth welfare, with its focus on supporting young people in distress, and towards the concept of youth well-being and resilience. This trend towards well-being and resilience is consistent with a positive psychology approach (Seligman MEP, Authentic happiness: using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment. Free Press, New York, 2002) and more recently the positive psychology/positive education approach (Noble T, McGrath H, Educational and child psychology 25(2):119–134, 2008). Positive psychology focuses primarily on the empirical study of human well-being, strengths and resilience to negative life events and the conditions that allow individuals, groups and organisations to flourish.

Well-being and Resilience in School Settings

Life for children and young people in the twenty-first century includes the usual developmental milestones as well as new challenges such as higher levels of family breakdown, less familial connection and loss of a sense of belonging to their local community as well as new issues like cybersafety. Natural and man-made disasters in many countries over the last decade also contribute to young people’s sense of vulnerability. These challenges have led the United Nations to recognise the importance of positive education. These contemporary challenges have also prompted a widespread global interest from Governments, policy makers and educators in how educational policy and school practices can help children and young people develop resilience and a sense of well-being. This chapter provides operational definitions for well-being and resilience that can guide educators working in school settings. Six evidence-based foundations of positive education that link school-based pedagogy and practices are outlined. These foundations are (i) strategies for teaching social-emotional competencies that include prosocial values, social skills, resilience skills, skills for managing strong emotions, and skills for self-management and self discipline; (ii) strategies for amplifying positive emotions; (iii) strategies for building positive relationships; (iv) using strengths-based approaches for both character and ability strengths; (v) helping young people achieve a sense of meaning and purpose and (vi) creating an optimal learning environment. Pedagogy and school practices that apply these foundations are explored and examples of Australian policies and programs that implement the foundations are provided with implications for cross-cultural implementation.

Social skills training: where are we going?

This paper looks at social skills intervention programs for students. The arguments and research evidence for teaching social skills are discussed as well as the issue of which social skills should be taught. Conclusions are drawn about the most effective kind of intervention programs and arguments are presented for educational psychologist to work in collaboration with teachers to present social skills programs. The issue of peer reputations is discussed.

Making It Real and Making It Last! Sustainability of Teacher Implementation of a Whole-School Resilience Programme

Life for children and young people in the twenty-first century includes the need to master the usual developmental hurdles along with relatively new challenges such as cyber safety, greater family mobility, higher levels of family breakdown and easier access to addictive drugs and alcohol. These contemporary challenges have prompted widespread interest from governments, policymakers and educators around the world into how educational policy and school practices can help children and young people develop greater resilience. This chapter reviews the importance of resilience for both teachers and students. It then draws on lessons learned from the implementation over 5–12 years of a whole-school resilience programme in ten schools. The research findings demonstrate that a combination of school factors, school system factors and programme-specific factors facilitate all teachers’ implementation of a resilience programme. This same combination of factors was also found to be crucial for the capacity of the school to sustain the implementation of the programme over many years and thus achieve positive outcomes for both students and staff.

Policy Development for Student Wellbeing

This chapter reviews the common objections and potential risks attached to a student wellbeing policy and the importance of taking an evidence-informed approach. An overview of the benefits of a student wellbeing policy is then presented, followed by guidelines/actions for developing a student wellbeing policy at the school, system, national and international levels.

Student Skills for Happiness and Wellbeing

This chapter outlines the key student skills and understandings for happiness and wellbeing at school and in their future, followed by a research-based definition of student wellbeing. The difference between student wellbeing and student welfare is clarified and then evidence-based guidelines are provided to help practitioners select effective student wellbeing programs. The chapter concludes by introducing PROSPER as an organising framework for the components of wellbeing that underpin positive psychological research and can be applied in positive education. The PROSPER components are Positivity, Relationships, Outcomes, Strengths, Purpose, Engagement and Resilience.