Newsletter Term 1, 2019
Dear PESA Members,
With our fifth National Conference now behind us, how grateful we are to all participants for playing their part in such a profound community-building and learning event.
It is inspiring to reflect on the outstanding breadth and quality of work being done by universities, researchers, parents, health professionals, communities, governments, school leaders and educators. We are united in our commitment to an evidence-based approach to growing the wellbeing of our young people and the wider community.
A special vote of thanks to our conference committee – what an achievement, and certainly no mean feat to coordinate and curate 7 keynote presentations, 15 masterclasses, 3 discussion panels and over 50 workshops and ‘Inspire’ presentations.
This is the first time our national conference ran in Queensland and we were delighted that 400 delegates joined us from a diverse range of schools and organisations from Australia, as well as abroad.
Standing amongst our delegates was very humbling indeed, as we learned together, laughed together, and even cried together. As Pauline Carrigan from Where There’s a Will reflected, we are all links in an ever- growing chain, and draw our strength from each other.
For those who purchased a non-member ticket, we are delighted to welcome you to the PESA community. We will contact you again shortly with further information when your membership has been activated.
We are now gathering and collating footage of presentations and presenter slides, and we will be in touch to advise when those are available on our website.
We are committed to continuous improvement of our conferences, and if you attended, we would love to hear your feedback. Please click here to take our short survey.
New Resources
We have some great new resources available on our website which may be of interest to you, including:
• Wellbeing 101 - It Starts with You • Understanding and Using Your Character Strengths – which also includes some interactive character strengths games devised by PESA SA member, Deirdre Walters (St Columba College, Adelaide) to not only teach fellow staff about their own character strengths and those of their colleagues, but also to overcome any potential reluctance staff might feel in embracing positive education.
Term 1 2019 Newsletter www.pesa.edu.au
Newsletter Term 1, 2019
• Nurturing Gratitude from the Inside Out, 30 Activities for Grades K–8: Greater Good Science Centre, Berkeley • Embracing the F Word: Using FAILURE to build resilience and motivation @ school by Reach Out • Thanks! A Strengths-Based Gratitude Curriculum for Tweens and Teens - Greater Good Science Centre, Berkeley • How do we Learn to Thrive? The Emergence of Wellbeing Science – Professor Lindsay Oades • Presenter slides from our recent SA State Conference
We have also recently added an interview with Assoc Prof Peggy Kern on the topic of Belonging.
You might not be aware that slides from other state conferences are also available via the website - please click here to access these.
Our members dashboard also contains links to recommended reading, Apps, video clips, newsletters and more.
A reminder too that our content coordinator, Cheryl Mortimer, would love to hear from you if you are keen to share your experience with other members - there's so much to be gained through collaboration and we urge you to 'pay it forward'. We'd love to hear about what's worked in your school (and what hasn't), how you devised your school's wellbeing strategy, how you've educated and engaged staff, parents and the wider community, or how you've collected and used data.
To contact Cheryl, please click here.
PESA AGM
Our 2019 Annual General Meeting took place on 12 April.
At this meeting, our Chairman, Simon Murray reflected on PESA’s growth and achievements over 2018. Click here to view the Chairman’s report.
Simon Murray and Janis Coffey retired by rotation at the end of the AGM. In accordance with the PESA Constitution, one Member-Elected position on the Board fell vacant.
Simon Murray renominated to the Board and was the only nomination for member-elected directorship received. In accordance with clause 12.3(b) of the PESA Constitution, as the number of nominations received was equal to the number of vacancies to be filled, Simon Murray was automatically elected as from the end of the annual general meeting, and we congratulate him on his reappointment.
We thank Janis Coffey for three years of service to our Board. Janis brought to our Board a deep understanding of Positive Education, creativity and a spirit of collaboration, and we are grateful for her excellent contribution.
Five co-opted director roles remain vacant, and our Governance Nominations Committee is currently fielding appropriate potential Board members. We will keep members informed as and when co-opted directors are added to our Board, and of course if you know of anyone who you feel may be a worthy nominee, please forward their details to Simon Murray.
Term 1 2019 Newsletter www.pesa.edu.au
Newsletter Term 1, 2019
Upcoming Events
7 May 2019:
Professor Dianne Vella-Brodrick, Gerry Higgins Chair in Positive Psychology, CPP, Melbourne Graduate School of Education will deliver her inaugural professorial Dean’s Lecture: Well-being education that feels like a TREAT - rather than a treatment plan.
Designing school-based well-being education so it feels like a treat, and not a treatment plan, can be challenging. The alarming statistics on youth mental illness can make it very tempting to focus primarily on responding to mental illness and fixing what’s gone wrong.
However, if we introduced well-being education that was a TREAT to learn about - Tangible, Relevant, Evidence-based, Alluring and Transformational – young people will want to learn and practice well-being skills, retain more information which they can apply throughout their life and, feel better supported, motivated and confident about managing and promoting their mental health.
Well-being education in schools needs to improve by dovetailing best practices in health, sport and well- being science as well as technology and education. It should strive to equip, inspire and empower young people to be proactively involved in shaping their own well-being destiny. Applying the TREAT framework can help with achieving these desired outcomes.
To register, please click here.
World Happiness Report 2019
The World Happiness Report 2019 ranks 156 countries by how happy they perceive themselves to be. This year’s World Happiness Report focuses on happiness and the community: how happiness has evolved over the past dozen years, with a focus on the technologies, social norms, conflicts and government policies that have driven those changes.
Australia remains highly ranked but dropped from 9th to 11th place over the 12 month period. The top 10 countries (in order) are Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada and Austria.
Whilst rankings are based on individuals’ own assessments of their subjective well-being, six key factors are used to explain variation of happiness rankings across countries - GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, social freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption.
Of particular interest to some of our members will be the three factors on which the 2019 report focusses:
links between government and happiness (Chapters 2 and 3), the power of prosocial behaviour (Chapter 4), and Happiness and digital technology
Term 1 2019 Newsletter www.pesa.edu.au
Newsletter Term 1, 2019
2019 Global Happiness Policy Report
The 2019 Global Happiness and Well-Being Policy Report is produced by the Global Happiness Council (GHC) and contains papers by expert working groups on happiness for good governance. This report provides evidence and policy recommendations on best practices to promote happiness and well-being.
The 2019 Global Happiness and Well-Being Policy Report was presented at World Government Summit held in Dubai on February 10, 2019.
Chapter 4 of this report, written by Dr Martin Seligman and Dr Alejandro Adler, is dedicated to the topic of Positive Education globally and provides an excellent overview of Positive Education across multiple countries and contexts.
Research of interest
Understanding Factors Affecting Positive Education in Practice: an Australian Case Study Amber J. Halliday, Margaret L. Kern, David K. Garrett & Deborah A. Turnbull
Positive education is characterized by applying positive psychology interventions (PPIs) within educational settings. Increasing evidence suggests that PPIs can help increase well-being and reduce depressive symptoms in general and clinical populations. However, there is less evidence that PPIs are similarly effective within complex school environments.
The study aimed to
examine the effectiveness of an evidence-informed positive education pilot program (PEPP) delivered within an Australian public high school and use an implementation science framework to explore factors impacting the planning, delivery, practice, and success of program activities.
Findings suggest the PEPP was not related to increases in well-being or resilience, but may have buffered students from declining mental health during the school year. Recipient outlook, organizational support, stakeholder input, and provider enthusiasm and understanding were all thought to impact program outcomes. By exploring the practice of a positive education intervention from an implementation perspective, challenges and opportunities of positive education in the real world can be identified.
Can physical activity help explain the gender gap in adolescent mental health? A cross-sectional exploration Amber J.Halliday, Margaret L.Kern, Deborah A.Turnbull
Studies find that physical activity links with mental health, females engage in less physical activity than males, and females have worse mental health than males. Less attention has been paid to the intersection of physical activity, mental health, and gender.
Term 1 2019 Newsletter www.pesa.edu.au
Newsletter Term 1, 2019
Might physical activity explain links between gender and mental health in adolescence? Or does the mental health benefit of physical activity depend on gender? In addition, while physical activity correlates with better mental health overall, it may be more beneficial for some domains than others.
Using four years of cross-sectional data from students (1,756 cases over four years, ages 13–18), this article (1) confirmed gender differences in physical activity and mental health, replicating prior studies; examined gender (2) as a confounding variable and (3) as a moderator of the physical activity- mental health link; and (4) tested physical activity as a mediator between gender and mental health.
Key findings included:
Adolescent females reported poorer mental health with males engaged in more physical activity. Physical activity was associated with all markers of mental health, having stronger correlations with Engagement and Perseverance than other positive and negative domains. The strength of association between mental health and physical activity did not significantly differ according to gender. Physical activity may partially explain the gender difference in mental health.
State and Territory Chapters
Our State and Territory Chapter committees across Australia are busy planning events for 2019, with many again keen to offer one-day state conferences this year, as well as PD and networking events to assist you to learn more about growing Positive Education within your context, by learning from and connecting with each other.
Our Chapters support and assist our members on a more local level, provide our Association with insights and ideas from our member’s grass-roots experience, and run state- and territory-based professional development events.
Please contact us if you wish to be involved in your home state or territory.
Details of PESA Chapters, including organising committee membership, can be viewed here.
To further facilitate collaboration, discussion and debate, we have established Facebook groups for each state and territory.
These are closed groups, accessible only to PESA members.
To access your state or territory group, please click on the relevant link below and click the “Join” button.
Australian Capital Territory New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia
Term 1 2019 Newsletter www.pesa.edu.au
Newsletter Term 1, 2019
International Initiatives
You may recall in previous newsletters, we discussed the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) Dubai’s partnership with the Government of South Australia in undertaking a student wellbeing census over the 2017/2018 academic year for 65,000 Years 6-9 students in Dubai schools.
The second annual census has now been completed, with over 95,000 students participating. The Census was expanded to include Students in years 10-12.
Results of the 2018 census were published in February 2019. Of note:
• 81% of students described themselves as happy, and 85% as optimistic.
• Students’ happiness again showed a steady decline over the 4 years from Year 6 to Year 9: 87% of Year 6 students reported High to Medium levels of happiness, compared with 75-78% in Years 9-12 students.
• Around 90% of students who are the happiest reported having close friendships, feel that they do better than others in their schoolwork, and get a good night’s sleep (although by Year 8 less than half of all students went to bed before 10pm and by Year 9, less than a third were in bed by 10pm).
• In terms of connectedness, ¾ of all students felt highly connected to adults at home and to their close friends, but only 54% felt highly connected to adults at school.
• Feeling connected to adults at school steadily declined over the 4 years from Year 6 to Year 9, but increased in Years 10 to 12. Connectedness to adults at home declined at a lesser rate over the same period.
• 81% of students are satisfied with life. Factors tied to physical health were linked to a higher level of life satisfaction, with students more likely to be satisfied with life if they eat breakfast, get a good night’s sleep and eat fruit and vegetables.
New Books
The Power of Character Strengths: Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality Ryan M. Niemiec and Robert E. McGrath
No matter where you are in life--searching for happiness, working toward a goal, longing for a better relationship, or feeling content and settled--focusing on your character strengths adds a whole new dimension. Recent research shows that when you understand and activate your positive personality traits, you become more resilient, manage stress better, and find greater fulfillment in life.
In The Power of Character Strengths: Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality, you'll be guided by leading authorities through your 24 strengths. You'll soon see all the ways these strengths are your best-kept secret for boosting your well-being. Discover how to appreciate what's best in you and champion strengths in the people you care about most.
The book also includes Strengths Builder, an easy-to-learn, four-step, research-backed program.
Term 1 2019 Newsletter www.pesa.edu.au
Newsletter Term 1, 2019
Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Flourishing (3rd Edition) William C. Compton and Edward L. Hoffman
Topically organized, Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Flourishing presents a highly engaging, up-to-date introduction to positive psychology.
Authors William C. Compton and Edward Hoffman invite students to apply practices to their own lives, contexts, and experiences to ensure understanding. The text examines how positive psychology applies to stressors and health within such traditional research areas as developmental, clinical, personality, motivational, social, and behavioural psychology.
Furthermore, the text offers perspectives on positive emotional states, research and theory on positive traits, coverage of positive institutions, and a look at the future of positive psychology. The Third Edition reflects significant growth in field with hundreds of new references and expanded content on topics including mindfulness, money and subjective well-being, and romantic love.
Positive Psychology: A Workbook for Personal Growth and Well-Being Edward L. Hoffman and William C. Compton
Edward Hoffman and William C. Compton’s Positive Psychology: A Workbook for Personal Growth and Well-Being offers students a wealth of different activities to make concepts in positive psychology come alive.
Based on scientific, psychological research that supports learning, activities include self-reflection and interviews with the reader’s family and friends.
The workbook can be used with the core text written by the same authors, Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Flourishing, Third Edition, or as a supplement to other core texts.
The Little Book of Being Brilliant Andy Cope
The Little Book of Being Brilliant offers a compilation of information from the science of positive psychology. Author Dr Andy Cope distils the tips, techniques, facts and ideas for achieving sustainable wellbeing and happiness.
The book includes guidance for taking action in the form of activities and challenges for implementing the empirical evidence on happiness. The book includes strategies for:
Developing resilience and embracing positivity by setting goals Learning what science says about the connection between money and happiness Internalising the latest positivity research for work, sport, parenting, and relationships
Term 1 2019 Newsletter www.pesa.edu.au
Newsletter Term 1, 2019
Positive Psychology in the Middle East/North Africa Louise Lambert and Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi
This volume looks at positive psychology from a culturally-responsive, empirically-driven perspective to avoid a descent into pseudoscience.
Through evidence-based, regionally relevant topics in the field of well-being, this volume shows how increasing levels of excellence in the GCC region enhance upon business, education, research, and social innovations.
Grounded in the empirical research literature, each chapter applies psychological concepts to locally relevant considerations, such as culture, religion, and socio-political contexts, making this book an essential tool for understanding positive psychology and well-being in the GCC nations and beyond.
The Growth Mindset Edge: Your Guide to Developing Grit Paperback – April 2, 2019 Jackie Beere
Conquer roadblocks, obstacles and self-doubt by learning how to practice resilience, develop grit and cultivate a growth mindset. When you implement a growth mindset, you steel yourself against the struggles preventing you from greater success.
In this guide, you’ll learn why self-sabotage is so common, who you truly are, where your inner strength lies and how to control your thoughts through purposeful thinking.
You will also find practical tips, actionable advice and helpful tools to continue developing grit long after you’ve finished reading, including:
Reframe thinking cards A timeline plan Mindfulness exercises Memory techniques
Smart Cities Initiative
The Smart Cities Council with its partner companies Telstra and evolve24, are working with a consortium of leading organisations focused on data science and social wellbeing, including the CPP at the University of Melbourne, to advance social wellbeing as a framework for smart cities investment in the region.
The consortium completed a data science project in 2018 to quantitatively assess and score social wellbeing. The project measured and quantified the subjective wellbeing of 14 cities around Australia. This approach focusses on ‘subjective wellbeing’ - being the measurement of how people feel and think about their lives.
While cities have measured subjective wellbeing in the past, they have done so through static surveys – each representing a single point of time and just a small slice of the population. The Wellcity Insights approach provides near-real time measurement of an entire city’s population against six dimensions of subjective wellbeing, being affect, relationships, focus, purpose, fulfilment and personal health.
Term 1 2019 Newsletter www.pesa.edu.au
Newsletter Term 1, 2019
This wellbeing consortium hopes to work with government and other policy makers and investors to build organisational capacity and frameworks to embed social wellbeing at the heart of smart cities and digital transformation policy, programs and projects.
To learn more, please click here.
Institutional Membership
Has your school considered institutional membership?
Institutional membership signifies support for the aims and objectives of PESA, and publicly aligns your school’s values and goals with those of PESA, providing potential and current families with an indication of your school’s commitment to student wellbeing.
Our Institutional Members are listed on, and their websites linked from, our website.
Membership includes three annual individual memberships, allowing your school to nominate three staff members as ‘torch-bearers’ for Positive Education within your school community.
To apply for institutional membership for your school, please click here.
A reminder to follow our Twitter feed - @PESA_Aus for articles, research, videos, resources and developments in the field of mental health, wellbeing and Positive Education. Follow us now!
Term 1 2019 Newsletter www.pesa.edu.au