Supporting teachers/educators who shape minds, hearts, and futures!
Positive Education
Positive education brings the science of well-being into the heart of teaching and learning.
For decades, education has focused mainly on academic achievement. Yet we now know that well-being and learning are deeply connected — when students feel safe, valued, capable, and supported, they learn better, stay motivated longer, and grow into healthier, more confident adults.
Positive education combines the insights of positive psychology with everyday school life, helping educators create environments where both academic success and personal growth can thrive side by side. It encourages the development of meaningful relationships, emotional skills, character strengths, and healthy habits that support long-term well-being.
In essence, positive education is not an “extra thing” to add to the curriculum — it is a broader vision of what education can be. A vision in which young people learn not only how to succeed, but also how to live well, care for themselves and others, and build lives filled with purpose, belonging, and possibility.
When, Where and How?
Integrating Positive Psychology into Education?
The real question is not if we should care for well-being in schools,
but when and where we begin to do it more systematically.
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When? → Now.
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Where? → Right where you are. In your preschool. In your school. In your classroom.
Also... if we want healthy children in healthy schools, we must start by nurturing the well-being of teachers and staff — the adults who hold these communities together every day ..........................
Nurturing PERMA (The Pillars of Well-Being) in Education
PERMA model states that our psychological well-being rests on five key pillars. The elements of a flourishing, fulfilling life include:
Positive Emotions (experiencing joy, gratitude, love, curiosity, and hope); Engagement (being absorbed in activities that use our strengths and stretch our skills); Relationships (building supportive, trusting, and loving connections with others); Meaning (feeling that our life and actions have purpose and contribute to something greater); Accomplishment (striving for and achieving goals that bring pride and satisfaction) ..........................
Nurturing RELATIONSHIPS (The Heart of Happiness and Well-Being) in Education
An old proverb says: “Joy shared is doubled; sorrow shared is halved.” As humans, we are social creatures — we flourish in environments that support connection, emotional closeness, love, and intimacy. Relationships built on mutual trust, care, and support are strongly linked to greater happiness, hope, and gratitude.
They act as a protective system that helps us face difficulties, loss, or loneliness. Strong, sincere connections offer a hand to hold in hard times. Even brief, one-time encounters — a kind word, a smile, a moment of genuine attention — can lift our mood and improve our health ..........................
Nurturing POSITIVE EMOTIONS in Education
Positive emotions—joy, love, serenity, curiosity, gratitude, hope—are the emotional fuel of flourishing. People who consciously focus their attention on positive feelings hold an important advantage.
The ability to notice, experience, and reflect on pleasant emotions has wide-ranging effects — from learning and creativity to work performance and health. A positive outlook on life — viewing our past, present, and future through a lens of gratitude and hope — enhances our relationships, strengthens motivation, and inspires us to grow ..........................
Nurturing ENGAGEMENT in Education
Engagement is joyful absorption in meaningful work. It's the felt sense of being “all in.” Rooted in Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow, it appears when tasks are meaningful, just-right challenging, and invite strengths and creativity.
Helping children overcome apathy is one of the great challenges of modern education — but it’s not impossible. Children engage deeply when they are interested, inspired, and emotionally involved. To nurture engagement, children need activities that are challenging and stimulating ..........................
Nurturing MEANING in Education
Meaning connects effort to purpose. When it’s present, routine becomes fulfilling; when it’s absent, even success can feel hollow.
It’s important that schoolwork — lessons, projects, even small tasks — feels connected to real life. Teachers play a central role in this. They can bring meaning to learning by linking knowledge to experience, curiosity, and relevance. But this is only possible when teachers themselves experience their work as meaningful. A teacher who feels inspired and valued will naturally inspire meaning in their students ..........................
Nurturing SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT in Education
Our achievements — big or small — strengthen our self-worth and self-confidence. They fuel positive emotions such as hope, compassion, gratitude, enthusiasm, and joy.
Nothing motivates a child like the joy of accomplishment. Every realized goal, no matter how modest, brings feelings of satisfaction and pride, strengthens self-confidence and trust in their own abilities. Success fuels positive emotions such as hope, compassion, gratitude, enthusiasm, and joy — emotions that in turn strengthen motivation and perseverance ..........................
Positive Education and PERMA - From Reflection to Action
The PERMA model has at least three great strengths. It is: simple,
universal, and easily applicable to everyday life.
Its five elements — Relationships, Positive Emotions, Engagement, Meaning, and Accomplishment — are not abstract theories. They are part of our daily experiences.
One important advantage of using the PERMA model in education is this: it gives us a framework for reflection and gentle, practical change. It offers a great and useful framework to help schools and teachers move from reflection to action ..........................
