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Integrating Wellbeing and Positive Psychology in Education: A Path to Happiness

This study explores the importance of incorporating wellbeing and positive psychology in school curriculum. It discusses the motivations for happiness, traps in seeking it, and positive psychology interventions like gratitude and mindfulness. The text emphasizes the significance of kindness, compassion, and connection in fostering happiness and proposes practical strategies for better coping and self-compassion. It challenges traditional education systems by suggesting a shift towards nurturing emotional skills, promoting optimism, and identifying and applying strengths. The article advocates for a holistic approach to education that prioritizes mental wellness and emotional intelligence alongside academic achievement.

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Integrating Wellbeing and Positive Psychology in Education: A Path to Happiness

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  1. Should Wellbeing and Positive Psychology be in our Curriculum? Dr Tony Fernando Psychiatrist, Senior Lecturer Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences University of Auckland a.fernando@auckland.ac.nz

  2. Sleep Study of NZ senior High School Students (n=1388) Fernando et al 2013

  3. Medical and Nursing students (n= 745) samaranayake Fernando arroll et al 2013

  4. Positive Psychology

  5. Positive Psychology • Key people • Martin Seligman, Barbara Frederickson, Sonja Lyubomirksy, Ed Diener • Richard Davidson

  6. What motivates us? • Why are you in your profession? • Why did you marry? Or not marry? • Why are you in this conference? • Why Langham? • We do things because we just want to be happy (avoid pain/ suffering)

  7. All of us want to be happy

  8. What do you most want for your children? (Seligman) • Happiness • Confidence • Contentment • Fulfilment • Love • Health • WELLBEING

  9. What do schools teach? • Success • Discipline • Literacy • Science • Math • Analytical skills • Preparation for Workplace

  10. Looking back, what skills did I miss out in my own education? • Emotion skills- managing disappointments, frustrations, losses • Accepting our individuality (strengths, weaknesses) • Practical skills- dating, cooking, DYI, managing money • Flipside: • Compassion and service to others

  11. Circuitries for happiness

  12. Traps in our search for happiness • Focus on fragile external conditions (appearance, status, possessions) • Expectations*** • Habituation and Pleasure Treadmill • Money- how much do we need to be happy? • Emotions***

  13. Emotions/ Feelings States • Positive Emotions • Fleeting • Not sticky; easily forgotten • Negative Emotions • Very powerful • stick like tar; “negativity bias” • Being negative, a bit%# is not fun for us AND makes everyone else feel bad

  14. Positive psychology Interventions • Gratitude • Mindfulness, living in the moment • Kindness and Compassion • Self compassion • Religion and Spirituality • Dealing with negative thinking

  15. Better coping strategies • Flow experiences • Committing to goals • Physical exercise • Optimism • Identifying and applying strengths

  16. Gratitude • Turbo charger of happiness scores • Easiest, most do-able • Most popular

  17. Gratitude exercises • Gratitude diary at night for 6-8 weeks; 3-5 things; once a week versus nightly • Three good things exercise (Strath Haven High School Positive Psychology Curriculum) • Write 3 good things that happened daily for a week • Why did this happen? What does it mean to you? How can you have more of this good thing in the future?

  18. Mindfulness Mindfulness • Continuous awareness of the present moment, accepting and without judgment • Development of “mind’s eye” • Not HIJACKED by negative thoughts/ emotions/ judgments • Emotional fitness • Awareness of the process and not going inside the story • Enhanced through practice of Mindfulness Meditation- formal and informal • 2 components of the practice: • Attention • Emotional Regulation

  19. Mindfulness meditation • Can be applied in most activities- eating, walking from carpark to office, washing the dishes, folding clothes… • Practice, practice, practice • Not different from trying to be physically fit • Antidote: Expectations, negative emotions, habituation • Foundation for Kindness, Compassion and Connection

  20. Mindfulness Meditation Iphone App: Mindfulness Mentalworkout Free online meditation guide: calm.auckland.ac.nz Auckland U: Auckland Hospital Support Building, Thursday evenings 5:30 PM, room 80, Level 12 facebook page: Auckland University Meditation Group Many groups around Auckland

  21. Kindness, compassion, connection • Evolved capacity

  22. Kindness, Compassion and connection • Desire to connect • Desire to be accepted • Desire to alleviate other’s suffering

  23. Barriers to compassion

  24. Kindness, Compassion and connection • From most religious traditions: • Golden rule • “if you want to be happy, practice compassion” • “true happiness consists in making others happy”

  25. Kindness, Compassion and connection • How can you develop genuine kindness? • See everyone else ( even other creatures) as similar to you • Truly understand the other person from other perspectives • Mental Exercises to increase compassion: • calm.auckland.ac.nz (guided meditations)

  26. Self compassion (lack of) Tendency to beat ourselves up Perfectionism Unforgiving stance

  27. Self-compassion (self-compassion.org)

  28. Should or Can we teach positive psychology/ wellbeing in schools?

  29. Penn resiliency Programme (seligman)teachers, coaches, staff, students

  30. University of Auckland Medical School new Curriculum

  31. Educational Focus? • Apart from cognitive development and job preparation, • How much are we teaching/ modelling • gratitude? • calm? • connection? kindness and compassion? • self compassion? • Or perfectionism? Ruthless competitiveness? Achievement at all costs?

  32. Self development readings/ resources • www.calm.auckland.ac.nz • Compassionate Mind- Paul Gilbert • How of Happiness- Sonja Lyubomirsky • Positivity- Barbara Frederickson • Happiness- MatthieuRicard • Peace is Every Step- ThichNhatHanh • The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work- John Gottman • http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.eduwebsite on Positive Psychology • self-compassion.org

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