FORBES

Young People's Well-Being Slumps When They Start High School, Study Says

Nick Morrison

• Young people's well-being takes a hit between the ages of 11 and 14, probably linked to the transition to high school.

• Attitudes towards school are one of the major factors in this slump.

• The decline was less pronounced among children who had high self-esteem at age 11, indicating that boosting self-esteem during early adolescence could help mitigate the impact of going to high school.

THE HECHINGER REPORT

Is the Strengths-Based Learning a Magic Bullet?

Positive psychology encourages a new trend in learning.

Gail Cornwall

• Though grounded in complex positive psychology research, the strength-based approach boils down to a simple rule: Focus on what students do well.
• Focusing on the traits and skills kids don’t have can lead them to become disengaged, Waters says, while focusing on strengths produces greater levels of happiness and engagement at school and higher levels of academic achievement. 

PBS LEARNING MEDIA

Positive Psychology: Schools

• Leading experts in the field of positive psychology contributed to this video about the practices and components of an arm of psychology that begins from the perspective of an individual’s strengths, not their deficits.

POSITIVE EDUCATION EXAMPLE

THE SHIPLEY SCHOOL

Pennsylvania, USA

• Shipley is a pioneer in educating to flourish among Pre-K through grade 12 schools in North America. They focus on flourishing individuals and communities with diversity and inclusion practices and will look to serve as the model institution for other schools who want to change the world for the better.
• Using data-driven methods backed by various scientific fields such as neuroscience, educational psychology, behavioral economics, positive psychology and more, the goal of Shipley’s approach is to cultivate flourishing, the synergistic combination of well-being and optimal performance. 

POSITIVE EDUCATION EXAMPLE

GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Australia

• “Positive Education brings together the science of positive psychology with best-practice teaching and learning to encourage and support schools and individuals within their communities to flourish.” 
• This school is “engaging wholeheartedly with pro-active practices which strengthen community wellbeing.”