Positive Education: Positive Psychology and Classroom Interventions

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Oxford Review of Education Vol. 35, No. 3, June 2009, pp. 293–311 Positive education: positive psychology and classroom interventions Martin E. P. Seligmana*, Randal M. Ernstb, Jane Gillhamc, Karen Reivicha and Mark Linkinsd of Pennsylvania; bLincoln (Nebraska) Public Schools; cSwarthmore College and University of Pennsylvania; dWallingford-Swarthmore (Pennsylvania) Public Schools, USA seligman@psych.upenn.edu Professor Francis 0 300000June 2009 35 2009 OriginalReview 0305-4985 Francis Ltd Oxford&Article of Education 10.1080/03054980902934563 CORE_A_393628.sgm Taylor and (print)/1465-3915 (online) MartinSeligman aUniversity Positive education is defined as education for both traditional skills and for happiness. The high prevalence worldwide of depression among young people, the small rise in life satisfaction, and the synergy between learning and positive emotion all argue that the skills for happiness should be taught in school. There is substantial evidence from well controlled studies that skills that increase resilience, positive emotion, engagement and meaning can be taught to schoolchildren. We present the story of teaching these skills to an entire school—Geelong Grammar School—in Australia, and we speculate that positive education will form the basis of a ‘new prosperity’, a politics that values both wealth and well-being. Introduction First, a quiz: In two words or less, what do you most want for your children? If you are like the hundreds of parents I’ve asked, you responded, ‘Happiness’, ‘Confidence’, ‘Contentment’, ‘Balance’, ‘Good Stuff’, ‘Kindness’, ‘Health’, ‘Satisfaction’, and the like. In short, you most want well-being for your children. In two words or less, what do schools teach? If you are like other parents, you responded, ‘Achievement’, ‘Thinking Skills’, ‘Success’, ‘Conformity’, ‘Literacy’, ‘Mathematics’, ‘Discipline’ and the
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