52

Chapter 4 53

Positive Education
Professor Martin Seligman
Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology,
Director of the Positive Psychology Center,
University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Alejandro Adler
Director of International Education,
Positive Psychology Center, University of Pennsylvania

Education Committee

Dr. Abdulla Al Karam

Knowledge and Human Development Authority of Dubai

Professor Kai Ping Peng

Tsinghua University, Sir Anthony Seldon, University of Buckingham

Sir Anthony Seldon

University of Buckingham

Professor Lea Waters

The University of Melbourne

The committee members wrote drafts about PE in their regions of the world but
were not responsible for the report as a whole. We are grateful to all of the follow-
ing people who provided information about their projects: Hector Escamilla, Angela
Duckworth, Donald Kamentz, Roger Weissberg, Justin Robinson, Mathew White,
Yukun Zhao, Emily Larson, Jo Maher, Ye Hong, David Cooperrider, Steve Leventhal,
and Tal Ben-Shahar.
Schools are the primary place where the values “happiness.” Second, measures of unhappiness,
of a culture get instilled in young people. To the typically depression and anxiety. Third, measures
extent that teachers convey pessimism, distrust, of academic success.
and a tragic outlook on life, their students’ world-
There are a number of validated ways of
view will be thus fabricated. To the extent that
disaggregating measures of happiness or
teachers transmit optimism, trust, and a hopeful
well-being, both for adults and children. The
sense of the future, this will positively influence
most widely used one for adults is the satisfaction
their students’ perception of the world. The
with life scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin,
theme of this entire volume is that hope, trust,
1985), but this is not used often with school
and happiness cause better well-being, and so
children with one noteworthy exception: The
the guiding hypothesis of Positive Education
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and 54
(“PE” hereafter) is that positive schools and
Development’s (OECD) 2015 Programme for
positive teachers are the fulcrum for producing
International Student Assessment (PISA) included 55
more well-being in a culture.
life satisfaction measures in the core items of its
This chapter reviews the state of PE across global exam, which the OECD conducts every
the globe as of the end of 2017. Throughout three years in over 70 countries. Another way to
the chapter we underscore the components of slice the happiness pie is between hedonic (felt
what we consider the best practices: rigorous pleasure) and eudaimonic (purpose-oriented)
ongoing evaluation, analyses of effect sizes and well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2001). PERMA (Seligman,
intervention duration, cultural adaptation of 2011) is an acronym for Positive emotion,
evidence-based interventions, treatment fidelity Engagement, Good relationships, Meaning, and
measurements, and the promotion of teacher Accomplishment and is measured in children by
empowerment and creativity to refine local EPOCH (Kern, Benson, Steinberg, & Steinberg,
interventions. 2016) and in adults by the PERMA-Profiler (Butler
& Kern, 2016) and by Comprehensive or Brief
Here is the outline. First, we define “Positive
Inventories of Thriving (Su, Tay, & Diener, 2014).
Education” and so limit this chapter’s scope to
programs and schools that teach validated PE Unhappiness is typically measured by depression
interventions and measures. Second, we discuss inventories: the Children’s Depression Inventory in
the interventions and measures most commonly children (Kovacs, 2004) and the Beck Depression
used. Third, we survey the spread of PE across Inventory or Center for Epidemiologic Studies
the world alongside evidence that PE increases Depression Scale in adults and analogous anxiety
the traditional goals of schools (literacy numeracy, inventories for children and adults (Beck, Steer, &
and science) as well as building well-being. Brown, 1996; Radloff, 1977). While lowering
Finally, we discuss some serious cautions as well depression and anxiety is a goal of PE, it should
as guidelines for the future. be noted that unhappiness in the sense of
depression and anxiety does not exclude happiness
(the correlation is much lower than -1.0 (Rezaee,
What is Positive Education? Hedayati, Naghizadeh, Farjam, Sabet, & Paknahad,
2016)) but rather it merely hinders happiness.
The goal of PE is to produce both well-being as
Hence decreasing pathology is an important,
well as to forward the traditional outcomes of
albeit incomplete, goal of PE.
schooling. This goal is too broad, however, since
many programs and many schools have such a Academic success measures are typically
goal. To make our review wieldy and useful, we national standardized exam scores or grade
will limit the scope of PE to schools and programs point averages.
that actually measure outcomes and also use a
Interventions. We limit the scope of the
replicable set of validated interventions to
programs we review below to those that use
achieve those outcomes.
several of the following reasonably well-validated
Measures. Three kinds of measures are important interventions (for meta-analyses of positive
for evaluating PE. First, measures of “happiness,” interventions and their validation, see Sin &
which must be decomposed into elements Lyubomirsky, 2009 and Boller, Haverman,
less vague than the highly ambiguous term, Westerhof et al, 2013):
Global Happiness Policy Report 2018

•W  hat Went Well (Seligman, Rashid, & Parks, the Bhutanese Ministry of Education’s explicit
2006). In this intervention students record mission is to “Educate for Gross National
typically three events that went well today Happiness.” The Bhutanese Ministry of Education
and why they went well. collaborated with the Positive Psychology Center
• Gratitude Visit (Emmons, 2007). Students at the University of Pennsylvania to co-develop a
write a letter of gratitude and read it to the GNH Curriculum that targets ten positive “life
source. skills,” including many in the list above, for
• Active, Constructive Responding (Gable, Reis, secondary school students (grades 7 through 12).
Impett, & Asher, 2004). Students learn to The curriculum taught these skills in a 15-month
respond constructively to another person’s stand-alone course and imbedded them in
victories. existing academic subjects.
• Character Strengths (Peterson & Seligman,
All principals and teachers from 11 treatment
2004). The students identify and use good
schools received training during a 10-day GNH
character and their signature strengths in a
Curriculum training retreat. The trainers were
new way.
psychologists from the University of Pennsylvania
• Best Self (Roberts, Dutton, Spreitzer, Heaphy,
and nine trained staff members from Bhutan’s
& Quinn, 2005). Students write about their
Ministry of Education; a training manual (Educating
best selves and proudest moments.
for GNH) was used. The trainers taught principals
• Meditation and Mindfulness (Davidson et al.,
and teachers how to practice and how to teach the
2003). Students practice one or more of the
ten life skills. Teachers were also trained to infuse
various mediation and mindfulness techniques.
their academic subjects (e.g., math, science,
• Empathy training (Bryant, 1982). Students
reading) with the ten life skills. Literature, for
learn about and use empathy techniques.
instance, was taught through a “GNH lens” by
• Coping with emotions (Deci & Ryan, 2010):
identifying strengths and virtues in characters from
Students identify, understand, and manage
novels and by encouraging students to use these
their emotions, particularly positive emotions.
strengths in their daily lives. Further, all students in
• Decision-making (Albert & Steinberg, 2011).
the intervention group participated in botany
Students learn to choose the best action
practices in organic gardens in every one of the 11
plans from available options.
school campuses. They learned to plant, grow, and
• Problem-solving (Steinberg, 2014). Students
harvest vegetables and other foods. By studying
use effective heuristics to solve theoretical
the plants’ physiology, genetics, ecology, classifica-
and practical problems.
tion, structure, and economic importance, students
• Critical thinking (Marin & Halpern, 2011).
learned how to interactively apply what they were
Students conceptualize, synthesize, apply,
learning in their biology, chemistry, physics, and
and evaluate information as a guide to beliefs
mathematics classes to their botanic practices.
and actions.
Furthermore, through the complex process of
growing different plants with their fellow students
and understanding the role of food in the larger
Positive Education across the Globe local and national economic system, they learned
to practice critical thinking, creative thinking,
Asia
decision making, and problem-solving skills.
Bhutan. We begin with Bhutan because the first
In the classroom, teachers learned how to give
solid evidence that PE simultaneously increases
students verbal and written feedback in a way
well-being and national standardized exam
that empowered and motivated them to enhance
performance emerged there (Adler, 2016).
the quality of their work. Teachers learned the
Bhutan is a small Himalayan country with fewer
importance of identifying and noting what
than one million inhabitants, and it uses Gross
students were doing right in their classwork,
National Happiness (GNH) rather than Gross
instead of only highlighting what they were
Domestic Product (GDP) to assess national
doing wrong, which is typical of pedagogical
progress and to drive public policy (Ura & K. Galay,
practices in most secondary schools. The 11
2004). In line with this, Bhutan has organized its
schools in the treatment group implemented the
education system around the principles of GNH;
GNH Curriculum from June 2012 to August 2013.
The GNH Curriculum significantly increased An upward shift of 0.53 standard deviations
adolescent well-being (as measured by the (SDs) in standardized exam performance means
EPOCH scale) in treatment schools, compared to that, on average, students who were performing
control schools (Cohen’s d = 0.59, t(16) = 3.54, at the 50th percentile before the intervention
P=0.002). The difference between treatment performed at the level of students in the 60th
schools and control schools remained significant percentile after the 15-month intervention. That is
one year after the intervention ended. roughly equivalent to a gain of a full academic year.

Bhutan’s Ministry of Education has decided to

take the program to a national scale and is
currently on a path to implement the curriculum
Figure 1 in every public secondary school in the country 56
(Adler & Seligman, 2016).
Youth Well-being (EPOCH) 57
China

PE is quickly spreading in China. It seems to

be popular not only because it is congenial
to traditional Chinese philosophies, but also
because the Chinese education system may be
in search of a paradigm shift. On the one hand,
the Chinese education system is enormously
successful. It produces the most engineers in
the world and Chinese students consistently
perform outstandingly in math and sciences
compared to other countries. On the other hand,
however, the Chinese education system mainly
relies on authoritarian discipline to achieve that
The GNH Curriculum increased academic
academic success. This may result in the loss of
achievement significantly in treatment schools,
interest of students in studying, in ever-growing
compared to control schools (Cohen’s d = 0.53,
conflicts between students and parents as well
t(16) = 2.37, P=0.031). The difference between
as teachers, and, worst of all, rampant depression
treatment schools and control schools remained
and anxiety in the students.
significant one year after the intervention ended.
Positive education may be the right antidote for
the dilemma; since it focuses on both individual
well-being and academic learning.

Figure 2 Zengcheng. In 2014, the city of Zengcheng

(now part of Guangzhou), Guangdong province,
Standardized Test Scores in Bhutan launched the largest program to date in China.
Under the supervision of Ms. Ye Hong, then Vice
Mayor, more than 10,000 school principals and
head teachers were trained in positive education
by the Positive Psychology Research Center of
Tsinghua University (PPRC). Martin Seligman also
lectured to the educators of Zengcheng in 2015.

As of October 2017, Mayor Ye Hong reports that

350 - 400 kindergartens, primary schools, junior
high schools, and senior high school have used
Positive Education in Zengcheng, involving
260,000 students. 80,000 teachers have been
trained in PE.
Global Happiness Policy Report 2018

Mayor Ye Hong reports that from teachers’ point India

of view, measured career devotion is higher and
CorStone is an internationally recognized
teaching methods have improved – they are
nonprofit organization. Its mission is to provide
more flexible and more effective. From the
evidence-based resilience programs to improve
students: academic performance is higher on
mental and physical health, increase academic
graduation exams in grades 9 and 12 compared
achievement, and reduce poverty among
to 2016, when the rate at which students were
marginalized youth. Since 2009, CorStone has
admitted to key universities was 28.1%, while in
reached more than 40,000 beneficiaries in India.
2017 it has gone up to 41.2%. In the past, an
Projects have included a randomized controlled
average of 7 to 8 students committed suicide
trial among 3,600 school children in a rural
every year; in 2017, only one. Zengcheng has
setting; and implementations for 11,000 highly
spent 21,500,000RMB (about US $4,000,000)
marginalized girls in more than 100 residential
annually on PE, comprised of 1,500,000RMB on
government-run schools.
research and 20,000,000RMB on training.
Children’s Resilience Program for Girls (CRPG);
Beijing. In 2012, the Bureau of Education of
Surat, Gujarat, India, 2011-2012
Beijing funded the 19th Middle School of Beijing
CorStone conducted an observational trial of the
to build a model of “happy education.” They
CRPG in urban schools among approximately
combined positive psychology with traditional
500 girls with matched controls in Surat, India.
Chinese philosophy to design courses, train
The program was led by community facilitators
teachers, and remodel school culture. Three years
among high-poverty, low caste, urban
later, their rate of first-class college entrances
slum-dwelling girls. Qualitative reports indicated
rose from 69.6% in 2012 to 75% in 2015.
that girls found the CRPG to be highly enjoyable
In 2015, Ms. Dou Guimei, the principal of Tsinghua and relevant to their daily lives. Additionally,
University Primary School (TUPS) decided to roll program attendance predicted greater increases
out a Positive Education program designed by in optimism and prosocial behavior and decreases
the Positive Psychology Research Center (PPRC) in behavioral problems. These changes remained
of Tsinghua University. This marks the first 8-months after the program’s completion (all p’s
attempt of a school practicing positive education < 0.05; Leventhal, Gillham, et al., 2015).
in collaboration with an expert team with a
Girls First, Patna, Bihar, India, 2013-2014.
rigorous research background and empirically
Corstone followed with a large randomized
grounded theoretical guidelines. TUPS is one of
controlled trial (RCT) in rural Bihar, India, one of
the most famous elementary schools in China,
India’s poorest states. The trial integrated resilience
and this sends a strong message to the Chinese
training with training in adolescent health. Called
education community that PE has been accepted
“Girls First,” the trial was conducted in 76 rural
by the mainstream schools.
government schools for 7th and 8th grade girls
To further disseminate PE, PPRC also launched during the school day by trained community
a non-profit program called “Happy Gardener” facilitators. The program began with 22 resilience
(Gardener is the common metaphor of teacher sessions (Girls First Resilience Curriculum or RC),
in China) that trains school principals for free, followed by 20 adolescent health sessions (Girls
thanks to the Beijing Happiness Foundation. First Health Curriculum or HC). The program
The program has trained more than six hundred included sessions meant to improve psychosocial
principals, who went to Tsinghua University for resilience, including character strengths, emo-
a five-day training in PE. tional regulation, benefit-finding, goal-setting,
planning, communication, and problem-solving.
The fourth China International Positive Psychology
Conference, held during August 2017, was Results showed that the resilience curriculum had
co-hosted with the International Positive Education significant positive effects compared to controls
Network (IPEN) and mainly focused on PE. on psychosocial indicators such as emotional
Empirical data on effectiveness were presented. resilience, self-efficacy, social-emotional assets,
psychological well-being, and social well-being
(Leventhal, Gillham, et al., 2015).
Girls First - KGBV; Bihar, India 2015-2017 At the national level, the Government of the UAE
During 2015 to 2017, CorStone trained over 150 launched a pilot in PE during September 2017
school teachers to deliver Girls First to 11,000 teachers and leaders from a sample of 10 public
girls in more than 100 KGBV schools (Kasturba schools received Positive Education training. Based
Gandhi Balika Vidhyalayas or KGBVs) in 5 districts on the results to be seen 18 months from now, the
of Bihar. KGBV schools are special residential Government may choose to scale up the program
institutions established by the Indian government to cover all public schools across the UAE. This
for marginalized low caste or minority girls at program is being implemented in partnership with
risk for trafficking, early marriage, and lack of the Institute of Positive Education at Geelong
schooling. Assessments at pre- and post-test Grammar School in Australia, United Arab Emirates
indicate significant changes on psychosocial and University, and the University of Melbourne.
physical health indicators. 58
As Dubai’s regulator of private schools in Dubai,
There are 3,500 KGBV schools across India, the Knowledge and Human Development 59
including 500 KGBV schools in Bihar, in all Authority (KHDA) oversees the growth of quality
serving over 300,000 adolescent girls in grades education for more than 90% of Dubai’s school
6-8. In 2018, CorStone plans to begin the scale- students. Inter-school collaboration has been
up of Girls First - KGBV throughout Bihar as well fostered by the What Works Dubai series of
as expand the program to KGBV schools in at workshops over the past five years.
least 2 additional states in India.
The KHDA commenced a long-term partnership
with the Government of South Australia’s
Middle East
Department of Education and Childhood
United Arab Emirates (Dubai) Development to further develop the assessment
and analysis of student well-being in all private
“What is the purpose of government if it does not
schools in Dubai. The Dubai Student Well-being
work toward the happiness of the people? It’s the
Census commenced in November 2017 and
duty and role of the government to create the
covered all children in Grades 6 to 9 at private
right conditions for people to choose to be happy.”
schools in Dubai – about 70,000 students
— H. E. Sheikha Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi
altogether. Every Dubai private school received
(Simmons, 2017)
a report that enabled the community - as policy-
This quote from the UAE’s Minister of State for makers and educators - to put together more
Happiness, H. E. Sheikha Ohood bint Khalfan Al targeted, evidence-driven policies to improve
Roumi, encapsulates the drive of the leadership student well-being. Future plans include the
of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) towards analysis of teacher well-being and correlating
broader goals than simply economic growth and that with the well-being of students.
community engagement. Her main responsibility
While surveys provide an understanding of the
is to harmonize all government plans, programs,
current well-being of students at schools, teachers
and policies to achieve a happier society
and administrators require resources to develop
through the National Programme for Happiness
activities to promote student well-being. Toward
and Positivity.
this end, a ‘memorandum of friendship’ was
The UAE’s National Agenda aims to position the signed in February 2017 between KHDA and the
UAE as one of the happiest countries in the International Positive Education Network (IPEN)
world. In the 2017 version of the World Happiness to establish IPEN’s first regional branch.
Report, which ranks 155 countries by their
One specific example is that of a new Dubai
happiness levels, the UAE ranked 21st in the
private school that has established itself on the
world and was the happiest country in the Arab
premises of PE. Every single teacher at the school
region (Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs, 2017). Positive
received rigorous training in Positive Education.
education in schools throughout the UAE will
A well-being department was established with
play a critical role in helping to improve the
three counselors in addition to an in-house PE
nation’s happiness by encouraging the well-be-
team. Explicit PE classes are taught as part of
ing of students at schools and by helping chil-
the school curriculum and parents are invited to
dren develop positive character attributes.
attend regular PE sessions.
Global Happiness Policy Report 2018

Many other of Dubai’s private schools already with Positive Education, using “21st skills” together
have well-developed programs in place to with the most virtuous of Islamic values to
support student well-being. These programs fit promote equality, progress, and societal thriving.
across Australia’s Institute of Positive Education They have chosen to plant the seeds for a new
model (Learn It, Live It, Teach It, Embed It) that future, with 2030 as the ambitious year by which
brings positive education to life in a school and the transformative investments they make in
places well-being at the heart of education Positive Education, starting in 2018, will bear
(Hoare, Bott, & Robinson, 2017). fruits for a new generation of young, productive,
ethical adults. The Positive Psychology Center of
•L  earn It: A number of workshops by
the University of Pennsylvania will be partnering
members of IPEN, such as the Institute of
with the Ministries of Education of both the
Positive Education in Australia and Action
KSA and Jordan to cultivate the whole-nation
for Happiness in the UK have been delivered
Positive Education initiatives that these two
for parents and schools in Dubai to over
leaders are pioneering.
500 teachers.
•L  ive It: For example, one school has
Australia
developed a mindfulness and well-being room
to help students mentally and emotionally by Positive Education Frameworks
focusing on positivity. The room has smart
Geelong Grammar School’s Institute of Positive
tablets loaded with guided meditation
Education.
routines and a gratitude tree for students to
In 2014, Geelong Grammar School (GGS) became
display what they are thankful for. The
the first school in the world to open an on-campus
#100DaysOfPositivity initiative, designed
research, training, and development institute
by the National Programme for Happiness
dedicated to Positive Education: The Institute
and Positivity in collaboration with KHDA,
of Positive Education. In the four years since its
encouraged schools to do something positive
launch, the Institute has grown to a team of
every day for 100 days and share it on Twitter
16 individuals and has delivered more than
and Instagram.
200 training courses to educators in Australia
•T  each It: Approximately 30% of Dubai private
and internationally.
schools have now allocated full time staff to
focus on student and teacher well-being. More than 10,000 teachers, representing more
•Embed It: A Mindfulness Collective convenes than 1,000 schools from around the world have
at least 15 schools on a regular basis to attended the Institute’s training courses. As the
collaborate and share existing programs in participants of these courses return to their
schools, collect evidence to demonstrate best schools, the benefits of Positive Education have
practices, and provide support for schools been experienced by well over 250,000 students.
who would like to implement mindfulness
The Institute has immersion courses, with modules
programs in the future.
on Positive Emotions, Flow, Positive Relationships,
Positive Education in the UAE is viewed as an Gratitude, Resilience, Help-seeking, Character
important contributor to the overall happiness Strengths, Positive Purpose, Curiosity, Kindness,
of the nation. This will help to fulfil the remarks Hope, and Meaningful Work.
made by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin
GGS was the first school in the world to pioneer
Rashid al Maktoum that:
a whole-school Positive Education program and
“Yes, we seek to make people happy, and making this was made possible by Professor Martin
people happy will be our objective and mission Seligman and his training team living at GGS for
until it becomes a permanent and deep-rooted six months in 2008. The Institute has delivered
reality” (Al Maktoum, 2017). courses and supported schools in every state
and territory of Australia, and, increasingly, is
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Jordan delivering trainings in Asia, Europe, and the
Middle East.
The Crown Prince of the KSA, Mohammad bin
Salman, and the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, have Since 2012, it has been a condition of employment
the joint objective of infusing their two countries at GGS that all existing employees and any new
employee to the school participates in a three- plishment, as a guiding framework. Flourishing
day residential, immersion course to ensure a arises from these five elements, which are
common knowledge and common language is underpinned by character strengths.
maintained across the school. All parents at GGS 2. Intervention. The School aims to build an
are also made aware of the principles of PE, with evidence-based culture of well-being, which
more than 200 parents choosing to participate in specifically targets students, staff, and
the annual two-day training courses delivered by parents. All employees receive ongoing
the Institute. training in positive psychology. Specific PE
programs have been implemented into the
Students at GGS have participated in the current
curriculum, co-curricular activities, staff
curriculum which consists of more than 250
training, leadership, and other aspects of the
explicit lessons, totaling more than 200 hours of 60
school’s culture.
curricular content. The University of Melbourne
3. Parents. Scientifically informed workshops
has recently completed an independent, three- 61
for parents are now being offered, to further
year longitudinal study of the effectiveness and
support the well-being of the community.
impact of the GGS Positive Education program.
4. Measurement. A defining component of
• Year 9 students within the GGS Positive
SPSC’s approach involves measuring and
Education program, relative to control
documenting the process and impact of
students, experienced significantly improved
PE efforts.
mental health (decreased depressive and
anxiety symptoms) and well-being (e.g., life By 2017 over 8,500 students have now studied at
satisfaction, positive emotions, engagement, least 4 to 5 of PE programs. An entire generation
and meaning). of boys has gained preventative skills for mental
• Year 10 students showed significant increases health and character development. St Peter’s
in levels of growth mindsets, meaning, and College now teaches positive education classes
hope compared with control students and once a week from ELC through Year 10.
significantly higher levels of well-being, social
In 2016, 934 students (year 5-12) completed a
relationships, heart rate variability, and
third well-being survey. Students continued to
physical health at the end of the school year.
score highly in most areas. However, it is clear
• Over the three-year study, GGS students,
that they are now more accepting of admitting
relative to comparison students, reported
when they are not doing well, enabling them to
significantly higher levels of life satisfaction,
get the help they need to feel and function
happiness, gratitude, and perseverance
better. Discussing mental health and well-being
St Peter’s College – Adelaide, South Australia, is now seen as the ‘new normal’ for boys at St
Australia. Peter’s College. Students are expressing the
growing sense of responsibility to look out for
Established in 1847, Australia’s St Peter’s College
one’s “mates” and to ask for help when needed.
– Adelaide (SPSC) is one of the world’s leading
schools for boys aged 3 – 18 years. Under the Building Resilience is the result of a partnership
Headmastership of Simon Murray, SPSC integrated between the Victorian Government and the
Positive Education into all aspects of school life. University of Melbourne, led by Professor Helen
Cahill and launched in 2015 under the Government’s
In 2012 and 2013, St Peter’s College partnered with
strategic plan to reduce alcohol and drug use in
the Positive Psychology Center at the University of
students. Building Resilience provides teachers
Pennsylvania to train all 250 employees in the
with an online portal of activities and resources
latest science of positive psychology, resilience,
designed to help students make good decisions
and well-being. The School has used a whole-
when faced with life’s challenges. Although the
school, evidence-based approach towards PE.
framework focuses more on reducing negative
This involves three targeted areas:
states (i.e., drug and alcohol use), a closer look
1. Strategy. The School has included well-being
shows that the program incorporates numerous
as a central part of its strategic plan since
positively-oriented topics including positive
2011. The school uses the PERMA model of
relationships, optimism, strengths, social-emotional
well-being: positive emotions, engagement,
learning and mindfulness. The framework is
positive relationships, meaning, and accom-
Global Happiness Policy Report 2018

being used in schools in the State of Victoria University of Melbourne, led by Dr Tan Chyuan
with from prep to year 12 students. Chin and Professor Dianne Vella-Brodrick. The
Wellbeing Profiler is a 30-minute online survey
The Visible Wellbeing framework was launched
administered in schools on the six domains of
in 2015 by Professor Lea Waters. It is a whole-
youth well-being of physical, psychological,
school framework based on six key pathways
cognitive, social, economic, as well as emotional
that can be taught in schools: 1) strengths; 2)
well-being and strengths. The Wellbeing Profiler
emotional management; 3) attention and aware-
has measured the well-being of over 20,000
ness, 4) relationships; 5) coping; and 6) habits
Australian students and has partnered with 61
and goals.
Victoria schools.
Visible Wellbeing has three key goals: 1) building
student well-being; 2) enhancing student learning Positive Education Associations, Conferences,
and 3) building well-being for staff and faculty. and Research Centers in Australia
The program involves all staff and faculty receiving
The major association in Australia is the Positive
professional development run by trained facilitators
Education Schools Association (PESA), which
at school, combined with ongoing coaching, an
was formed in 2012. Mr. Simon Murray is the
on-line portal, student activities and a Visible
Chairman of PESA, Anne Johnstone, head of the
Wellbeing survey to track the well-being of both
Ravenswood School is vice-chair. and Professor
the students and adults in the school (http://
Lea Waters is the Ambassador. PESA aims to
www.visiblewellbeing.org/).
facilitate collaboration amongst teachers, students,
Visible Wellbeing training has been delivered in researchers, and practitioners of well-being and
Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Canada positive psychology across all aspects of school
reaching over 25,000 students and more than life. PESA now has over 1,000 members from
3,500 teaching and non-teaching staff. Empirical more than one hundred schools all across
testing of the impact of Visible Wellbeing is Australia (Public/State Schools, Parochial/
currently being evaluated; pilot testing showed Catholic Schools, and Private Schools).
significant, positive results.
The Australian Positive Psychology and
KidsMatter and MindMatters was developed in Well-being Conference has been running biennial-
2006 and offers whole-school mental health ly for the past ten years and has been hosted by
frameworks to primary and secondary school Sydney University, Monash University, Wollongong
students. The aim of the ‘Matters framework’ is University, Melbourne University, and the South
to teach students the skills to build engagement Australian Health and Medical Research Institute,
and connectedness. The program is nation-wide respectively. The Australian Positive Education
and is funded by the Australian Government’s Summit was run biennially from 2008-2014
Department of Health together with partnerships co-hosted by Sydney University and The Positive
with the Australian Psychological Society, Principals Psychology Institute. With the advent of the
Australia, and Australian Rotary Health Positive Education Schools Association, this
(https://www.mindmatters.edu.au/ conference was taken over by PESA in 2014 and
https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/primary). is now run annually.
An evaluation of the KidsMatter framework by Australia has two major research centers that are
university researchers across 96 schools in promoting the science of Positive Education
Australia found that schools that implemented both nationally and internationally: The Institute
the program with high quality had higher for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian
academic performance of up to 6 months’ Catholic University and the Centre for Positive
worth of schooling compared to schools that Psychology, University of Melbourne. The Centre
implemented the KidsMatter program poorly for Positive Psychology runs the only Master of
(Dix, Slee, Lawson & Keeves, 2012). Applied Positive Psychology in the southern
hemisphere and also offers a Professional
Measuring Student Well-being Certificate in Positive Psychology.
The Wellbeing Profiler was developed by
researchers at the Centre for Positive Psychology,
Latin America and North America

Educación para el Bienestar in Jalisco, Mexico.

Figure 3
Jalisco is one of 32 states in Mexico. It has a
population of about eight million people, and it Youth Well-being (EPOCH) in Jalisco, Mexico
has a relatively high level of economic develop-
ment, compared to other states in Mexico. The
current governor of Jalisco, Aristoteles Sandoval,
declared it his mandate to make Jalisco Mexico’s
first state of well-being (bienestar). The University
of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center
partnered with Jalisco’s Ministry of Education to 62
conduct a Positive Education random assignment
63
controlled trial (RCT) with the Colegio de Estudios
Científicos y Tecnológicos del Estado de Jalisco
(CECYTEJ), or College of Science and Technology
Studies of the State of Jalisco’s 70 schools.
After the empirical positive effects of the The Bienestar Curriculum substantially and
Positive Education 70-school (RCT) the Ministry significantly increased academic performance.
of Education has taken the program to a state- As illustrated in Figure 4, longitudinal school-
wide scale. level analyses of standardized test scores from
Even though the life skills that this initiative February 2014 and February 2016 showed that
teaches are analogous to those in the GNH the Bienestar Curriculum increased academic
Curriculum in Bhutan, the content and structure achievement significantly in treatment schools,
of the curriculum was fully adapted so that it compared to control schools (Cohen’s d = 0.36,
resonates with the context and culture of local t(68) = 2.61, P=0.01).
principals, teachers, and students. The Currículum
de Bienestar was co-developed with local principals
and teachers from non-CECYTEJ schools (to
ensure a single-blind study) as well as with staff Figure 4
trained in curricular design from Jalisco’s Ministry
of Education. Standardized Test Scores in Jalisco, Mexico

The Bienestar Curriculum significantly increased

student well-being. As illustrated in Figure 3,
longitudinal school-level analyses of survey data
from August 2014 and December 2015 indicate
that the Bienestar Curriculum significantly
increased adolescent well-being (as measured by
the Spanish-version of the EPOCH scale) in
treatment schools, compared to control schools
(Cohen’s d = 0.41, t (68) = 3.01, P<0.001).

The strongest predictors of increased performance

on standardized test scores, controlling for initial
academic performance were higher connectedness,
more perseverance, and more engagement.
These were the same three factors that mediated
academic gains in Bhutan (Adler, 2016).
Global Happiness Policy Report 2018

Escuelas Amigas in Peru The Paso a Paso Curriculum significantly increased

academic performance. As illustrated in Figure 6,
In November 2013, the University of Pennsylvania’s
longitudinal school-level analyses of test scores
Positive Psychology Center partnered with the
on the ECE from November 2013 and November
Peruvian Ministry of Education and the World
2015 showed that the Paso a Paso Curriculum
Bank to run the largest education controlled trial
increased academic achievement significantly in
(RCT) in the region’s history. Minister Saavedra’s
treatment schools, compared to control schools
goal was to choose 700 representative schools
from Peru and to randomly assign them to
receive a novel curriculum with a well-being focus
or to receive a placebo control curriculum (to
control for demand artifacts). The World Bank Figure 6
collected data throughout the project, and the
Ministry of Education implemented the program. Standardized Test Scores in Peru

Just as in Jalisco, Mexico, the content and structure

of the curriculum was adapted so that it resonated
with local principals, teachers, and students. The
study eventually included 694 secondary schools
with almost 700,000 students from all over Peru
(grades 7 – 12).

The Paso a Paso Curriculum significantly increased

student well-being. As illustrated in Figure 5,
longitudinal school-level analyses of survey data
from March 2014 and July 2015 indicate that the

(Cohen’s d = 0.19, t(694) = 2.45, P=0.014).

The same three factors were the strongest

Figure 5 predictors of gains on standardized test scores:
higher connectedness, more perseverance, and
Youth Well-being (EPOCH) in Peru
more engagement (Adler, 2016).

While this chapter is focused on primary and

secondary education, it must be mentioned that
Mexico founded the first entire university devoted
to Positive Education. Hector Escamilla, as
President of Universidad Tecmilenio in Mexico
serves 52,000 university students on their
29 campuses across the country. Central to
Tecmilenio is the premise that well-being and
happiness are teachable and should pervade the
curriculum. The vision is “to prepare people with
a purpose in life and with the competencies to
achieve it. We define ourselves as a Positive
University: ‘A learning community that cultivates
Paso a Paso Curriculum significantly increased
the best of each person allowing them to flourish.
adolescent well-being (as measured by the
To foster leadership within an ecosystem dedicated
Peruvian Spanish-version of the EPOCH scale) in
to well-being and happiness’” (Escamilla, 2017).
treatment schools, compared to control schools
In their ongoing evaluation, Tecmilenio students
(Cohen’s d = 0.24, t(692) = 2.81, P=0.004).
are showing significant increases in PERMA, as
well as in mindfulness and gratitude.
United States help teachers and their students develop
strengths of heart, will, and mind.
CASEL.
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Each Playbook will:
Emotional Learning (CASEL) has been the •c  ommunicate essential scientific facts
leading voice in studying, defining, and promoting with clarity
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) for the last •p  rovide strategies that make exercising the
20 years (www.casel.org). CASEL concentrates strength easier and more rewarding
on five interrelated sets of cognitive, affective, • s tructure opportunities to practice strategies
and behavioral competencies. with feedback
• Self-awareness. The ability to accurately • invite teachers into a community where they
recognize one’s emotions and thoughts and can ask and answer questions 64
their influence on behavior. •e  ncourage teachers to benefit personally
• Self-management. The ability to regulate before helping their students. 65
one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors
These Playbooks have several features that
effectively.
distinguish them from existing resources to
• Social awareness. The ability to take the
develop character. They are
perspective of and empathize with others.
•c  o-created by world-class scientists and
• Relationship skills. The ability to establish and
world-class educators
maintain rewarding relationships with others.
• informed by an iterative process employing
• Responsible decision making. The ability to
best practices in design thinking
make constructive and respectful choices.
• infused with beauty and delight
A major review of 213 experimental-control •a  ligned with basic human motives to exercise
group studies of K-12 students who participated choice, develop competence, and help others
in SEL programs demonstrated: • digitally-delivered and provided free of charge.
• Improved social and emotional skills,
The Shipley School.
self-concept, and bonding to school,
• Less disruptive classroom behavior, aggression, It was the first school in the United States to
bullying, and delinquent acts; and adopt a whole-school Positive Education trans-
• Reduced stress and social withdrawal. formation. Collaborating with the University of
Pennsylvania, Shipley uses a “Learn, Live, Teach,
Students also performed better on achievement
Embed” model for every adult who works at
tests where scores averaged 11 percent higher than
Shipley, including administrators, teachers, and
students who did not receive SEL programming
staff (Shipley “colleagues”). After every Shipley
(Durlak et al., 2011). A recent meta-analysis
colleague learns and lives well-
(Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017)
being skills, they will be able to teach them
reviewed 82 SEL interventions involving 97,000
explicitly to students and embed them in every
students and confirmed these findings. Participants
facet of the school, including existing academic
did better than controls on SEL skills across race
subjects. The program began with an eight-day
and SES, and these skills were the best predictors
training retreat for all Shipley colleagues during the
of well-being at follow-up. The effect sizes were
summer of 2017, right before the new academic
modest, but keep in mind that this is universal
year, which included a training of Shipley trainers.
prevention: all students get the interventions
The measurement of well-being and academic
whether or not it is indicated.
performance has begun.
Character Lab.
United Kingdom
Angela Duckworth founded the Character Lab at
the University of Pennsylvania following her After Prime Minister David Cameron in 2010
pioneering research on the relationship between announced the United Kingdom would measure
grit and academic performance (Duckworth, National Well-being alongside GDP (Cameron,
Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007). This is a 2010), there have been many studies about how
well-funded research organization that intends to these data could be used for public policy. For
publish empirically validated “playbooks” that will example, the O’Donnell (2014) Report shows how
Global Happiness Policy Report 2018

well-being data could be used to improve the The UK findings of the 3-year study involving
cost-benefit analysis of all public policies, with the 4,000 students, taught universally (not targeted)
results already in hand showing the importance of at 21 secondary schools in Manchester, South
mental health for both adults and children. Tyneside, and Hertfordshire.
•T he quantitative work found a significant
Gutman and Vorhaus (2012) found that students
improvement in:
with higher well-being had better later academic
– pupils’ depression symptom scores
achievement and engagement in school and
– school attendance rates
scored 2.46 points higher on national tests than
– academic attainment in English
those with lower well-being (Gutman & Vorhaus,
– anxiety scores
2012). This is the equivalent of one term’s
–m athematics attainment concentrated in
advancement.
a few groups of pupils
• The
 impact varied by pupil characteristics
Schools with a larger impact for:
In 2006, one of the first schools to fully integrate – pupils entitled to free school meals
positive education in the UK was Wellington –  students who had worse initial symptoms
College under the leadership of Sir Anthony of depression or anxiety
Seldon. During his time at Wellington, Sir Anthony
Research results in 3 Hertfordshire primary
and his team, led by Ian Morris, created a
schools produced outcomes in line with other
6-pronged curriculum to increase well-being
studies.
teaching: physical health, positive relationships,
•S
 ignificant improvement in pupils’ depression
perspective, engagement, living sustainably, and
scores
meaning and purpose. During their time at
•S
 ignificant improvement on their anxiety
Wellington, students received one hour of
scores
well-being training every two weeks. (Kebble, 2015).
•S
 uggestions that the depression and anxiety
How to Thrive and Healthy Minds have been improvements were slighter better for girls
highlighted in the UK and are currently working than boys
with many British schools.
A sizeable positive impact on behavior scores for
both boys and girls, but no effect on prosocial
Healthy Minds behavior. Beyond the positive impact on academic
The Healthy Minds Project, aimed at empowering performance, the effects of How to Thrive
young people to lead happier and more prosocial showed decreases in ill-being but no increases
lives , and led by How to Thrive in partnership in well-being, since the focus was on resilience
with the London School of Economics and rather than on well-being.
Political Science, is currently being piloted for
In 2014 Lord James O’Shaughnessy, a leading
more than 10,000 students across 33 secondary
figure in the policy and implementation of
schools in the U.K. over a period of four years
character education in the UK, set up a string of
(Centre for Economic Performance, 2016).
primary schools that were built from the ground
up with a focus on well-being and character. Most
How to Thrive of the exemplars in PE exist in the secondary
How to Thrive is an organization set up in the school context; however, Floreat has been a
UK based on the Penn Resiliency Program of the shining example that positive education does not
University of Pennsylvania.

Teachers Trained Students Impacted Evaluation of Program Parents Trained Money Spent on
Training + RCTs

5,000 150,000 3-year evaluation; 3,500 £2.5 million

see summary below
have an age limit; rather, the younger the that Buckingham was to become the UK’s first
students learn how to look after their well-being, Positive University (Grove, 2017).
the better their outcomes later in life. Floreat
started with one primary school in Wandsworth Evaluations
and has now expanded to 4 schools around
The UK has taken the evaluation of programs
greater London.
around character and well-being very seriously. In
Moving from secondary and primary schools to 2011, The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)
higher education, Sir Anthony Seldon became was founded by Sutton trust with a £125 million
the Vice-Chancellor of Buckingham University funding grant from the Department for Education.
in 2015. He has taken with him his passion for In total, EEF projects are working in 4,500 schools
creating an ethos of well-being that is at the and reaching 630,000 pupils (What Works 66
heart of education. Sir Seldon announced in 2016 Network, 2014). In 2013 EEF released a report on
67

Table 1: Summary of Findings on Non-Cognitive Skills

Note. From Morrison & Schoon (2013) “The Impact of non-cognitive skills on outcomes from young people:
Literature review.,” Institute of Education.
Global Happiness Policy Report 2018

The impact of non-cognitive skills on outcomes

for young people (Morrison & Schoon, 2013).

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)

has funded a number of programs in the UK on
character education, totaling approximately £10
million and reaching 1,000 schools and 65,000
children (Education Endowment Foundation, 2017).

Below is a summary of several ongoing programs

yet to be evaluated that are related to PE.

There are many research institutions in the

United Kingdom which have advanced the
science of positive education including: London
School of Economics, The Behavioral Insights
Team, Healthy Minds, Education Endowment
Foundation, University College London, What
Works Wellbeing and the Legatum Institute.

Perhaps the most influential is the Jubilee

Centre for Character and Virtues. Founded in
2012 by Professor James Arthur, the Jubilee
Centre for Character and Virtues is a major hub
for empirical and politically neutral research,
guides on implementation and now courses in
positive education.

Program & Delivery Description

Organization

Changing Mindsets A test of Dweck’s theory of ‘growth mindset,’ which suggests that intelligence is a
Portsmouth University malleable quality that can be improved through effort, not a fixed entity. This project
will evaluate two models: teacher delivery and university students teaching primary
school pupils about growth mindset theory.
Engage in Education A project providing small group and one to one support for pupils in Years 9 and 10 at
Catch22 high risk of exclusion. Targeted pupils receive training in areas such as emotional
literacy and communication, with the aim of improving behavior, attitudes to learning
and school engagement.
Improving Talk and A project that aims is to develop confident, articulate speakers, and to improve
Listening School21 & classroom talk in order to foster better thinking and attainment by giving speaking the
Cambridge University same place in the curriculum as reading and writing. The project will develop a set of
interventions that schools can use to boost pupils’ speaking skills.

Youth Social Action Trial A project in secondary schools that encourages children to undertake challenging
Secondary Youth United activities, volunteer in the community, and learn new skills. This project will test how
Foundation far such extra-curricular activities impact on engagement, attainment and non-cogni-
tive skills such as motivation, confidence and team-working.

Promoting Alternative A primary school project that covers topics such as identifying and labelling feelings,
Thinking Strategies controlling impulses, reducing stress, and understanding other people's perspectives.
Manchester University
The Good Behaviour A project that aims to improve behavior in primary school, particularly by encouraging
Game Mentor good group behavior, and self-control. This study builds on promising evidence from a
Foundation UK trial in the US, which found attainment, improved levels of progress on leaving school,
and improved health outcomes.
Accelerating Positive Education to advance PE in bold and innovative ways
Worldwide •L
 ead to transforming early childhood, K-12,
and higher education schools into positive
A World Positive Education Accelerator on June institutions.
25-28, 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Overview
Consisting of the International Positive Education
Networks (IPEN) 2nd Festival of Positive We cannot help being impressed by the rapid
Education and an Appreciative Inquiry Summit, growth and widespread dissemination of Positive
the Accelerator will utilize the methods of Education worldwide. The number of teachers
Appreciative Inquiry to accelerate Positive and students impacted is staggeringly large and
Education around the globe. At the event, over we believe that this growing trend will continue 68
1,200 stakeholders from nearly two dozen and likely accelerate. We are hopeful that the
countries will elevate the strengths of positive result will be higher well-being and higher school 69

education and design the spread and deployment achievement for many millions of school children.
of future PE impacts (thus “accelerating” Positive We are mindful, however, of the long history of
Education). fads in education and we do not want Positive
Education to be yet another fad. So, we have
The backstory: In December 2016, the Stiller some suggestions about how to make the gains
Family Foundation gifted $1 million to Champlain sustainable.
College to launch the envisioning and convening
of a Positive Education Summit. The funds were The first, and by far and away most important
directed to the David L. Cooperrider Center for one, is ongoing rigorous evaluation. What
Appreciative Inquiry in the Stiller School of separates modern work on happiness from the
Business at Champlain College, which partnered well-intended programs of the past is good
with IPEN. science and good measurement. The presence of
science and measurement justifies some of the
A critical first step to the Accelerator was the enthusiastic uptake of Positive Education, but
Steering Committee Meeting at Champlain the popularity creates the danger of outstripping
College on September 14-15, 2017. The Steering the science. In addition to ongoing measurement,
Committee had 105 members from 17 countries: we underscore that:
The Netherlands, Spain, Singapore, Mexico, the •M  uch more evidence is needed on the reality
United Kingdom, South Africa, Egypt, Brazil, of the well-being enhancements and the
Canada, Nepal, France, Chile, Australia, UAE, academic achievement enhancements that
Belgium, Costa Rica, and the United States. It seem to be produced.
included teachers, students, headmasters, •S  erious cost-benefit analyses are needed on
researchers, CEOs, consultants, philanthropists, the programs, and this depends on the effect
and foundations. The team collaboratively sizes and duration of the well-being enhance-
designed the June 2018 event by: identifying ments and the academic achievement
critical stakeholders, planning the engagement improvements that seem to be produced.
of these stakeholders; establishing event tasks • Improvement and cross-validation of measures
and objectives; and thinking about long-term is needed. When a school system, to say
outcomes of the Summit. nothing of a government, endorses happiness
The Cooperrider Center and IPEN intend for the as a value, there is a lot of incentive to game
2018 event to: the system and produce data that confirm
• Generate a vision for advancing Positive the endorsement. Less obtrusive and less
Education across diverse stakeholder groups reactive measures are needed, and big data
• Elevate all the innovations that are already techniques (e.g., Eichstaedt, Schwartz, Kern,
working in the fields of education and positive et al, 2013) can now provide complementary
psychology validation to questionnaires.
• Create a model process for countries to host •T  reatment fidelity measurement must be
more focused national summits on PE done for the execution of interventions. Are
• Launch prototype models around the world the teachers actually delivering what is
specified in the manuals?
Global Happiness Policy Report 2018

•M
 ore creativity on the part of teachers should
be allowed. Moving the happiness needle may
follow from merely measuring happiness
before and after interventions and by telling
teachers that they are accountable for building
well-being. Teachers should use their own
knowledge of the students and their creativity
about what makes their students happy to
design local, creative, and contextually
resonant interventions.
While these are rather serious guidelines and
warnings, we believe that we are actually in the
midst of a revolution in education. We believe
that Positive Education will likely produce
increasingly rigorous results that reinforce this
educational paradigm, and, most importantly, a
generation of happier and more knowledgeable,
skillful youth – children and adolescents better
equipped to create a happier world.
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