From Surviving to Thriving with Positive Education Positive Education Is the Umbrella Term for Wellbeing Education and Character Development Within a School Context

9 Wellbeing

The Bays Cluster schools got involved in World Character Day by making this video on a local beach. From surviving to thriving with Positive Education Positive Education is the umbrella term for wellbeing education and character development within a school context. As New Zealand representative of the International Positive Education Network, DR LUCY HONE explains what positive education looks like in schools. She also shares insights from the pilot scheme she’s been running to implement ‘Pos Ed’ in five Christchurch primary schools this year.

ositive Education brings together robust If our goal is universal wellbeing promotion then it Secondly, wellbeing is vital for student success and science from positive psychology with best makes complete sense to disseminate these insights in is strongly linked to learning (Noble & Wyatt, 2008). A practice teaching in order to support schools schools where the environment is set up for learning. growing body of research now documents the benefits and individuals to flourish. That’s the aim of positive education, to integrate of cultivating wellbeing and character in students. PIt’s critical to understand that positive psychology scientifically validated practices from positive Of course, how children and young people feel and isn’t about ‘thinking positively’ or positive affirmations. psychology throughout schools and their communities function at school has a major impact on how well Rather, it concerns the theories and practices to build resilience, increase wellbeing and open they learn. In an education setting, improved levels enabling individuals, teams, organisations such pathways to community flourishing. of wellbeing have been shown to be associated with as schools, and even entire nations to go beyond better academic results, higher levels of academic surviving, to actually thriving. Promoting wellbeing engagement and participation, higher retention rates, While psychology was traditionally deficit based – Wellbeing is now a hot topic both domestically and stronger social and emotional skills, higher levels of focused on moving people from say, minus five back globally, as around the world people are recognising optimism, fewer symptoms of depression, a reduction to par – positive psychology works to get people the tangible benefits of focusing on wellbeing. in conduct problems and lower clinical levels of operating on the positive side of the mental health Promoting wellbeing in schools is a worthy depression and anxiety (for a review see Robinson, balance sheet, from minus two to plus three and endeavour for a number of reasons. Firstly, given the beyond. escalating mental health problems among 2016). This is important. New Zealand youth it makes sense to teach students Fortunately, the application of positive education in As Martin Seligman, the field’s founder, once said: ways to promote and protect their own mental health schools around the world now provides something of “Traditional psychology wasn’t designed to produce while they are at school. While some businesses an evidence-based roadmap informing best practice. wellbeing, just to curtail misery. Same goes for Prozac: are now implementing evidence-based employee Teaching wellbeing in addition to national priorities it may lift your depression but it won’t make you wellbeing programmes, these still operate randomly. is not without its challenges, but the New Zealand happy. Wellbeing is a process over and above the Teaching students the strategies and tools that Curriculum provides ample opportunity for promoting absence of depression, anxiety and anger” (Seligman & protect against depression and anxiety has to be wellbeing in schools and research suggests that doing Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). the most effective way to systematically address this so is likely to contribute to lifting student achievement Now that we have around 20 years of positive crisis: only schools offer the opportunity for sustained in priority areas. psychology theory and empirical findings, we are well universal wellbeing promotion, and they have far Furthermore, a mandate for this work already placed to pass on the fruits of that research to help broader reach than a handful of pro-active companies exists in professional frameworks including The Code promote healthy functioning. or any other civic institution. of Ethics for Registered Teachers, Registered Teacher

Views expressed in Gazette Focus are not necessarily those of the Ministry of Education. Wellbeing 10 Gazette F

Criteria, the National Administration Guidelines, and and character education, covering key terms and »» Operationalises the multidimensional nature of United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child concepts. Each of the Wellbeing Champions also wellbeing, according to latest theoretical and and the Vulnerable Children Act. completed Coursera’s Teaching Character and empirical models of wellbeing. ocus Student wellbeing is not only an ethical and moral Creating Positive Classrooms certificate. »» Contains many empirically validated scales, such

obligation for teachers, leaders and trustees, but also As a team we worked together to conduct as the Flourishing Scale, for which published H ealth a nd wellbei n a legal responsibility (Education Review Office, 2013). a situation analysis of each school’s existing population norms for New Zealand workers are wellbeing provision. By setting up a Google available. A new project doc showing ERO’s newly published Wellbeing »» Offers flexibility so we could choose (as a cluster) At the start of this year I began work with five Indicators, leaders and staff listed all the activities from a range of validated scales to match our Christchurch primary schools on a Ministry of and initiatives their teams currently offer to specific needs. Education funded project. promote ERO’s nine indicators of wellbeing: »» Provides individual participants with immediate The Bays Cluster Wellbeing programme presented belonging and connectedness; achievement and feedback in the form of an easy to read personal a blank slate and incredible opportunity to test what success; resilience; physically active, included; confidential report. positive education looks like in New Zealand schools. socially and emotionally competent; safe and »» Provides whole-school reports using aggregated A number of fundamental insights gleaned secure; nurtured and cared for; confident in their data. from my International Positive Education Network identity. This process focused on students, staff, »» Allowed me to request participant permission so I (IPEN) colleagues guided this process, such as the parents and the wider community and is a live can use the data for publishing this research once importance of placing the initial focus on staff document that has continued to evolve over the we have year-on-year findings in 2017. g wellbeing and PLD so that they became confident course of this year. Later in the year we also surveyed student wellbeing, with key terms and practices, to measure wherever Next we surveyed staff wellbeing. While many working as a team together to create a purpose- possible, to start slowly in order to reassure staff we schools currently use the Wellbeing@School built online survey with questions taken from ERO’s weren’t going to add to their burden, and to harness teacher survey it evaluates schoolwide climate and Wellbeing Indicators. parent, staff and student voice wherever possible. practices, whereas we wanted to investigate staff’s In terms of in-class resources we decided (in The first step was to appoint two Wellbeing personal and collective wellbeing. conjunction with the cluster’s leadership team and Champions for each school (Mount Pleasant Primary, Employing the Assessment of Wellbeing in the wellbeing champions) to limit our focus to two Heathcote Valley School, Redcliffs School, Sumner Education (AWE) evaluation tool we measured staff aspects of wellbeing promotion during this first year: School and Our Lady Star of the Sea School). wellbeing across all five schools and within each systematic and evidence-based character education These teachers were given classroom release time school independently using both qualitative and and an introduction to mindfulness. for professional learning and development in positive quantitative methodology. While New Zealand schools have an admirable education. We came together as a cluster for two While AWE is a relatively new measure of staff history of promoting school values these are often three-hour PLD sessions in the first term, then three wellbeing and has yet to be empirically validated, chosen based on their fit with an acronym relating to hours per term thereafter. it comes from one of New Zealand’s leading school culture. We also took over the Bays Cluster combined staff psychometric researchers, Dr Aaron Jarden, and meetings each term for full staff PLD on wellbeing offered us a number of advantages: Continued on next page >>

This article is sponsored Skylight’s Travellers programme offers a range of supports for vulnerable young people, and aims to develop protective factors for those experiencing change, loss and transition events and early stages of emotional distress.

Guidance counsellors engage and he programme offers selected students eight • provide targeted support or intervention for empower Travellers students in small group to ten 90 minute group sessions, run during students who might otherwise go under the settings to: class time. The sessions feature modules radar T • increase student engagement, connectedness • Safely explore difficult change, loss and which are built around the metaphor ‘Life is a school transition experiences Journey’. and learning achievement • Develop personal resilience, support circles Funded by the Ministry of Health as part of Skylight’s Travellers programme uses the results and new confidence New Zealand’s Suicide Prevention Strategy, of a short, confidential, online wellbeing survey, • Learn to navigate through difficult life the Travellers programme continues to expand which all Year 9 students at a participating school situations in safe, adaptive ways throughout the country. Skylight launched Travellers complete. Over 100,000 students have taken • Learn to manage thoughts, emotions and in 2001 and it has now been introduced in over 220 the Wellbeing Survey since 2001, providing an behavior New Zealand schools. incredibly rich data resource and incomparable • Improve their learning outcomes and Today students face increasingly complex life insights into the lives of young New Zealand teens achievement at school situations and research indicates higher rates of over the last 15 years. Skylight has always been committed to adapting, emotional and mental health difficulties than in The data reveals the 5 major life events which updating and improving elements of the previous decades. Schools report growing numbers consistently have the greatest impact: programme to provide the best outcomes for of students who are preoccupied by stress, anxiety, • the death of someone close students, schools and facilitators. Travellers’ lack initiative, fear failure and deal with it poorly, • separation or divorce in the family effectiveness is evaluated on a 3 year cycle and a lack of self-esteem that sabotages their • loss of an important friendship and has undergone 4 independent evaluations, ability to engage or learn. • illness of someone close most recently in 2016 by the Collaborative Trust • moving from another country Building student resilience helps tackle these research group to explore short and medium challenges successfully because it develops the Training for Travellers occurs in a two-day workshop, term outcomes of the programme. They found competence to adapt well in the face of adversity. most often with school guidance counsellors but that Travellers is an intervention that is helpful Travellers assists schools to: may include other pastoral care staff, such as year for students, with facilitators reporting increased • understand the current emotional wellbeing, Deans, RTLBs, School Health Nurses and Youth confidence in students’ ability to cope, deal with hauora, and health of students Workers. The training is facilitated by Travellers stress and anxiety, and express their views and • have unequalled, proven tools to identify staff from Skylight. Those who train in Travellers feelings in front of others. vulnerable students who need resilience experience it as the students would, to offer them development the best insights into running the programme. To learn more see www.travellers.org.nz or contact Skylight: 0800 299 100 or [email protected]

Views expressed in Gazette Focus are not necessarily those of the Ministry of Education. 11 Wellbeing

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While not wanting to detract from the importance personifying each of the 24 individual character direction of each of the five schools, as well as regular of school values, Positive Education advocates for a strengths was created by Mt Pleasant librarian Tracey team planning and evaluation. more systematic and scientific approach to character Hull. One of the main strengths of the programme development. This latter initiative provided an incredibly useful comes from the collaboration across the five local Schools and society in general have long been resource that can be accessed by all teachers, not just schools, providing the opportunity to share best- interested in the cultivation of good character, those at the Bays Cluster schools, allowing staff to practice (a positive psychology validated intervention but it wasn’t until 55 distinguished scientists got quickly select an age-appropriate book to provide an known as ‘What went well?’) on character education together at the turn of the century that any scientific easy entry point for discussing any of the 24 strengths and mindfulness, achieved by once-a-term meetings study into what ‘character’ is and how it can be (see goo.gl/nZrrxm). that will continue to be dedicated to these important promoted occurred. Following a three-year project in Feedback from staff suggested that the greatest topics. consultation with these scientists, Martin Seligman value to come from using the VIA classification of 24 2017 will be a period of consolidation as the school and Chris Peterson came up with a definition of character strengths was twofold: firstly it provided leaders and Wellbeing Champions work towards character and a framework of 24 character strengths a shared language around which to explore and embedding these practices to ensure wellbeing that were universally valued across cultures and promote character across and within the five schools; is promoted through effective and sustainable demographics. secondly it allowed all staff and students to spot and systems in these schools. This will of course involve Their work enabled subsequent empirical discuss positive resources/assets in every member of an ongoing process of inquiry and evolution, but research showing that intentionally applying these every classroom, broadening positive attention to all ultimately, we believe that looking after staff and 24 strengths has significant positive consequences: students. Teachers were supported to use deliberate student wellbeing will support every student to using character strengths buffers against mental acts of teaching to engage students to use their become a confident, connected, actively involved H illness, predicts greater levels of wellbeing, improves character strengths in the key competencies. lifelong learner. relationships, enhances physical wellbeing, and even Mindfulness was introduced to the five Bays Cluster Dr Lucy Hone, a research associate at AUT University, improves academic outcomes. schools by my colleague John Quinn who ran several represents New Zealand in the International Positive The Bays Cluster character education programme PLD sessions training the staff in mindfulness, paying Education Network. www.ipositive-education.net. kicked off with all staff going online to take the VIA particular attention to the benefits it offers student She is presenting at NZ’s Inaugural Positive Education Survey of Character Strengths, a free scientific survey and staff wellbeing (including increased focus, conference on Friday 10th March 2017 (see on character strengths that has been rigorously decreased anxiety, engagement in learning, recognise http://positiveeducation.nz/pec17) and reduced stress, and restoring a sense of calm to validated and used internationally. Once staff had the classroom). identified their top five ‘signature strengths’ from the References For the duration of 2016 staff were supplied online test, these were shared, spawning interesting Education Review Office (2013).Wellbeing for with resources and given the option to implement conversations about mutual character strengths and Success: Draft Evaluation Indicators for Student mindfulness in their classrooms, but from 2017 these how individuals used them to promote wellbeing and Wellbeing. Wellington, New Zealand. schools are planning to use the MindUp mindfulness resilience in their own lives. Noble T & Wyatt T (2008). Scoping Study into programme is going to be used in a more systematic As the VIA Youth survey is validated for identifying Approaches to Student Wellbeing. Final Report. fashion. MindUp is a teaching and learning framework the character strengths profile among children over Canberra: Department of Education, Employment aimed at increasing knowledge about the brain, 10, all year 7 and 8 students also took the online test, and Workplace Relations. Retrieved from https:// providing resources for ‘brain breaks’ and mindfulness which provided them the opportunity to identify docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/ practices to help focus attention and regulate individual and classroom strengths. scoping_study_into_approaches_to_student_ behaviour in the classroom. Using the VIA as an organisational framework wellbeing_final_report.pdf. allowed a shift in school culture from an implicit focus What’s next? Robinson P (2016). Practising Positive Education: A on students and staff strengths to embrace an explicit Having focused our attention on PLD and providing guide to improving wellbeing literacy in schools. systematic and evidence-based approach. The VIA’s 24 resources to promote character education and Sydney, Australia: Positive Psychology Institute Pty. strengths are gradually becoming visible in all aspects mindfulness in these schools in the first three terms Schonert-Reichl K A, Oberle E, Lawlor M S, Abbott of school operations and practices. of this year, we took the opportunity in term 4 to take D, Thomson K, Oberlander T F & Diamond A For example, across the cluster, application of stock and seek staff voice via a SWOT analysis of the (2015). Enhancing cognitive and social-emotional any of the character strengths is recognised with programme so far. development through a simple-to-administer classroom reward systems (jars are labeled with This inquiry informs our plans for taking the mindfulness-based school program for elementary different strengths and used for ‘strengths spotting’), programme forward in 2017, but we are looking to school children: A randomized controlled assemblies are dedicated to single character strengths, the implementation of MindUp to help systematically trial. Developmental psychology, 51(1), 52-66. new entrant parents are directed towards the VIA introduce the theory and findings of Carol Dweck’s doi:10.1037/a0038454 survey and asked to write a short biographical sketch Growth Mindset work across all staff next year. We Seligman M E & Csikszentmihalyi M (2000). highlighting their child’s strengths, strengths provided will be working with students and staff to remove Positive psychology. An introduction. a fresh angle for the year 7/8 annual debating any Americanisations from the character strengths The American psychologist, 55(1), 5-14. competition (‘my strengths are better than yours’) language and resources and ensure that wellbeing is doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.5 and a brilliant Pinterest library showcasing books explicitly included in the overall goals and strategic

Supporting student wellbeing schools to deliver ‘non-cognitive skills’ such as Travellers programme Sparx academic behaviours (attending and participating), Skylight’s Travellers programme offers support for Funded by the Ministry of Health, SPARX is therapy in perseverance (grit and self-discipline), mindset (feeling vulnerable young people. Funded by the Ministry of the format of an online game and aims to help young a sense of belonging within an academic community Health as part of New Zealand’s Suicide Prevention people struggling with difficult emotions. and believing that ability and competence can grow Strategy, Skylight operates resilience programmes for SPARX is a clinically tested, evidence based online with effort), learning strategies and social skills. young people as a not-for-profit, charitable trust. game targeted at 12 – 19 year olds (but can be of This online programme breaks down these skills into The Travellers programme uses the results of a interest to younger students also) and is designed to short (5-7 minute) videos, each introducing a single short, confidential online wellbeing survey to assess help them feel better. concept. Students then answer some simple questions students’ personal concerns. The data provides a The game uses cognitive behavioural therapy to help to help put a personal context around the idea they’ve snapshot of the wellbeing of the student cohort and young people change how they think about things just been introduced to, and parent and teacher enables targeted support. and how they behave which leads to improvements in resources are also included. To date, more than 100,000 students have completed how they feel. While Passion Arena has only recently launched, it the wellbeing survey since 2001 and it has provided Passion Arena is already being trialled in two prominent Auckland incomparable insights into the lives of young Passion Arena is a programme that aims to support schools and is receiving positive feedback. New Zealand teens.

Views expressed in Gazette Focus are not necessarily those of the Ministry of Education.