What is Positive Education? 3 Pillars (+ Examples in Schools)

A Focus on Wellbeing

Positive education emphasizes nurturing wellbeing and happiness in students, teachers, and the whole school community. Rather than focusing narrowly on academics, positive schools take a holistic approach to education that supports mental, emotional, social, and physical health.

Key Tenets

Positive education is built on three key pillars:

Teaching wellbeing skills – This includes evidence-based programs that build resilience, mindfulness, empathy, gratitude, and purpose.
Embedding wellbeing in school culture – Creating an ethos across school policies, activities, physical spaces, and relationships that supports wellbeing.
Enabling teacher wellbeing – Ensuring teachers have the support, resources and skills to maintain their own wellbeing, preventing burnout.

Examples in Schools

Many schools globally are embracing principles of positive education, including:

Mindfulness sessions embedded in the curriculum
Redesigning class and recreation spaces to be more positive
Training for teachers on leading with empathy and emotional intelligence
Peer support programs led by students
Focusing assessments on growth and effort rather than relative achievement

Benefits

Research shows positive education helps schools in many ways. Benefits include:

Improved student wellbeing and mental health
Higher student engagement and attendance
More positive teacher-student relationships
Teachers feeling less burnt out
Higher staff retention rates

Conclusion

While academics remain important, schools have a vital role to play in developing the whole child. Positive education provides a framework for schools to nurture health, character, engagement, and purpose.

FAQ

What are the 3 pillars of positive education?

The three pillars are: 1) Teaching wellbeing skills to students 2) Embedding wellbeing across school culture and policies 3) Enabling teacher wellbeing.

How do you implement positive education?

Key ways to implement positive education include training teachers, embedding wellbeing into the curriculum, assessing student wellbeing, designing positive school spaces, and creating wellbeing policies.

What are the benefits of positive education?

Benefits include improved student mental health and engagement, more positive teacher-student relationships, higher staff retention, and teachers feeling less burnt out.

What are some examples of positive education activities?

Examples include mindfulness sessions, growth mindset programs, resilience building workshops, character strengths programs, peer support initiatives, and redesigning classrooms and school spaces to be more positive.

How is positive education different from traditional education?

Positive education takes a holistic approach focused on supporting mental health and character development alongside academics. Traditional education focuses more narrowly on academic achievement and test scores.