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EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF A POSITIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM ON THE WELLBEING OF ADOLESCENT
GIRLS
Madonna Ahern Diploma Arts/Humanities (Griffith University), Bachelor
Education (Griffith University), Graduate Diploma Religious Education (Australian Catholic University),
Master of Education (QUT).
Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
Office of Education Research
Faculty of Education
Queensland University of Technology
2017
Keywords
Female adolescents; positive education program; positive psychology; positive psychology program; transition; wellbeing.
Abstract
Positive psychology is a relatively new science, still in its formative stages with
limited studies on female adolescents as well as studies on adolescents in general.
Researchers in the area of positive psychology are calling for more empirical studies
in this area, particularly in the area of adolescent wellbeing, as there is a gap in this
area with mostly non-quantitative evidence available to date. This study contributes
to lessening the gap by providing evidence from a longitudinal study on five
evidence-based positive psychology constructs used in a wellbeing program for
adolescent girls in their first two years of secondary school.
Australian secondary schools in the 21st century are being called on by governments,
parents and educators to adopt a paradigm for education which includes wellbeing
alongside academic pursuits. The 21st century is emerging as the century of the
preventative approach to disease, compared with the treatment of disease being the
focus in the 20th century. This preventative approach, which is also viewed as a
strengths approach, is a major tenet of the relatively new science of positive
psychology. This new branch of psychology focuses on the scientific enquiry into the
factors that promote wellbeing and assist people in leading lives that are flourishing
rather than languishing. Positive education can be described as the application of
positive psychology to education. There is increasing global interest in the
application of positive psychology and positive education to the area of wellbeing. In
Australia, there is also a growing interest in the science of positive psychology and
how it can be applied to achieve more successful educational and wellbeing
outcomes for students.
This study examines the impact of a wellbeing program taught to adolescent girls in
their transition year of secondary school (Year 8) and the following year (Year 9).
The researcher is the author of the program and female adolescents were chosen as
participants because the all girls’ school is the researcher’s workplace. The study is
underpinned by the theoretical frameworks of positive psychology and
constructivism. The purpose of implementing a positive education program is to
equip students with skills and strategies to assist their wellbeing, while placing them
at the centre of their learning, thus allowing them to construct new knowledge by
building on their existing knowledge and experiences. This study’s wellbeing
program is based on positive psychology and is known as the positive education
program (Pos-Ed). It was implemented in a single sex girls’ Catholic school in
Brisbane, Australia. It comprised five main positive psychology constructs: character
strengths, gratitude, flow, savouring and mindfulness. There were three central
research questions for the current research project:
1) What are the short-term and long-term changes in the level of wellbeing that
adolescent girls experience in the Pos-Ed program?
2) What are the experiences of adolescent girls in the Pos-Ed program at the end
of the first and second years of the program?
3) Have any observed changes been consistent, or strengthened, over the two
years of the program (Years 8 and 9)?
In order to gather responses to these questions, a mixed-method, multiphase research
design was chosen and conducted over a two-year period. There were seven phases
in this study which comprised the collection of quantitative data at three different
time points and qualitative data at two different time points to evaluate the positive
education program over a two-year period. The quantitative data comprised phases
one, four and seven. Participants completed a survey before, immediately after, and
one year after completing the program. The survey used was the online Social
Emotional and Health Survey (SEHS-S) for secondary school students (Furlong,
2014). This survey was developed as an instrument to investigate the social and
emotional wellbeing of adolescents. The qualitative data comprised phases three and
six and consisted of two focus groups. The phases are listed below:
Phase 1 Pre-Test SEHS-S Survey Beginning Year 8
Phase 2 Pos-Ed program Year 8
Phase 3 Focus Group 1 End Year 8
Phase 4 Post-Test SEHS-S Survey End Year 8
Phase 5 Pos-Ed program Year 9
Phase 6 Focus Group 2 End Year 9
Phase 7 Post Post-Test SEHS-S Survey End Year 9
The focus groups were used to gather the participants’ experiences of the Pos-Ed
program. The first focus group was conducted at the end of the transition year (Year
8) with six students, and the second group was conducted with five students at the
end of the second year of secondary school (Year 9). Seven questions formed the
basis of the discussion in each group. The data from each group was analysed using
Creswell’s (2009) Eight Steps Model (discussed in Chapter 5).
The researcher examined both sets of data results, and additionally examined both
sets together to arrive at the results discussed in Chapter 8. The results indicated that
the participants in this study transitioned to secondary school with existing high
levels of wellbeing, and these high levels remained stable for the transition year
(Year 8). There was, however, a small dip revealed in the quantitative data for the
second year (Year 9), although still within an acceptable range. In contrast, both sets
of qualitative data revealed that the participants transitioned successfully to
secondary school and the Pos-Ed program was contributing to their wellbeing. This
study offers secondary schools considering adopting a positive psychology approach
valuable information on a positive education program as a program to assist student
wellbeing.
Table of Contents
Keywords .................................................................................................................................. i
Abstract .................................................................................................................................... ii
Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................v
List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... ix
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................x
List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. xi
Statement of Original Authorship .......................................................................................... xii
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... xiii
Chapter 1: Overview ............................................................................................ 1
1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................1
1.2 Female Adolescent Wellbeing ........................................................................................3
1.3 The Current Positive Psychology Program .....................................................................4
1.4 Positive Psychology Constructs chosen for the Positive Education Program ................6
1.5 Research Program Outline ..............................................................................................6 Phase 1: Pre-test. ..................................................................................................7 1.5.1 Phase 2: Year 8 program implementation. ...........................................................8 1.5.2 Phase 3: Focus group 1. ........................................................................................8 1.5.3 Phase 4: Post-test. .................................................................................................8 1.5.4 Phase 5: Year 9 program implementation. ...........................................................8 1.5.5 Phase 6: Focus group 2. ........................................................................................9 1.5.6 Phase 7: Second post-test. ....................................................................................9 1.5.7
1.6 Significance of the Research Program ............................................................................9
1.7 Contributions of the Research Program ........................................................................10
1.8 Synopsis of Chapters ....................................................................................................12
Chapter 2: Literature Review Part 1 ............................................................... 15
2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................15
2.2 Adolescence ..................................................................................................................15
2.3 Early Adolescence ........................................................................................................16
2.4 Female Adolescent Wellbeing ......................................................................................21
2.5 The Emergence of Positive Psychology .......................................................................26
2.6 Exploring Positive Psychology .....................................................................................29 Learned helplessness. .........................................................................................30 2.6.1 Positive psychology. ...........................................................................................30 2.6.2 Challenges and critics of positive psychology. ..................................................33 2.6.3 Positive psychology and the PERMA model. ....................................................36 2.6.4 Covitality and the Social Emotional Health Survey – Secondary (SEHS-2.6.5
S). 37
2.7 Positive Psychology and the Current Research Project ................................................40
2.8 Character Strengths and Virtues ................................................................................... 42 Definition. .......................................................................................................... 42 2.8.1 Classification. .................................................................................................... 43 2.8.2 Ways to enhance using strengths with adolescents. ........................................... 44 2.8.3
2.9 Gratitude....................................................................................................................... 46 Definition. .......................................................................................................... 46 2.9.1 Gratitude and student wellbeing. ....................................................................... 46 2.9.2 Ways to enhance gratitude in adolescents. ........................................................ 47 2.9.3
2.10 Flow ............................................................................................................................. 48 Definition. .......................................................................................................... 48 2.10.1 Ways to enhance flow in adolescents. ............................................................... 49 2.10.2 Flow and teachers. ............................................................................................. 50 2.10.3
2.11 Savouring ..................................................................................................................... 51 Definition. .......................................................................................................... 51 2.11.1 Ways to enhance savouring in adolescents. ....................................................... 52 2.11.2
2.12 Mindfulness .................................................................................................................. 52 Mindfulness research. ........................................................................................ 53 2.12.1 Ways to enhance mindfulness in adolescents. ................................................... 54 2.12.2
2.13 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 55
Chapter 3: Literature Review Part 2 ............................................................... 57
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 57
3.2 Wellbeing and Schools ................................................................................................. 57
3.3 Positive Psychology: Wellbeing and Schools .............................................................. 58
3.4 Positive Psychology Programs ..................................................................................... 60
3.5 Programs that Address Adolescent Wellbeing from a Preventative, Proactive Approach ................................................................................................................................ 61
Positive Educational Practices (PEPs). .............................................................. 61 3.5.1 AEIOU: Academic, Emotional Intelligence, Optimising performance, 3.5.2
Understanding you. ............................................................................................ 62 Evidence-based life coaching for senior high school students: Building 3.5.3
hardiness and hope. ............................................................................................ 62 The Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP). ................................................... 64 3.5.4
This 64 The Geelong Grammar School Project. ............................................................. 65 3.5.5
3.6 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 67
Chapter 4: The Positive Education Program .................................................. 69
4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 69
4.2 Positive Education ........................................................................................................ 69
4.3 Pos-Ed: A Positive Psychology Program ..................................................................... 71
4.4 Pos-Ed: A Positive Education Program For Adolescent Girls ..................................... 71 Program Origin. ................................................................................................. 71 4.4.1
4.5 Program Planning ......................................................................................................... 72 Researcher as the author of the program. ........................................................... 72 4.5.1 Program design. ................................................................................................. 74 4.5.2 Training for teachers implementing the program. ............................................. 76 4.5.3
4.6 Program Implementation .............................................................................................. 77
Program delivery. ...............................................................................................79 4.6.1 Examples of lessons. ..........................................................................................80 4.6.2 Examples of activities. .......................................................................................81 4.6.3
4.7 Summary .......................................................................................................................83
Chapter 5: Research Design and Theoretical Framework............................. 85
5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................85
5.2 Research Questions .......................................................................................................85
5.3 Research Design ...........................................................................................................86 Mixed methods approach: Strengths and challenges. .........................................86 5.3.1
5.4 Phases of the Study .......................................................................................................88 Quantitative phases. ............................................................................................88 5.4.1 Qualitative phases. ..............................................................................................95 5.4.2 Procedure. ...........................................................................................................96 5.4.3 Participants. ........................................................................................................97 5.4.4 Participant selection. ..........................................................................................97 5.4.5 Positive psychology program (Pos-Ed). ...........................................................101 5.4.6 Quantitative and qualitative data analyses........................................................102 5.4.7 Longitudinal results. .........................................................................................103 5.4.8
5.5 Issues in Data Collection ............................................................................................104 Researcher at the research site. .........................................................................104 5.5.1
5.6 Ethical Issues ..............................................................................................................106
5.7 Theoretical Framework ...............................................................................................107 Early adolescence: The trajectory point for the program. ................................107 5.7.1 Positive psychology: A theoretical position. ....................................................107 5.7.2 Constructivism. .................................................................................................108 5.7.3
Chapter 6: Analysis of the Quantitative Survey Data .................................. 111
6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................111
6.2 Results ........................................................................................................................111 Data screening. .................................................................................................111 6.2.1 Correlational analyses. .....................................................................................111 6.2.2 One-way repeated measure ANOVA. ..............................................................112 6.2.3
6.3 Developmental Changes .............................................................................................115 Self-Esteem issues. ...........................................................................................115 6.3.1 Depression rates. ..............................................................................................117 6.3.2 Transition to secondary school. ........................................................................118 6.3.3
6.4 Challenges Associated with Being a Year 9 Student: The Year 9 Factor...................120
6.5 Reference Bias ............................................................................................................124
6.6 Summary .....................................................................................................................125
Chapter 7: Analysis of Focus Groups ............................................................ 126
7.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................126
7.2 Data Analysis Time 1 .................................................................................................126
7.3 Results Time 1 ............................................................................................................127
7.4 Wellbeing ....................................................................................................................128 Gratitude. ..........................................................................................................130 7.4.1 Strengths. ..........................................................................................................131 7.4.2
Mindfulness. .................................................................................................... 133 7.4.3 Savouring. ........................................................................................................ 134 7.4.4 Transition. ........................................................................................................ 136 7.4.5
7.5 Summary of Focus Group 1 ....................................................................................... 139
7.6 Data Analysis Time 2 ................................................................................................. 140
7.7 Wellbeing ................................................................................................................... 141 Confidence. ...................................................................................................... 142 7.7.1 Gratitude. ......................................................................................................... 143 7.7.2 Strengths. ......................................................................................................... 145 7.7.3 Mindfulness. .................................................................................................... 146 7.7.4 Savouring. ........................................................................................................ 148 7.7.5 Transition. ........................................................................................................ 149 7.7.6
7.8 Summary of Focus Group 2 ....................................................................................... 150 Application of strategies to current and future lives. ....................................... 151 7.8.1 The Pos-Ed program: Suggestions for changes to the program. ...................... 152 7.8.2
Chapter 8: Discussion and Conclusion ........................................................... 153
8.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 153
8.2 Research Program ...................................................................................................... 153
8.3 Research Questions and Findings .............................................................................. 155
8.4 Implications for Practice ............................................................................................ 158
8.5 Contributions of the Study ......................................................................................... 162
8.6 Proactive Positive Education Programs ..................................................................... 164
8.7 Methodological Contributions ................................................................................... 165
8.8 Limitations ................................................................................................................. 166
8.9 Future Studies ............................................................................................................ 168
8.10 A Final Word ............................................................................................................. 170
References ............................................................................................................... 173
Appendices .............................................................................................................. 187 Appendix A: Notes of visits to schools............................................................ 187 8.10.1 Appendix B: Years 8 to 9 Overview of Positive Education Program 2013, 8.10.22014 ................................................................................................................. 190 Appendix C: Term Planner Year 8 ................................................................. 192 8.10.3 Appendix D: Term Planner Year 9 2014 Term 1............................................. 193 8.10.4 Appendix E: Year 8 Strengths Lesson ............................................................. 196 8.10.5 Appendix F: Lesson- Year 8 Strengths Revisited ............................................ 197 8.10.6 Appendix G: Lesson- Year 9 Strengths ........................................................... 198 8.10.7 Appendix H: Activity Year 8 Gratitude Activity ............................................. 199 8.10.8 Appendix I: Year 9 Gratitude Activity ............................................................ 200 8.10.9
Appendix J: Quantitative Survey .................................................................. 203 8.10.10 Appendix K: Consent Form .......................................................................... 224 8.10.11 Appendix L: Principal’s Approval ................................................................ 225 8.10.12 Appendix M: Focus Group 1- Information and Consent Form ..................... 226 8.10.13 Appendix N: Focus Group 2- Information and Consent Form ..................... 229 8.10.14 Appendix O: Parent Letter- Focus Group 1 .................................................. 233 8.10.15 Appendix P: Parent Letter Focus Group 2 .................................................... 234 8.10.16
List of Figures
Figure 5.1. Data analysis in qualitative research adapted from Creswell (2009). ... 103
Figure 7.1. Themes that emerged in the focus group discussion at Time 1. ............ 128
Figure 7.2. Themes that emerged in the focus group discussion at Time 2. ............ 141
Figure 8.1 Phases of the current study ..................................................................... 153
List of Tables
Table 1.1 Seven Phases of the Current Study .............................................................. 7
Table 2.1 The VIA Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues adapted from Peterson and Seligman (2004) ............................................................. 44
Table 4.1 Research and Training for Staff ................................................................. 74
Table 4.2 The Pos-Ed program (Current Study) ....................................................... 78
Table 5.1 Research Timeline for the Current Study ................................................... 88
Table 6.1 Correlations for the Four Underlying Co-vitality Components and Co-vitality .................................................................................................. 112
Table 6.2 Summary of Scores. ................................................................................. 113
Table 6.3 Percentages of Participants in Each Level of Covitality Scores .............. 114
Table 6.4 Transition Expectation and Experience by Gender as a Percentage of the Sample as Adapted from Waters et al. (2014) ..................................... 119
List of Abbreviations
AEIOU Academic
Emotional Intelligence
Optimising Performance
Understanding You
ANOVA One-way repeated measure
CBT Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
CHKS California Healthy Kids Survey
CoVi Covitality
GGS Geelong Grammar School
PEP Positive Educational Practices
PERMA Positive Emotion
Engagement
Relationships
Meaning
Accomplishment
Pos-Ed Positive Education
PPI Positive Psychology program
PRP Penn Resilience Program
PSFL Problem Solving for Life
RAP Resourceful Adolescent Program
RYDM Resilience/Youth Development Module
SEHS Social Emotional Health Survey
SEHS-S Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary
VIA Values in Action
VIA-IS Values in Action-Inventory of Strengths
VIA-Youth Valued in Action-Youth
QUT Verified Signature
Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to a number of people who assisted me in the completion of this
doctoral thesis:
I offer a very special thank you to my two supervisors, Professor Peter Boman and
Dr Amanda Mergler. They have both been outstanding in their professional
guidance, help, support and encouragement. They were always available for
assistance, and their prompt responses enabled me to keep progressing this study in
what, at times, seemed a long and challenging journey.
I am grateful to the principal of the school, Ms Alison Terrey, for allowing this study
to go ahead, and for her support and encouragement throughout.
To the middle leaders of the school who assisted me in gathering data, I offer my
thanks: Ms Deborah Lonsdale Walker, Mrs Madonna Kelly, Mrs Alison Larkings,
Ms Jo Brash-McPhee and Mrs Madonna Potter. I also offer my thanks to the college
psychologist, Ms Kathy James for her guidance, wisdom and support in relation to
assisting me in the development of the Positive Education program. I also thank Ms
Leanne Sorbello for her assistance. I am grateful to the students at school who
participated in the surveys and focus groups, and their parents for being supportive of
this study.
I am especially grateful to my husband, Mr Brad Ahern, for his support,
understanding, encouragement and patience throughout this time. I thank my son,
Nathan Ahern, and my daughter, Carmel Quinn, for their interest, support and
encouragement during this time.
Further afield, I am grateful to Professor Michael Furlong of the University of
California Santa Barbara for the online Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary
that I used for the quantitative section of the study.
At QUT, I am appreciative of the help given to me by Dr Emma Caukill in the final
stages of completing this study. I acknowledge that my thesis had the benefit of
structural/developmental editing and copyediting by Dr Karleen Gwinner, Senior
Research Assistant, QUT, following the Australian Standards of Editing Practice. I
am also very grateful for assistance by Ms Paege Bellett with final checking.
Chapter 1: Overview
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Australian secondary schools in the 21st century are being entreated by parents,
educators and concerned citizens to adopt a new paradigm for education (Gill, 2009;
Huitt, 2011; Ryff, 2003; Waters, Lester, & Cross, 2014). For too long, academic
models alone have dominated the education landscape, and success has been
associated with academic excellence (Norrish, 2015). 21st century education has been
conceptualised in a multi-dimensional way, and includes new technologies, new
pedagogies, a nationalised curriculum, open learning spaces and enhanced teacher
training. In addition, it is argued that schools play an important role in assisting
adolescents to develop cognitive, social, and emotional skills (Waters, 2011; Waters,
et al., 2014). As a result, a core component of 21st century schooling in both the
private and state sectors is the call for education to develop the whole student
through social, emotional, moral, and intellectual development (Cain & Carnellor,
2008; Huitt, 2011). The desire to educate the whole student has emerged out of a 21st
century world that is complex and challenging. Increasingly, the literature on
adolescent wellbeing suggests that a significant number of adolescents in the 21st
century struggle with mental health issues (Chaplin, Gillham, & Seligman, 2009).
Therefore, the wellbeing of adolescents is increasingly a salient concern for
educators in the 21st century.
The term wellbeing is contentious with diverse definitions available. Equally
challenging is finding consensus about what constitutes adolescent wellbeing, also
referred to as student wellbeing (Roffey, 2012). Despite this, Roffey (2012) offers
this working definition:
Optimal student wellbeing is a sustainable emotional state characterised
by (predominantly) positive mood, attitude and relationships at school,
resilience, self-optimisation and a high level of satisfaction with
learning experiences. (p. 19)
Another definition of wellbeing is that it is simply the combination of feeling good
and functioning well (Huppert & Johnson, 2010). This definition resonated with the
researcher in examining this concept. In the current study, wellbeing is examined
through the constructs of an increasingly important branch of psychology, namely,
positive psychology.
Positive psychology is a relatively new branch of psychology that is strength-based
and seeks to promote optimal development across a full range of human functioning
from disorder and distress to health and fulfilment (Linley & Joseph, 2004). It was
initiated by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1998, with the aim of
shifting the focus of psychology from a deficit approach to a proactive one. An
impetus for shifting the focus was Seligman’s realisation that psychology since
World War II, and had concentrated much of its efforts on human problems with a
focus on pathology (Peterson, 2006). Peterson (2006) argues that while great
achievements have been made in treating psychological disorders, an area that has
been neglected is the study of what can go right with people. The positive
psychology approach provided new knowledge about the ways in which individuals
can work towards positive outcomes for themselves in order to lead productive and
meaningful lives. The emphasis of positive psychology on wellbeing, flourishing,
character, meaning and virtue aligns strongly with the call for whole student learning
in 21st century education (Waters, 2011). The nexus between positive psychology
and wellbeing in adolescents is now starting to be explored.
In particular, adolescents today face an ever-changing, ever-complex world and this
complexity is taking its toll on adolescent mental health (Waters, 2011). For
example, recent research from America (Gilman, Huebner, & Furlong, 2009)
indicated that between 10 and 20 percent of young people will have had some form
of anxiety or depression by the age of 18. In 2008 in Australia, 25 percent of
adolescents self-reported experiencing symptoms of depression (Australian Bureau
of Statistics, 2008). More recently, these rising rates of anxiety and depression in
adolescents have been documented in the Report on the Second Child and
Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (2015). This Australian
government survey revealed that one fifth (19.9%) of adolescents had high or very
high levels of psychological distress, which was almost twice as high for females
(25.9%) compared with males (14.8%) (Lawrence et al., 2015). During early
adolescence, rates of depression begin a steady climb (Angold & Rutter, 1992;
Cohen et al., 1993; Hankin et al., 1998). What this data demonstrates is that while
many adolescents are not in the clinical range for poor mental health, a substantial
proportion are reporting mental health issues (Norrish & Vella-Broderick, 2009).
There is a need to investigate strategies and identify skills to build positive wellbeing
and hope in adolescents. Therefore, the research reported in this thesis examined a
program called the Positive Education program (Pos-Ed) that aims to equip female
adolescents with skills from a proactive approach to assist their wellbeing.
1.2 FEMALE ADOLESCENT WELLBEING
The wellbeing of female adolescents in schools is important, as research has
identified that levels of stress, anxiety, depression, psychological distress and other
mental health issues in adolescent girls is increasing (Deak, 2002, 2010; Lawrence, et
al., 2015; Twenge & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2002). In relation to female adolescent
development, researchers have identified higher levels of worry and oversensitivity
among girls compared to boys during early adolescence (Chaplin, et al., 2009). In
Australia, it was found that a low level of emotional wellbeing in adolescent females
was a risk factor for major depression, substance abuse and self-harm behaviour
(Patton et al., 1997). As mentioned above, a more recent Australian government
survey on mental health and wellbeing revealed that 25.9 percent of female
adolescents are experiencing high levels of distress and this is a concern (Lawrence,
et al., 2015). Considerable research attention has been given to negative changes in
wellbeing and increases in self-consciousness among girls during early adolescence
(Galambos, 2004; Graber & Sontag, 2004; Peterson et al., 1993). Clearly, more
needs to be achieved to address the mental health of female adolescents and rather
than treating the symptoms alone, more research needs to be completed on
preventative approaches that are strengths-based such as positive psychology.
The main impetus for the current study was a desire to examine the area of female
adolescent wellbeing from a proactive rather than a deficit approach, and to
contribute to the research available on female adolescent wellbeing. Rather than
reacting to anxiety, depression and other social disorders as they emerge, this
research explored a preventative program to build wellbeing and assist in preventing
psychological distress in girls before they develop symptoms of the above mentioned
conditions. That is, it is important that preventative programs be explored to equip
girls with strategies and skills that promote resilience. This study focused on building
wellbeing skills in mainstream adolescent girls. The participants in the study were a
group of adolescent girls from a Catholic single sex girls’ school transitioning into
secondary school, that is, the first year of secondary school.
1.3 THE CURRENT POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAM
The program examined in the current study began when girls were in their transition
year from primary to secondary school, Year 8, between the ages of 12-14 years.
This transition year to secondary school was chosen for the research sample, as
wellbeing has been shown to dip markedly for girls around this time in early
adolescence, 13 to 14 years of age (Roeser et al., 2008). There was a change in 2015
post this study, when Year 7 girls also joined the college as a result of Queensland
state legislation mandating that Year 7 move to secondary school. In this 2013 to
2014 study, the transition year to secondary school was Year 8. To determine if the
program successfully assisted the students with their wellbeing, the positive
education program was assessed at the end of each of the first two years of secondary
school (Years 8 and 9). The evaluation of the program comprised student surveys
and focus groups to ascertain the impact of the program in assisting student
wellbeing. Roeser et al. (2008) argue that this early period of adolescence is a pivotal
trajectory point where programs to build confidence can work to enhance wellbeing.
Thus, this developmental period was chosen as a suitable time to embed a program to
assist wellbeing. As stated above, it was envisaged that the program would assist
adolescent girls build a repertoire of skills that could carry them through this
challenging time and possibly into adulthood.
The current study aligned with Seligman and his colleagues’ assertion that wellbeing
can be taught in schools, as there is now evidence from controlled studies that skills
that increase resilience, positive emotion, engagement and meaning can be taught to
school children (Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, & Linkins, 2009). Seligman and
his team incorporated a whole school approach to positive psychology by teaching
these skills to an entire secondary coeducational school, including administrative and
facilities management staff, in Australia in 2008 (Seligman, et al., 2009). The current
study was influenced by the researcher visiting this school in 2010 to study how
positive psychology was adopted as a whole school approach. While not a replication
of the positive psychology program at this school, the current study draws on
elements of this approach that the researcher argues are suitable for female
adolescent education. The researcher visited this school and was able to talk with the
staff involved in the positive psychology program. This secondary school was the
only school in Australia using positive psychology in their wellbeing program at this
time in 2010.
Another motivation for this study was to explore further aspects of positive
psychology. Positive psychology constructs and programs have gained increasing
attention in the last five years in education, as they aim to add to, rather than replace,
approaches to wellbeing that seek to reduce negative factors. A positive psychology
‘construct’ is a term used to refer to one area within positive psychology, for
example, gratitude. Positive psychology programs in schools tend to use more than
one positive psychology construct, as wellbeing programs generally cover a number
of areas, (e.g. resilience, hope, health, identity, relationships), and therefore more
than one construct is usually incorporated. Positive psychology interventions (PPIs)
can be defined as programs, practices, treatment methods or activities “aimed at
cultivating positive feelings, positive behaviours or positive cognitions” in young
people (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009, p. 467). The controlled study of an Australian life
coaching program for female senior secondary students discussed in Chapter 3 is an
example of positive psychology intervention or PPI. What has emerged as a result of
the growth in interest in positive psychology is the area of positive psychology being
utilised in the education area.
Positive education is regarded as applied positive psychology in education. Seligman
et al. (2009) define positive education as an approach to education that fosters
traditional academic skills and skills for happiness and wellbeing. Positive education
also works on the shared belief that the skills and mindsets that promote positive
emotions, positive relationships and character strengths also promote learning and
academic success (Seligman, et al., 2009). In a recent paper, Waters (2011) examined
12 school-based PPIs and, in order to qualify for review, her paper had to meet three
criteria; it needed to be: 1) aimed at building positive factors; 2) implemented with
students in schools; and 3) evaluated using valid research designs and methods
(Waters, 2011). More and more schools are now investigating and considering
applications of positive psychology and are moving to create customised positive
education programs. Pioneering schools in Australia that have adopted whole school
positive education programs are Geelong Grammar and Knox Grammar. Green
(2014) argues that educators should create programs to meet the individualised needs
of their school. The way individual schools approach positive education is diverse
(White & Murray, 2015). Thus, the author of this study created a positive education
program specifically for female adolescents in secondary school and this program
will be discussed in detail in Chapter 4.
However, most of the research on positive psychology programs has been carried out
using adult samples (Gilman, et al., 2009), and researchers suggest that more work is
needed to investigate the potential benefits of positive psychology programs in
schools (McCabe, Bray, Kehle, Gelbar, & Gelbar, 2011). Although further research
using adolescent samples is required, there is already a small body of accumulating
evidence for using positive psychology programs with adolescents, and the demand
for such programs is high (Norrish & Vella-Broderick, 2009).
1.4 POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY CONSTRUCTS CHOSEN FOR THE POSITIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM
Some researchers assert that within Australia, there is increasing recognition that
schools are important places for the adoption of positive psychology in regard to
student wellbeing (Green, Oades, & Robinson, 2011). Researchers are calling for
more empirical evidence on multiple constructs and whole school programs (Van
Nieuwerburgh, 2012; Waters, 2011). The current study examines a positive
education program for female adolescents based on multiple constructs. The number
of constructs is five, and they were chosen by the researcher because they are
evidence-based, relevant to female adolescent education, and have a synergy and
alignment that works across all of them. The five constructs are: character strengths,
gratitude, mindfulness, flow and savouring. These constructs are discussed in detail
in Chapter 2.
1.5 RESEARCH PROGRAM OUTLINE
The impact of the Pos-Ed program was examined in this study, with the hope it
would add to the currently limited theoretical and empirical literature around positive
psychology in the education area, and provide increased understanding about female
adolescent wellbeing in relation to positive psychology. The program of research
comprised seven phases using a multiphase, mixed method design over two years,
outlined in Table 1.1, to address the following three research questions:
1) What are the short-term and long-term changes in levels of wellbeing that
adolescent girls experience in the Pos-Ed program?
2) What are the experiences of adolescent girls in the Pos-Ed program at the end
of the first and second year of the program?
3) Have any observed changes been consistent, or strengthened, over the two
years of the program (Years 8 and 9)?
Table 1.1
Seven Phases of the Current Study
Phase Participant Information
Data Collection Method Date Administered
Phase 1 Pre-test
149 year 8 students Social Emotional Health Survey Secondary (Furlong et al., 2012)
February 2013
Phase 2 program
170 year 8 students Positive education program Year 8
February to November 2013
Phase 3 Focus Group 1
6 year 8 students Focus Group 1 data February 2014
Phase 4 Post-test
151 year 8 students Social Emotional Health Survey Secondary
October 2013
Phase 5 program
168 year 9 students Positive education program Year 9
February to November 2014
Phase 6 Focus Group 2
5 year 9 students Focus Group 2 data October 2014
Phase 7 Post Post-test
163 year 9 students Social Emotional Health Survey Secondary
October 2014
Phase 1: Pre-test. 1.5.1
Phase 1 consisted of a pre-test online survey questionnaire to be completed by all
consenting Year 8 students at the beginning of their transition year to secondary
school in 2013. The pre-test was the online Social Emotional Health Survey-
Secondary (SEHS-S) designed by Professor Michael Furlong (2012) at the
University of California Santa Barbara. This questionnaire was conducted at the
transition point to secondary school at the beginning of the year. Parent and student
permission were gained for the questionnaire. There was a small number of students
who did not consent to completing the questionnaires, but they were still taught the
program.
Phase 2: Year 8 program implementation. 1.5.2
Phase 2 centred on the year-long implementation of the positive education program
during Year 8. The Pos-Ed program’s positive psychology constructs were explicitly
taught to students by home room teachers (teachers who teach the students every
day). These teachers had been trained to teach the program.
Phase 3: Focus group 1. 1.5.3
Phase 3 involved focus group interviews with six Year 8 students of 2013 at the
beginning of 2014 before the participants began the second year of the program.
Ethics approval was gained. Focus groups have been described in the literature as
useful ways to collect a shared understanding from several individuals, as well as a
method to gain specific views from individuals (Creswell, 2012b). Focus groups are
seen as a way of gathering valuable perceptions of the program from participants.
This knowledge contributed to addressing all three research questions.
Phase 4: Post-test. 1.5.4
Phase 4 involved the second administration of the Social Emotional Health Survey-
Secondary. The post-test was administered in late October 2013, before the pressures
and stresses of the end of year (late November) exams could have affected the data
more readily. A fundamental aim of the pre-test and the first post-test data was to
assess what type of changes in wellbeing adolescent girls were experiencing after
one year of the Pos-Ed program.
Phase 5: Year 9 program implementation. 1.5.5
Phase 5 involved delivering the second year (2014) of the program (the Pos-Ed
program) with the same group of students who entered Year 9 in 2014. In the second
year, students were exposed to the same first year positive psychology constructs but
with a ‘deepening’ and ‘strengthening’ of these constructs. It was anticipated that this
would be achieved by teachers using the foundation work established in Year 8, and
building on this to extend and deepen the students’ knowledge and understanding of
the constructs. For example, in Year 8 students completed a strengths test as part of
the program which allowed them to identify their particular strengths. It would not be
until Year 9 however, that students would revisit this test and be encouraged by their
teachers to explore their individual strengths and consider how they might use and
maximise these.
Phase 6: Focus group 2. 1.5.6
Phase 6 consisted of conducting the second focus group interviews with five Year 9
students. The students in the second focus group were the same students who
participated in focus group 1. Conducting the second focus group towards the end of
the two-year project was important in gathering information and opinions about the
program from the students’ perspectives; this assisted in the examining the overall
impact of the program. As students had completed the two years of the program by
this stage, it was hoped that students would share specific, detailed information as to
what they learnt from the program as well as aspects that they felt were more and
less useful.
Phase 7: Second post-test. 1.5.7
Phase 7 was the final stage of the current study and consisted of the second post-test,
the third implementation of the Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary
undertaken at the end of Year 9 in October 2014. This step concluded the tracking of
the Year 8 transition group over two years. Combining this quantitative data with the
qualitative data from the focus groups provided a valid platform to make an
assessment about whether the positive psychology program was assisting or not
assisting the wellbeing of early adolescent girls in the first two years of secondary
school.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH PROGRAM
There are those who contend that we have progressed little in matters of wisdom and
living well (Roffey, 2012). Some researchers claim that even though there have been
many advances in modern times, many individuals and communities are
‘languishing’ rather than ‘flourishing’ (Keyes & Haidt, 2003). Flourishing is a term
that in the last five years has become of more interest to researchers working in the
wellbeing area. In fact, it can be argued it has garnered more attention than
’happiness’ as happiness has come to be regarded as an emotion that is episodic and
fleeting, while flourishing covers a broader wellbeing spectrum. Keyes (2002)
defines flourishing as comprising the three components of emotional wellbeing,
social wellbeing and psychological wellbeing. Rather than three components,
Seligman asserts there are five components: positive emotions, engagement,
relationships, meaning, and achievement; these components form his PERMA model
which is discussed in Chapter 2. Similarly, other researchers define flourishing as a
psychosocial construct that includes having positive relationships, feeling competent
and confident and believing that life is meaningful and purposeful (Diener et al.,
2010). While each of these definitions takes a slightly different approach, the
common element is that recent conceptualisations of flourishing acknowledge that
optimal wellbeing is a multi-dimensional and holistic concept and, as Norrish,
Williams, O’Connor and Robinson (2013) state, includes both hedonic (i.e., positive
emotions) and eudemonic (i.e., giving meaning) components. Flourishing is a
combination of elements. In relation to schools, flourishing can exist on a number of
levels. For example, individual students may be considered to be flourishing when
they are happy, healthy, achieving their goals, have good friendships and think of
others. On the other hand, a class may be flourishing when the teacher is competent,
confident, values students, engages students and is committed to learning. It is clear
that flourishing is multi-faceted and can work on different levels. For this study, the
researcher regards Seligman’s definition of flourishing as the one that underpins
what the researcher is aiming to achieve with the positive education program. The
researcher posits that wellbeing, like flourishing, is a broad term and positive
wellbeing contributes to a state of flourishing.
As previously stated, in the past the discussion of wellbeing has often been framed
within a deficit model (Fraillon, 2004). There is a growing trend to reframe
wellbeing to incorporate more positive states of wellbeing (Frydenberg, Care,
Freeman, & Chan, 2009). The current study contributes empirical data about positive
psychology in schools. Positive psychology is a relatively new science, and research
studies are steadily progressing in this area. While positive psychology in education
has gained increasing attention over the last few years (Vella-Brodrick, 2011), there
are few available programs of positive psychology related to adolescents that have
been scientifically evaluated. A number of researchers in this area have
recommended that further studies on positive psychology in schools might reveal
more about adolescent wellbeing (Furlong, Gilman, & Huebner, 2014; Kristjansson,
2012; Rusk & Waters, 2013; Vella-Brodrick, 2011; Waters, 2011).
1.7 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE RESEARCH PROGRAM
To date, much of the interest in positive psychology has focused on adults, with the
areas of child and adolescent development receiving less attention (Gilman, et al.,
2009). Of significance to this study are the recommendations from researchers to
investigate the potential benefits of positive psychology programs in schools as a
way to increase wellbeing among adolescents.
In particular, this study contributes new knowledge on how well adolescent girls
transition to secondary school. Considerable research attention is given to negative
changes in wellbeing, self-esteem, self-consciousness and internalising distress
among girls in early adolescence (Peterson, Compas, et al., 1993). Early adolescence
is a period of risk for girls as identified by research examined in later chapters, and
the researcher believes this period is a significant trajectory point for a program. This
study takes this trajectory and examines it closely at a point in time with a program
to enhance wellbeing.
The current study contributes more data on how the combination of positive
psychology constructs impact on wellbeing. While other schools such as St Peter’s,
Adelaide have examined the use of a single construct using Peterson’s strength-based
approach with students, this study explores the impact of using multiple constructs
(White & Waters, 2015). The multiple constructs used in combination with each
other form the Pos-Ed program. While research literature in this area talks about
‘combining positive psychology constructs’, it is not specific about which constructs
and how to combine them, and empirical evidence is lacking in this area (Van
Nieuwerburgh, 2012). The current study offers empirical evidence on the impact of
five constructs used in combination with each other over a two-year period in a girls’
secondary school.
Additionally, this study contributes longitudinal empirical data in the positive
psychology area. The study tracked students over a two-year period, beginning in
Year 8 (their transition year into high school) to the end of Year 9. This was achieved
through the use of a quantitative survey administered at three different points in time
(pre-program beginning of Year 8, 2013; post-program end of Year 8, 2013; post
post-program end of Year 9, 2014), in combination with two focus groups held with
students before they began Year 9 and at the end of Year 9. The focus groups
explored the nuances of the program and determined whether, and in what ways,
students perceived the program had affected their wellbeing. The combination of
these data allowed the researcher to determine what effects, if any, the positive
psychology program (the Pos-Ed program) had on students’ wellbeing and how the
program was experienced by those who undertook it.
Finally, the positive psychology program examined in this study is a wellbeing
program comprised of evidence-based constructs, and can be used by other schools.
Evidence-based positive psychology programs that are applied in a systematic and
considered manner are gaining increasing interest as “positive psychology has the
potential to make a valuable contribution to adolescent mental health” (Norrish &
Vella-Broderick, 2009, p. 277). Increasingly in the 21st century, schools are
searching for programs to enhance student wellbeing and develop resilience in
students. Schools play a significant part not only in the formal and informal
education of young people, but also in their wellbeing (Huitt, 2011).
1.8 SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTERS
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the research project and a synopsis of the
chapters. Following the chapter synopses, the significance and contributions of the
current study are discussed.
Chapter 2 presents part one of the literature review by initially defining the area of
positive psychology and then examines the emergence of this new branch of
psychology and the key positive psychology constructs that are the subject of the
research: character strengths, gratitude, flow, savouring, and mindfulness. This
chapter also explores the newly developed wellbeing model initiated by Seligman
(2011) and its relevance to the research project. Current research on early adolescent
wellbeing is presented and, in particular, on early adolescent female wellbeing.
Chapter 3 presents part two of the literature review. This chapter explores the
concept of teaching wellbeing explicitly in schools, and discusses recent research in
this area. Wellbeing programs currently taught in schools in a global context are
examined with a particular focus on programs using proactive and preventative
approaches.
Chapter 4 provides a detailed description of the positive psychology program called
Pos-Ed using five evidence-based constructs. It was created by the researcher and
examined in the research. Details of the origin, design, and implementation of the
program are explained. Examples of lesson plans and activities are also provided.
Chapter 5 is a discussion of the methodological choices made for the current research
project. This chapter presents issues of sampling, ethics, and the mixed method
longitudinal design. A breakdown of each study is provided in which a justification
of selected research methods is discussed.
Chapter 6 presents the results of the quantitative survey data gathered for this study
using the Social Emotional Health Scale-Secondary (SEHS-S). It outlines the
methodology, analysis, and findings of this part of the study.
Chapter 7 details the process of undertaking two focus groups with students who
shared their experiences of the Pos-Ed program. The qualitative data from the
participants in the focus groups provided specific comments about the program, as
part of a mixed methods research design.
Chapter 8 provides a discussion of the findings and conclusions of this study. Along
with the findings and conclusions, this chapter describes the contributions and
limitations of the study, as well as implications for practice and possibilities for
future studies.
Chapter 2: Literature Review Part 1
2.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter is the first of two chapters that comprise the literature review. The
period of early adolescence and in particular early female adolescence is examined.
This first chapter will examine the area of positive psychology as it fits within the
domain of psychology. Positive psychology and the five specific positive psychology
constructs used in this study are defined and explored. The second chapter will
examine positive psychology, wellbeing, and the links between the two in an
educational setting. Additionally positive psychology programs are defined and
explained as this study is examining a positive psychology program. It will also
explore adolescent wellbeing programs from proactive, preventative approaches.
2.2 ADOLESCENCE
Adolescence is a notable time of development. It is also a time that can be frustrating
and debilitating, with a considerable number of adolescents experiencing mental
health and wellbeing issues. A large scale study in Sydney Australia involving over
400 secondary students revealed that over 50 percent of respondents had levels of
anxiety, depression and stress that were above the ‘normal’ range (Smith & Sinclair,
2000). This is a disturbing find. A later online study of 600 Australian young people
(aged 10 to 14 years) found that 46 percent of respondents did not feel confident or
secure in themselves, 54 percent were worried about not fitting in, and 40 percent felt
like they were not performing well enough (Tucci, Mitchell, & Goddard, 2007). It
would appear that there was only a minor level of improvement between 2000 and
2007, with close to half the adolescent population not functioning at a reasonable
standard.
The findings of a more recent study completed in 2015 are equally disturbing. As
mentioned in Chapter 1, it reveals that one in seven young people experienced a
mental disorder in the last year. For teenage girls aged 16 to 17 years, the figures
were more worrying with nearly one in five found to meet the clinical criteria for
depression based on their own report (Lawrence, et al., 2015). This data highlights
that, while many adolescents are not in the clinical range for poor mental health, a
large proportion are reporting some level of a mental health issue. These results
should be of concern to educators as almost half of the adolescent population are
experiencing mental health issues. Equally of concern is this number of adolescents
moving to adulthood with these mental health issues not addressed. We need to look
at adolescent wellbeing from a preventative approach, where strategies are
implemented to arrest the disturbing increase in mental health issues. It was this
disturbing situation of growing mental health issues that prompted the researcher to
explore and research programs to enhance adolescent wellbeing, and to seek a
proactive rather than a deficit model, and this led the researcher to positive
psychology. Positive psychology programs can assist adolescents who experience
mild to moderate mental health problems to pursue a more optimal approach to
wellbeing (Norrish & Vella-Broderick, 2009). While such programs can assist
students with mild to moderate mental health problems, it should not be seen as a
panacea for eliminating mental health problems, including depression. What these
programs can provide are skills that adolescents can use to prevent mental health
problems escalating to clinical levels.
2.3 EARLY ADOLESCENCE
The period of early female adolescence is the focus of the current study.
Developmental success during this period has implications throughout adulthood
(Gilman, et al., 2009). The years that incorporate early adolescence (ages 10 to 15)
are generally understood to represent a critical stage of adolescent development
(Frydenberg, et al., 2009). The years of early adolescence have been identified with
both opportunities and risks to young people’s school achievement and wellbeing
(Carnegie Council of Adolescent Development, 1995). Many have labelled the early
adolescent period as one of transition, and there is general consensus that this is a
period of physical and cognitive change. There are researchers who have argued that
the morphological changes associated with puberty and societal beliefs about
adolescent development lead adults and peers to structure the social environments of
early adolescents differently than the social environments of either older or younger
people, making early adolescence a time of transition between different social
cultures (Higgins & Parsons, 1983). This unique transitional nature of early
adolescence is, at least in part, from an interaction between social environments (in
particular schools) and developmental changes that individuals pass through as they
move from childhood into adulthood (Montemayor, Adams, & Gullotta, 1990). It is,
therefore, a period that can present significant personal challenges for some students.
Equally, it can be viewed as a time when a program may have more success than if
introduced to older adolescents, as early adolescents are often more open and less
sceptical of learning than older adolescents.
As mentioned above, adolescence is also a time of cognitive development, of
mushrooming intellectual and emotional growth, and it results in an acute and
unprecedented self-awareness for the young person (Strauch, 2003). Early adolescent
development is characterised by increases in the following: desire for autonomy from
adult control, especially from one’s parents’ control; peer orientation, self-focus,
self-consciousness, and salience-of-identity issues; concern over sexual relationships;
and capacity for abstract cognitive activity (Eccles, Lord, & Midgley, 1991).
Simmons and Blyth (1987) have argued that adolescents need a reasonably safe, as
well as an intellectually challenging, environment to meet these developmental
tasks—an environment that provides a ‘zone of comfort’ as well as challenging new
opportunities for growth. In light of these needs, the environmental changes often
associated with the transition to junior high school seem especially harmful if they
emphasise competition, social comparison, and ability self-assessment at a time of
heightened self-focus. That is, they decrease decision making and choice at a time
when the desire for control over one’s own life is growing; they emphasise lower-
level cognitive strategies at a time when the ability to use higher-level strategies is
increasing; and they disrupt social networks at a time when adolescents are
especially concerned with peer relationships (Eccles, et al., 1991). This ‘zone of
comfort’ is therefore useful for adolescents in dealing with these multiple changes.
Changes in their own views of self are significant at this time.
Researchers have noted developmental declines in constructs such as self-concepts
and self-perceptions in early adolescence (Eccles, et al., 1991). Self-esteem can be
defined as a broad, global construct that includes all aspects of self-evaluation while
also being related to wellbeing in general (Gilman, et al., 2009; Neff, 2011). The
development of positive self-esteem in adolescents is pivotal to a successful
transition to adulthood. Bandura (1997) emphasised that ‘belief in self’ is a key
component that enables individuals to exercise control of their situations, promotes
personal agency, and increases motivation. Individuals develop self-efficacy beliefs
over time as they come to understand and judge their abilities to execute and succeed
at a variety of tasks. Children’s orientation toward school achievement and
confidence in their own ability to master schoolwork declines as they move from
childhood to adolescence (Montemayor, et al., 1990). These early years of
adolescence represent a developmental crossroads between life paths leading towards
educational success, wellbeing, and productive participation in adult society on the
one hand, or towards curtailed educational attainments, stress and distress, and
marginalisation from adult society on the other (Roeser, et al., 2008). This period of
early adolescence is then a critical period of development as young people move
from childhood into adulthood. Early adolescence usually coincides with the
transition to secondary school.
The transition from primary school to secondary school is particularly significant in
relation to these structural, physiological, and social changes and there are often new
and increased expectations at school (Eccles, et al., 1991; Williams & Boman, 2002).
Structurally, students in Australia move from one teacher for the whole day in
primary school to having multiple teachers in secondary school. Undoubtedly, it is in
the interests of schools to act to ensure successful transitions for adolescents to
secondary school. Australian students who experience a positive transition to
secondary school report lower levels of depression, anxiety, and loneliness than those
who have a difficult transition (Waters, Lester, Wenden, & Cross, 2012).
There is no question that the transition from primary to secondary school marks a
significant period in adolescents’ lives: academically, physiologically, structurally
and socially. However, with a range of positive strengths, students can have some
protection from the issues that arise in the transition to secondary school. A study
involving 102 Australian students in 2001, found higher levels of optimism can help
facilitate a more successful transition to secondary school (Boman & Yates, 2001).
This is possible if educators pay more attention to the wellbeing area.
Adolescent wellbeing is important in the area of education. As noted by Roffey,
“Over the last 10 years there has been a gradual shift in both research and community
and school practices away from the concept of youth welfare, with its focus on
supporting young people in distress, and towards the concept of youth wellbeing and
resilience” (Roffey, 2012, p. 17). Educators are interested in promoting adolescent
wellbeing as part of the academic journey of secondary school. Positive mood is a
key component of student wellbeing. Positive mood produces broader attention,
more creative thinking, and more holistic thinking (Seligman, 2011).
The science of positive psychology has transformed thinking around wellbeing.
“Wellbeing is an overarching term that encapsulates an individual’s quality of life,
happiness, satisfaction and experience of good mental and physical health” (Roffey,
2012, p. 17). Several researchers undertook a detailed review of the research
literature on ‘wellbeing’ in order to identify common characteristics of the construct.
The most common characteristics identified included positive affect, resilience,
perceived satisfaction with relationships, and maximising one’s potential (Noble,
McGrath, Roffey, & Rowling, 2008). This aligns with Seligman’s (2011) PERMA
model of wellbeing which includes the elements of positive emotions, engagement,
relationships, meaning and purpose, and accomplishment. Each of these five
elements has three properties which include: 1) it contributes to wellbeing, 2) many
people pursue it for its own sake; and 3) it is defined and measured independently of
the other elements (Seligman, 2011). As stated in Chapter 1, this researcher defines
wellbeing as “the combination of feeling good and functioning well” (Huppert &
Johnson, 2010, p. 264). Adolescents who generally have positive functioning are less
likely to develop mental health issues. This positive functioning includes the first
part of the definition—feeling good—which is their emotional wellbeing. Therefore,
it would be logical to assume that educators should be interested in this aspect of
adolescent development.
Consequently, particularly in the last decade, some schools are starting to play an
important role in equipping adolescents with social and emotional skills to build
resilience and hope to prevent rising levels of depression and distress (Waters, 2011).
In order to achieve this, schools are increasingly exploring more proactive
approaches to adolescent wellbeing (Van Nieuwerburgh, 2012). A compelling reason
for this increasing interest by schools could possibly be that research is continuing to
emerge that suggests that student wellbeing and academic performance are connected
(Green, et al., 2011). Clearly, the majority of schools are interested in forming
reputations as high performing academic schools.
This emphasis on academic performance has contributed to increased levels of stress
for adolescents. The last two decades have been characterised by increasing pressure
to improve student achievements with emphasis on standards, league tables, tests,
and results. As a result, curriculum goals have become more academic and skill-
oriented, with the social and emotional elements of education viewed as less
important than rigorous academic pursuits (Shoshani & Steinmetz, 2014).
Additionally, it is this pressure to succeed academically that contributes to students
developing anxiety and depression. In the United States, nearly one in every 10
children has a depressive episode before they turn 14, and there are similar statistics
worldwide. In Australia, one in seven will have experienced a mental disorder in the
last year (Lawrence, et al., 2015). Chinese children experience an equal or even
higher level of depression in comparison to their Western counterparts (Kwok, Gu, &
Kit, 2016). It appears likely these issues related to academic performance and
pressures to achieve are global concerns.
Evidence continues to mount showing that student wellbeing is positively related to
academic performance (Waters, 2011). “More wellbeing is synergistic with better
learning” (Seligman, et al., 2009, p. 294). Increased wellbeing contributes to more
positive mood; positive mood produces broader attention (Bolte, Goschke, & Kuhl,
2003; Fredrickson, 1998) and more creative thinking (Isen, Rosenzweig, & Young,
1991). This evidence suggests that if wellbeing is increased, then it is likely to
produce better learning. In 2011, a meta-analysis of 213 studies involving 270,034
students from kindergarten through high school (186 programs in the United States
and 27 outside of the United States) showed that, on average, school students
enrolled in a social and emotional learning program ranked 11 percentage points
higher on achievement tests than school students who did not participate in such
programs (Durlak, Weissberg, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011). While the results of this
study indicate that increased wellbeing resulted in higher academic achievement,
there needs to be more studies like this to further strengthen this connection. As it
stands now, if enhanced wellbeing results in improved academic results, this is a
salient issue for those who work in education.
Not only is the research into student wellbeing related to academic performance
increasing, researchers such as Roffey (2015) claim that whole school approaches to
student wellbeing promote resilience, prosocial behaviour, student engagement, as
well as academic learning. This is very similar to what Seligman asserts, in his recent
articles, which is that schools play an important part in developing and promoting the
wellbeing of students. Waters (2011) also believes that wellbeing is important for
adolescents and she argues that evidence shows that positive psychology programs
are significantly related to student wellbeing, relationships, and academic
performance. Noble and her colleagues (2008) found that when wellbeing is a central
part of the core business of school, students of all levels are more likely to become
more engaged with learning; academic outcomes improve, pro-social behaviour
increases, and there are better levels of mental health and resilience.
Over the last 10 years, there has been a gradual shift in both research and community
and school practices away from the focus on supporting young people in distress,
towards the concept of wellbeing and resilience. The trend towards wellbeing and
resilience is consistent with a positive psychology approach (Roffey, 2012). A focus
on wellbeing in schools is a different way of conceptualising and responding to
pastoral care issues, and Green (2014) asserts that this is a global trend in schools.
Wyn (2007) argues that every teacher should be concerned about student wellbeing,
where all students are supported in their social and emotional development as well as
their learning, not just the students who come to the attention of teachers because of
emotional or learning difficulties. Wellbeing should be universal.
There is evidence that wellbeing programs and positive psychology programs can
assist in promoting positive mental health of adolescents. The social and emotional
wellbeing of students should be a concern for all educators. Waters (2011) conducted
a review of 12 school-based positive psychology programs or interventions that were
systematically evaluated and the results showed these programs were significantly
related to student wellbeing. More such studies would strengthen this link. It would
appear that wellbeing is a growing area in education with many schools looking for
suitable programs to implement.
2.4 FEMALE ADOLESCENT WELLBEING
An important focus of this study is the wellbeing of early adolescent girls as they
transition from primary school to secondary school (Year 8). When primary school
concludes, two transitions occur simultaneously: the transition to secondary school
and the transition to adolescence. These changes and challenges may make early
adolescence a vital time for a positive psychology program as they may be more
receptive to adult advice than in later adolescence, when it is common for
adolescents to express cynicism and be more resistant to information from parents
and teachers. In fact, some researchers suggest that if early adolescents learn social,
emotional, and problem-solving skills they may be better equipped to deal with the
stressors and challenges of secondary school, which for some is a time of increased
vulnerability for depression (LeCroy & Mann, 2008).
As well as a time of rapid change, adolescence is often described as a period of
significant risk with many social and developmental changes occurring at the same
time, such as: daily challenges including mood and behavioural changes (Arnett,
1999); academic related stress (Deb, Esben, & Jiandong, 2014); difficulties with
autonomy (Spear & Kulbok, 2004); and conflict with parents (Wadsworth &
Compas, 2002). Moreover, some will face major life events such as parental divorce
or the death of a relative (Seiffge-Krenke, 2000). Overall, researchers have identified
that the developmental issues for early adolescent females are likely to include
transition to secondary school and puberty, as well as body image, relationship, and
friendship issues.
Adolescent girls face multiple self-image challenges in our changing world. One of
the biggest development challenges for girls during puberty is the physical changes
that occur. For female adolescents, the transition to adolescence involves physical
changes, which for some females can affect their image of themselves. Girls are
more affected by the physical changes occurring at puberty than boys, and their self-
concepts are more volatile than those of boys during this time period (Wigfield,
Eccles, Mac Iver, Reuman, & Midgley, 1991). Further, research shows female
adolescents are significantly more likely than boys to have a negative body image
and the link between poor body image and low self-esteem is more of a problem for
girls than boys (Brown, 1993). For some, these concerns appear to be closely
connected with depression (LeCroy & Mann, 2008). It appears that self-image,
identity formation, and self-esteem are critical for girls in early adolescence. While
low self-esteem can have negative effects, there are positive effects for female
adolescents with high self-esteem. In another study of Year 8 students, it was found
that early adolescents with higher levels of self-esteem are more likely to have higher
grades, succeed in their studies, and have better rates of attendance than adolescents
with lower levels of self-esteem (Weiss & Kipnes, 2006). Furthermore, there is some
evidence that puberty brings increased pressures for girls to conform to gender-role
stereotypes such as being demure, beautiful, and not too smart intellectually (Roeser,
et al., 2008).
With the changes at puberty come changes to male and female self-reporting in
relation to wellbeing. During primary school, girls report feeling competence a little
less often than boys, but a big gap opens up and seems to increase through secondary
schooling (Eccles et al., 1993). However, the research on gender differences in
relation to wellbeing is mixed. Some studies have shown girls report higher levels of
wellbeing in school (Gutman, Brown, Akerman, & Obolenskaya, 2010), whereas
other studies show a decline in girls’ wellbeing during adolescence (Tomyn &
Cummins, 2011). Girls overall report experiencing negative emotions more
frequently than boys (McLellan & Steward, 2015). This suggests that wellbeing is
concerning and educators should be aware of and attend to these issues. Even in
adulthood, studies have shown that women report experiencing less wellbeing that
men (Stevenson & Wolfers, 2009). As well as female adolescents coping with
changes at puberty, concomitant with this are the ever present pressures to conform
to gender stereotypes.
The pressure to conform to these gender-role stereotypes is constant and promoted
heavily in the media. The media glamorises the ultra-thin ideal for females, which
negatively affects how female adolescents see themselves. This concurrence of
puberty and the media attention given to super slim female models can cause distress
for some female adolescents. This is partly due to the physical changes at puberty
where girls develop more fatty tissues and begin to look less like the idealised thin
image of women portrayed in the media (Aalberg, Lindberg, Makinen, Puuko-
Viertomies, & Siimes, 2012). This is in contrast to boys, as puberty shifts them
closer to the ideal of masculinity, as exhibited by increased height, voice deepening,
and muscle mass development. More and more research shows images of gender-role
stereotypes particularly in the western world impact negatively on how adolescent
women see themselves (Clay, Vignoles, & Dittmar, 2005). Females as early as age
11 can experience negativity in their self-perceived attractiveness, which can also
result in decreased self-esteem. In a study of 500 girls between the ages of nine and
16 and the media influence on self-esteem, 70 percent of girls reported that
magazines relate directly to perceptions of body shape, and 47 percent girls reported
wanting to lose weight (Clay, et al., 2005). In another study, researchers wanted to
better understand why some females are more negatively affected than others by
images in the media. What they found is that females with a positive body image had
protective thoughts which assisted them in being critical of what is presented in the
media. This is not surprising, but not all females have a capacity to sustain a positive
body image of themselves. These researchers assert that programs utilising strengths
that act as a buffer against unhappiness should be explored for at risk female
adolescents (Holmquist & Frisen, 2012).
In addition to the physical changes and pressure to conform to stereotypes, self-
esteem issues can present challenges during early adolescence for some girls.
Considerable research attention has been given to negative changes in self-esteem
among girls during early adolescence (Galambos, Leadbeater, & Barker, 2004;
Graber & Sontag, 2004; Peterson, Compas, et al., 1993). A meta-analysis found that,
while men tend to have higher self-esteem than women during their lifespan, the
difference between genders seems to be largest during early adolescence, from age
11 to 14. Not only female adolescents, but also for adult females, women’s self-
esteem tends to be lower than men’s (Kling, Hyde, Showers, & Buswell, 1999).
In adolescence, low self-esteem often leads to negative mood states and even
depressive behaviours (Moore, 2013). There are some researchers who assert that,
for some adolescent girls, self-esteem peaks at the end of primary school where girls
are in the tween-years, aged 10-12 years, and then dips markedly in early
adolescence aged 13 to 14 years (Galambos, 2004; Graber & Sontag, 2004; Peterson,
Compas, et al., 1993). In other studies of boys and girls in early adolescence, boys
often report higher self-esteem than girls at the same age (Rosenberg & Simmons,
1975; Simmons & Blyth, 1987). Simmons and Blyth (1987) found the greatest
disruptive effects of junior high school were on girls’ rather than boys’ self-esteem.
Some researchers suggest that those in media, schools, families, and communities
should promote diverse ways of being a ‘successful woman’ to females navigating
early adolescence (Roeser, et al., 2008). Globally, girls and women are at higher risk
than boys and men for many psychological disorders, particularly depression and
anxiety. Research suggests that compared with boys, adolescent girls experience
greater stress, are twice as likely to be depressed, and attempt suicide four or five
times as often (Debold, 1995). Indeed, this is evident in the research on adult
depression discussed earlier in this chapter, which found that rates for females are 50
percent higher than males. Recent meta-analyses have documented that gender
differences in both self-esteem (Kling, et al., 1999) and depression (Twenge &
Nolen-Hoeksema, 2002) emerge during early adolescence.
Obviously, rates of depression for female adolescents and female adults are a
concern, and any measures that can be put in place to ameliorate this situation for
female adolescents should be considered. As stated earlier, much of the research
points to higher levels of depression occurring in female adolescents compared with
male adolescents (Abela & Hankin, 2011). This gender difference in depression may
be associated with a difference in coping styles as, generally speaking, female
adolescents are more likely to ruminate in response to stress, and ruminating has
been linked to depression (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2001). This should be a concern for all
involved in working with adolescent females and should result in increased effort to
enhance female wellbeing.
For adolescent females, statistics tell a story of a population at risk both physically
and emotionally, with one in four girls showing signs of depression. Compared with
males, twice as many females attempt suicide; by age thirteen, 53 percent of girls are
unhappy with their bodies, eight million American women suffer from eating
disorders and 90 percent of them are adolescents (Deak, 2002). Eight years later in
2010, this same author recounts that stress is still a cause for concern, “because stress
is incredibly painful, debilitating and downright dangerous if it is pervasive and
continues over long periods of time, especially if there is no perceived light at the
end of the tunnel” (Deak, 2010, p. xvi). As mentioned in the previous section, recent
data on depression in female adolescents is concerning. One fifth (19.9%) of
adolescents had very high of high levels of psychological distress and this was
almost twice as high for females at 25.9% and 14.85% for males (Lawrence, et al.,
2015). Depression, anxiety, and mental disorders can be debilitating. Therefore, it is
important to equip girls with social and emotional skills and skills in resilience, so
they can carry these skills into adulthood. Schools can be one of the vehicles for this
skill development.
Another factor that early adolescent females tend to struggle with is the importance
of relationship. As an example, Gilligan and Attanucci (Gilligan & Attanucci, 1996;
1990) have argued that some adolescent girls around age 11 enter a period of crisis as
they struggle to resolve the conflict between the external pressure to become more
independent and the internal pressure to please others (such as parents or family).
She asserts that this conflict could occur at the expense of their own wishes in order
to preserve relationships. For adolescents who experience this, the result is that girls
often take the route of independence at the cost of damaging their relationships, or
they ignore their own desires to maintain connections. With either of these scenarios,
it is likely to lead to low self-esteem. Other researchers concur with this view that
adolescent females are torn between seeking their own identity and fulfilling the
expectations of from parents, teachers, peers, and others. It is these pressures that, as
Gilligan and Attanucci (1996) claim, can create an imbalance which can increase a
sense of inadequacy; moreover, this can affect mood and, if left unchecked, can
result in anxiety and depression (Larsson, Sundler, & Ekebergh, 2013). Overall,
wellbeing for early adolescent females can be a time of diverse challenges and a time
where evidence-based positive psychology programs should be considered to assist
in their wellbeing.
2.5 THE EMERGENCE OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology has been a formal discipline for little more than one hundred years, but
the central issues were formed centuries before by philosophers, theologians, and
ordinary people (Peterson, 2006). There are those who work in this area who identify
with a particular area of psychology, such as educational psychologists and
psychologists from the humanistic tradition. It is not unusual for psychologists to
identify with several areas of psychology. Humanistic psychology originated in the
1950s and articulated the need for psychology to emphasise the ‘fully functioning
individual’ (Van Nieuwerburgh, 2012). With its emphasis on positive self-fulfilment
and self-education, humanistic psychology had a strong influence on psychology
from the 1950s to the 1970s (Kristjansson, 2012) and it continues to be criticised for
a lack of scientific validity. However, humanistic psychology has left a legacy on
which positive psychology has drawn and further developed.
Much of psychology has historically worked from a deficit model. Seligman realised
that a predominant focus of psychology since World War II was a deficit approach
focusing on human problems and how to remedy them. There are some who now
view the 20th century as the century of treating symptoms, while the 21st century has
begun with a greater focus on preventative approaches to wellbeing. “For the last
half century psychology has been consumed with a single topic, mental illness, and
has done fairly well with it” (Seligman, 2002, p. xi). During the twentieth century,
the science of psychology made significant progress in understanding what goes
wrong in individuals, families, groups, and institutions. In the area of clinical
psychology, excellent progress has been made in treating mental illnesses and
personality disorders (Gable & Haidt, 2005). However, these advances have come at
a cost of understanding the positive aspects of human functioning. What has not been
taken into consideration is what has happened in the sixty years since World War II.
It can be argued that during this period positive psychology has, in part, emerged in
response to the deteriorating social indicators in many advanced countries, because
the progress of their economies, while resulting in the growing wealth of its citizens,
is not matched by an increase in life satisfaction, that is, mental wellbeing (Pluskota,
2014). Not all would agree with this view, but it is one that continues to be of interest
to researchers.
Even though technology in the modern world has developed far beyond our
imaginings in the last two centuries, humanity has progressed much less in areas of
wellbeing and living in harmony (Roffey, 2012). There are still significant conflicts
that continue across the globe, and these include family breakdown and dysfunction,
anti-social behaviour, and violence. More recently, rising unemployment, global
financial instability, and the rise of terrorism have given rise to an increased feeling
of global uncertainty (White, 2016). Ryff (2003) calls for a proper mapping or audit
of the area of “human optimal functioning” (p. 158). He suggests this information
could assist people in leading more fulfilling and purposeful lives. The
aforementioned advances in technology have resulted in a fast-paced style of living
in the western world. While it can be argued these advances have resulted in better
conditions overall for people, they have not necessarily increased life satisfaction. In
fact, the growing number of people worldwide experiencing depression is
concerning.
There are some researchers who claim that depression and anxiety disorders will
soon outstrip heart disease and cancer as the most prevalent concerns in public health
in the world (Jones, You, & Furlong, 2012). This is confirmed by the World Health
Organisation which reported that depression had become the fourth gravest health
problem throughout the world in 2000 and estimated that depression will be the
second largest health problem in the world by 2020 (Pluskota, 2014). Furthermore as
stated in the Overview in Chapter 1, recent statistics on adolescent anxiety and
depression in Australia, revealing that one fifth (19.9%) of adolescents have very
high or high levels of psychological distress, show that this is indeed a concern for
all those who work with Australian adolescents (Lawrence, et al., 2015). Seligman
(2011) was worried about the epidemic of depression as far back as 1998. The
prevalence of depression and related mental disorders among young people should be
a priority for all those who work with young people and, as is the focus of this study,
with female adolescents.
Furthermore, focusing solely on treating disorders can be perceived as a narrow
approach to wellbeing and, while significant progress has been made in treating
people with mental illness, the study of the psychological aspects of what makes life
worth living has receded to the background (Gable & Haidt, 2005). Not that this
appears to be deliberate, but the focus was simply on treating the disorder, not
preventing it. Peterson (2006) argues that much of scientific psychology has
neglected the study of what can go well in people’s lives, and this has created an
imbalance in psychological research and practice. There are those who argue we are
in a new era with a focus on how to achieve and sustain happiness and wellbeing.
This includes how to make life more fulfilling, more productive, and more enjoyable
(Lyubomirsky, 2007). It stands to reason that what can go well in people’s lives will
vary enormously depending on multiple variables. This study explores wellbeing as
related to female adolescents and this is examined later in this chapter. Seligman
(2002) asserts that positive psychology should not be seen as opposition to earlier
psychology. There are now psychologists who believe that a complete science and a
complete practice of psychology should include the study of suffering and happiness,
including their interaction, and examine validated programs that both relieve
suffering and increase happiness (Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005). In fact,
some psychologists now see themselves with two identities, the primary area in
which they were trained (e.g., clinical, counselling, educational), as well as their
identification with positive psychology (Joseph, 2015). This is supported by
Csikszentmihalyi and Nakamura (Sheldon, Kashdan, & Steger, 2011) who state that
the majority of positive psychologists hold ‘dual citizenship’, belonging to the
positive psychology community and to the community of specialist psychology in
which they were trained. This could be a result of a common interest in what makes
for a good life as research continues to unfold.
Moreover, positive psychology is a branch of psychology that has moved away from
the deficit approach largely as a response to a lack of focus on what works well in
people’s lives. Positive psychology focuses on solving human problems by adopting
a positive, proactive approach that encourages people to lead ‘flourishing’ lives
which will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. This interest in positive
functioning is why positive psychology has garnered interest from various domains,
including business, health, organisations, institutions, and education.
2.6 EXPLORING POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
In examining the progress of positive psychology, the following areas will attempt to
show the progression of the thinking behind positive psychology and where it is
currently. As noted by Krueger and Casey, “The increasing momentum of the
positive psychology movement has seen burgeoning research in positive mental
health and adaptive functioning” (Krueger & Casey, 2009, p. 147). Seligman (2002)
also realised the potential of focusing on living a pleasurable, engaging and
purposeful life from his research on ‘learned helplessness’. Even though there are
those who are critical of this area, and this will be explored later in this chapter, the
interest continues to grow. Perhaps this is partly due to its global appeal; unlike many
of the traditional areas of psychology, positive psychology has direct applications to
everyday life and appeals to people from all walks of life (Joseph, 2015).
Now 15 years on, no longer a fledgling discipline, positive psychology is established
as a science that examines how to best facilitate individual, community,
organisational, and societal flourishing. In fact, its rapid development has resulted in
nearly 20 new graduate programs across the world, as well as a significant number of
scholarly books and journals including the new Journal of Positive Psychology. The
ideas of positive psychology have firmly taken root within professional practice.
While it shares thinking from other branches of psychology, this relatively new field
provides a fresh lens through which to examine human behaviour in various aspects
of work and non-work life across the entire human lifespan (Donaldson, Dollwet, &
Rao, 2015). Clearly, given the already rapid growth and interest in this area in the
last 15 years, this area has much to offer the broader discipline of psychology, as
well as people and organisations aiming for optimal functioning. The following
section provides information on how positive psychology as a sub-area of
psychology emerged.
Learned helplessness. 2.6.1
Learned helplessness is the theory that led Seligman and other researchers to
examine happiness and, most recently, flourishing. The theory of learned
helplessness developed after an accidental discovery when Seligman was researching
depression at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1970s (Peterson, Maier, &
Seligman, 1993). Experiments were conducted where dogs were repeatedly exposed
to an adverse stimulus, in some cases an electric shock that was inescapable.
Ultimately, the dogs would stop trying to avoid the pain and revert to utter
helplessness. When opportunities to escape the pain were presented in subsequent
tests, the development of learned helplessness prevented the dogs from trying to
escape. It was this discovery about helplessness that led Seligman to develop the
concept of ‘learned optimism’ and wonder about its application to humans. In
contrast to learned helplessness, the central tenet of learned optimism is that people
can embrace optimism and enhance the quality of their lives through adopting a more
positive internal monologue (Seligman, 2006). Seligman (2006) found that learned
helplessness did not explain all situations, as not everyone became helpless in similar
circumstances. He further examined Weiner’s attribution theory as well as Aaron
Beck’s cognitive therapy model, and created the theory of ‘attributional style’ where
a person attributes the cause of situations to either optimistic or pessimistic
explanations (Seligman, 2002). This, ultimately, became the basis of positive
psychology.
Positive psychology. 2.6.2
In 1998, positive psychology was an initiative of Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi
who attempted to shift the focus of psychology away from a deficit or disease model
to a preventative and proactive model. They were interested in bringing back into
psychology some of the concepts they found to be so important for a life worth
living, yet were rarely addressed in psychology, such as creativity, joy, and gratitude.
So began a move towards positive psychology (Sheldon, et al., 2011). Moreover,
Seligman thought that in adopting a strength-orientation rather than a deficit
orientation, psychologists could contribute more to their particular psychological
area than they were at the time. Positive psychology sits within the domain of
psychology and is evidence-based (Seligman, et al., 2005). It has gained popularity
within many areas of the behavioural sciences including applied psychology
(Gilman, et al., 2009). It now enjoys a growing identity of its own. Positive
psychology can be described as the science of the good life (Seligman, et al., 2005).
It is the study of positive emotions, full engagement in activities and paths to
fulfilment and meaning in life. It focuses on areas such as contentment and
satisfaction, hope and optimism, flow and happiness. It also encompasses areas such
as self-determination, character strengths, resilience, gratitude, mindfulness,
creativity, forgiveness and savouring (Norrish & Vella-Broderick, 2009). Linley and
Joseph (2004) define positive psychology as a strength-based psychology that works
to promote optimal functioning across the full range of human functioning, from
disorder and distress to health and fulfilment. “It is the scientific study of what goes
right in life from birth to death and all stops in between” (Peterson, 2006, p. 4).
Positive psychologists do not claim to have ushered in a new field of scientific study,
but claim that positive psychology has united what had been scattered and disparate
lines of theory and research about what makes life most worth living (Seligman, et
al., 2005). Some researchers claim it is an umbrella term for work that investigates
optimal functioning and wellbeing in people (Norrish & Vella-Broderick, 2009).
Within psychology it seems that the notion of positive psychology existed before
1998. Peterson (2006) claims that the basis for positive psychology as it currently
exists was humanistic psychology as proposed by Rogers (1951) and Maslow
(Maslow, Frager, Fadiman, McReynolds, & Cox, 1970). Both believed that people
strive to make the most of their potential in a process called self-actualisation
(Maslow, et al., 1970; Rogers, 1951). In what is now a major paradigm shift, many
psychologists are embracing positive psychology, focusing their research and
practice toward a focus on positive constructs such as optimism, hope, and wellbeing
(Gable & Haidt, 2005).
Positive psychology does not imply that the rest of psychology is negative nor does it
ignore the negative or distressing aspects of life; rather it fully acknowledges the
existence of human suffering and distress (Gable & Haidt, 2005). This is supported
by Fredrickson (2009) who studied the value of and benefit of positive feelings in
optimising aspects of wellbeing, such as creativity and problem solving, and he also
acknowledged that we need to have sad or negative feelings to experience life fully.
Positive psychology seeks to “direct scientific attention to aspects of human
experience that are not yet well understood, for example, how individuals can
become happier” (Norrish & Vella-Broderick, 2009, p. 271). It appears that for
Seligman happiness may have been limiting in its application. There are researchers
who now claim that happiness and wellbeing are discrete concepts, and that while
happiness may contribute to wellbeing, wellbeing takes into account a number of
different aspects of life (Raibley, 2012). This can be confusing as some researchers
use the terms happiness, wellbeing, satisfaction and other terms as interchangeable.
Seligman (2011) in his most recent book Flourish continues to move away from a
predominant focus on ‘happiness’, to building the enabling components of wellbeing
throughout the life span.
This desire to embrace and understand the positive and negative experiences of
people can be viewed as a whole person orientation and is associated with the
emergence of interest in positive psychosocial experiences, and how they are related
to the prevention of mental illness and the promotion of mental health. In particular,
child and adolescent psychology research has primarily focused on problematic
behaviours and negative life outcomes, with little attention to promoting positive
development (Marques, Pais-Ribeiro, & Lopez, 2011). Thus, a whole person
orientation responds to this negative experience in psychological research. The
emergence of positive psychology has seen a redirection towards the scientific
exploration of human wellbeing and optimal functioning (Gable & Haidt, 2005). In
the field of educational research, this redirection towards wellbeing is underpinned
by specific positive psychology constructs.
Initially positive psychology research focused on examining specific constructs, for
example, ‘optimism' (a general expectation for good outcomes in the future) (Scheier
& Carver, 1985), ‘hope’ (ability to clearly conceptualise, strategise, and reach goals)
(Snyder et al., 1991), ‘self-efficacy’ (belief in one’s ability to attain their goals)
(Bandura, 1997), and ‘gratitude’ (feelings of appreciation that result from perceived
fortune of the kindness of others) (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002). Positive
psychology research looked at these constructs and their individual relations with
positive adaptation, coping and general resilience plus many other health related
outcomes. As researchers built an understanding of various individual positive traits,
others initiated investigations into how these traits relate to each other (Rand, 2009).
Examining specific constructs and individual traits such as optimism, hope, gratitude
and others continue to be of interest. It seems that the two directions of research and
program, the first focusing on the person, the second on the conditions of life will be
considerations for future developments in positive psychology (Sheldon, et al.,
2011). However, despite the many recent articles on positive psychology which
clearly convey that this area is burgeoning, positive psychology is not without its
critics.
Challenges and critics of positive psychology. 2.6.3
There are critics and researchers who argue for further investigation into positive
psychology itself, and also positive psychology constructs used on their own, as well
as in combination with each other. Some critics claim it is too strongly focused on
subjective wellbeing and risks people being blamed (or blaming themselves) for their
situations (Roffey, 2012). While those who support positive psychology argue that it
is “heralding a new era, the opponents consider it exaggerated in its claims and cult
like in its aspirations” (Kristjansson, 2012, p. 86).
Criticism seems to focus on both the theoretical (Fineman, 2006) and the
methodological rigour used in the research (Lazarus, 2003). Those who argue about
the theoretical area have concerns regarding the lack of novelty in positive
psychology concepts and claim there is nothing conceptually new. This view is
shared by Kristjánsson who states that purported findings and outcomes from
positive psychological approaches risk being exaggerated and that the work done in
this area is not new (Kristjansson, 2012). Although this researcher shared a softer
view one year later when he argued that as positive psychology is in a state of flux
with views still changing and evolving, it would seem fair in the interim to give it the
benefit of the doubt (Kristjánsson, 2013). This view may have been due to
Kristjánsson’s curiosity and interest regarding how positive psychology would
continue to develop. While at times he has been critical, his more recent articles have
revealed a more open-minded, hopeful view that positive psychology may indeed
have something to offer. Another criticism in the theoretical area is that there is an
overemphasis on the positive alongside a lack of attention to the negative aspects of
certain constructs. There are also those who assert that the individualistic bias of
many concepts within positive psychology may not be universally applicable and
transferable into collectivist cultures (Becker & Marecek, 2008). From a theoretical
viewpoint, it would seem that there is a measure of validity in these concerns, which
if addressed by researchers may add to the rigour of the field.
From a methodological standpoint, critics claim there is a lack of scientific rigour
specifically concerning the operationalisation validity of variables and scales, as well
as the design of program studies (Sugarman, 2007). Additionally, there are critics
who call for a review of the complete peer-reviewed scientific literature in this area,
as they doubt the claims made about the effectiveness of positive psychology
programs increasing happiness and decreasing depressive symptoms (Donaldson, et
al., 2015). While there is an increase in the volume of positive psychology-related
publications (Donaldson & Ko, 2010; Rusk & Waters, 2013), there are some who
argue that these articles do not address concerns about the peer-reviewed empirical
foundations of positive psychology (Donaldson, et al., 2015). What may be useful to
infer from these criticisms is that positive psychology as a discipline may benefit
from a tighter definition of what constitutes a positive psychological approach. In
addition, this bourgeoning area of research would benefit from rigorous systematic
literature reviews seeking to identify what works and what does not (Donaldson &
Ko, 2010).
Scholars who are not involved in positive psychology tend to be sceptical about the
rapid growth in the attention it is now receiving, especially as courses in positive
psychology are emerging in many universities (Gable & Haidt, 2005). What is not
clear currently is how positive psychology relates to educational psychology; very
little has been explicitly written about this relationship to date. Kristjánsson (2012)
asserts that positive psychology has eluded discussion in educational psychology
stating that a comprehensive literature search of more than 200 articles published in
the area of educational psychology in the last decade failed to locate the term
‘positive psychology’.
There is evidence, however, that positive psychology is increasing in its breadth of
influence in areas other than psychology and education. A recent study tracking the
size, reach, impact, and breadth of positive psychology revealed that positive
psychology covers many different research topics, from a range of different
disciplines, and that positive psychology literature has been growing rapidly. Rusk
and Waters (2013) used semantic and bibliographic methods to analyse over 1.7
million documents in 700 PsycINFO journals covering the fields of psychology,
psychiatry, neuroscience, management, business, public health, and sport science for
references to positive psychology. Over 18,000 documents were identified as
belonging to positive psychology, with 2,300 published in 2011. This demonstrates
that the field has grown substantially within the 15 years since its establishment. This
growth in positive psychology literature contributes to an understanding of a new
paradigm for wellbeing, and is currently influencing education, in particular
adolescent wellbeing.
Positive psychology can be considered as an emerging science that is just beginning
to have a significant impact on schools and school-based programs (Gilman, et al.,
2009). Future research should continue to investigate the potential benefits of
positive psychology programs in schools as a way to increase life satisfaction among
children and adolescents (McCabe, et al., 2011). Norrish and Vella-Brodrick (2009)
assert that if evidence-based positive psychology programs are applied in a
systematic manner, positive psychology has the potential to make a valuable
contribution to adolescent wellbeing.
One of the challenges in trying to assess positive psychology in schools is that the
positive psychology constructs (either single or multiple) used in programs are rarely
assessed. This is significant as there has been more research conducted on adults
using positive psychology constructs. As stated earlier, there is little available
evidence on the effect of positive psychology programs used with adolescents
(McCabe, et al., 2011). Studies of using positive psychology constructs in children
and youth remain in the early stages of development (Gilman, et al., 2009). However
in recent years, evidence is steadily accumulating in relation to the effectiveness of
positive psychology programs (Norrish & Vella-Broderick, 2009). Regardless of the
limited evidence available, there seems to be more positive than negative literature
emerging from researchers in relation to positive psychology and adolescents
(Peterson, 2006). The researcher has noticed in the five years working on this study,
there definitely has been an increase in empirical evidence on positive psychology
programs relevant to the education area. While there are critics who challenge
positive psychology, in this current global milieu of uncertainty mentioned earlier in
this chapter, the enhancement of individual wellbeing should be a concern, where
people can lead lives that are fulfilling and flourishing.
Positive psychology and the PERMA model. 2.6.4
In Seligman’s (2002) book Authentic Happiness he claims that relieving the states
that make life miserable has made building the states that make life worth living less
of a priority. In this book, he posits that positive psychology has three pillars: 1) the
pleasant life or positive emotions contributing to increased happiness; 2) the engaged
life or the study of positive traits which focuses on strengths and virtues as well as
natural abilities; and 3) the meaningful life or study of positive ideals and
institutions, such as democracy, communities, families, which in turn support
positive emotions.
However, in Seligman’s (2011) most recent book Flourish he moves away from
happiness as the centrepiece of positive psychology and focuses instead on
wellbeing. His most recent model for wellbeing is known by the acronym of
PERMA: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and
accomplishment which he claims are the significant building blocks for a life where
one thrives and flourishes:
Positive emotion (pleasant life) is a cornerstone of wellbeing theory and
happiness and life satisfaction are important aspects
Engagement is the experience of being completely absorbed by the task
Relationships is the experiences that take place around other people
Meaning is the experience of belonging to and serving something that
you believe is bigger than the self
Accomplishment is the experience of mastery. (Seligman, 2011, p. 24)
Building on the three pillars pertaining to happiness espoused in Authentic Happiness
namely positive emotions, positive engagement and positive meaning, Seligman
added two new concepts: positive relationships and accomplishment. Seligman now
suggests that while certainly a part of wellbeing, happiness alone does not give life
meaning. The researcher was influenced by the PERMA model in relation to
researching this area. There are some influential independent Australian schools such
as Geelong Grammar School, Knox Grammar, and St Peter’s Adelaide that have
implemented the PERMA model in their schools. The researcher, while influenced
by this model, chose to implement specific constructs rather than implementing the
PERMA model as a whole.
In exploring options to gather data on the program that is the subject of this study,
the researcher wanted an option that would evaluate wellbeing rather than using
instruments from a deficit approach, such as the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale
(DASS). The researcher chose to use the covitality model to evaluate the wellbeing
program and this is discussed below.
Covitality and the Social Emotional Health Survey – 2.6.5Secondary (SEHS-S).
A valuable perspective on wellbeing is offered by Jones et al. (2012) who assert that,
currently, no single term is used to describe the co-occurrence of human strengths in
the positive psychology literature, as with comorbidity and psychopathology, but that
co-occurrence should be explored by researchers. Comorbidity was initially a term
conceptualised in the medical area; however, it has now been adapted by
psychologists to describe the co-existence of mental disorders, substance use
disorders, physical illness, and developmental disabilities (Massimiliano, 2009).
Comorbidity is a term used to explain the fact that often, when one is experiencing
depression, it is likely that one will also experience anxiety. The existence of these
two variables occurring alongside each other is termed comorbidity. Furlong and
others argue that it is similarly likely that when people experience a positive state,
such as gratitude, they are more likely to also experience other positive states, such
as resilience. The co-occurrence of these positive states has been coined covitality
(Jones, et al., 2012). Seligman (2005) indicated that less attention is given to the
combination of many individual positive traits (such as self-esteem, gratitude, hope)
and their effect on wellbeing and positive outcomes. More attention and recognition
is required to fully comprehend the combinations of positive traits.
Covitality is a relatively new concept that has only been explored in the last few
years and, as such, there is limited research available. Covitality is defined as the co-
occurrence of positive intrapersonal assets and interpersonal resources that increase
the possibility of positive life outcomes for individuals (Jones, et al., 2012). In
contrast to comorbidity, the term covitality was developed by researchers who
investigated the heritability and genetic relationship between subjective wellbeing
and dominance in chimpanzees and found that there was a genetic component to
subjective wellbeing (Weiss, King, & Enns, 2002).
Further exploration of covitality was carried out by several researchers who
examined the relationship between the K-factor, covitality, and personality.
(Figueredo, Vasquez, Brumbach, & Schneider, 2007). The K-factor is defined as a
single latent common factor that underlies a variety of life history indicators, which
are connected to sexual, reproductive, parental, and social behaviours. The indicators
of the K-factor included the quality of an individual’s relations with his or her
parents, spouse and child; the support an individual gives to and receives from
friends and relatives; and a variety of cognitive indicators of life history strategy
associated with long-term planning, impulse control, relationship stability, and
degree of community organisation or involvement (Figueredo, et al., 2007). These
researchers used the Midus scale, a comprehensive self-report survey to identify
behavioural factors that contribute to covitality, and these factors were subjective
wellbeing, negative affect, positive affect, general health, and medical symptoms.
Results revealed that covitality was positively correlated with the K-factor. This led
to the understanding that individuals who had parents who were invested in their
wellbeing and individuals who invested more somatic assets in their own survival
experienced enhanced physical and mental health (Figueredo, et al., 2007). Later
research resulted in the development of the covitality model.
Aspects of the CHKS (California Healthy Kids Survey) and RYDM
(Resilience/Youth Development Module) were used in developing the covitality
model (CoVi) and the Social and Emotional Health Survey- Secondary (SEHS-S)
(Furlong, Renshaw, Smith, & Dowdy, 2013). CoVi, as measured by the Social
Emotional Health Survey, is a better predictor of subjective wellbeing and quality of
life than each individual component considered separately (Furlong, et al., 2013).
The construct of covitality and the use of the SEHS-S to measure this construct is of
interest to the current study as the positive psychology program that is being
explored aligns with the notion of a combination of positive psychology constructs,
namely character strengths, gratitude, flow, savouring, and mindfulness.
A number of researchers have focused on how these traits are associated
synergistically with psychological wellbeing. A recent study by Jones, You, &
Furlong (2012) investigated the role of positive psychology constructs in predicting
mental health and academic achievement of 528 psychology students from a
university in southern California. In this study, researchers examined the co-
occurrence of selected positive psychological traits (self-efficacy, optimism, hope,
life satisfaction, happiness, and gratitude) and explored their association with a
proposed second-order latent construct called covitality in terms of psychological
wellbeing. Findings from this study suggest that covitality is associated with lower
levels of psychological problems and higher levels of wellbeing. They posit that
programs that aim to bolster psychological characteristics in combination may have
additive effects and suggest this should be explored in further research (Jones, et al.,
2012). Results support the notion that a combination of positive psychological traits
is associated with higher levels of wellbeing.
A more recent example of covitality constructs used as predictors of psychological
wellbeing and depression for secondary school students was a study including 361
Australian secondary students (75 males and 286 females). The overall aim of this
study was to further explore the phenomenon of covitality and its relationship with
psychological wellbeing and depression. It examined the strength of connection
among covitality and its underlying constructs of belief-in-self, emotional
competence, belief-in-others and engaged living, as well as two outcome variables,
subjective wellbeing and depression (Pennell, Boman, & Mergler, 2015). The results
of the first multiple regression revealed that the most significant predictor of
subjective wellbeing was engaged living. Other results highlighted that belief-in-self
and belief-in-others were significant predictors of subjective wellbeing in
adolescents. The second multiple regression highlighted that belief-in-self is the most
significant predictor of lower levels of depression. The combined effect of each of
the covitality components on depression was greater than the effect of each trait
individually. This provides further support for the concept of covitality. Covitality
showed a large amount of variance (25%) in depression which demonstrates its
strength in relation to mental health outcomes in adolescence. The findings helped
provide a more recent picture of adolescent wellbeing in Australia from a wellbeing
focus rather than a deficit focus using covitality constructs.
Recent research shows that positive psychology continues to grow. An extensive
review identified 1336 articles published between 1999 and 2013 with more than 750
of these including empirical tests related to the theories, principles and programs
(Donaldson, et al., 2015). Aligned with this growth, there has been in interest in what
positive psychology can offer education. With this in mind together with the whole
person orientation as well as specific evidence-based constructs, the researcher was
interested in developing a program in the education area.
2.7 POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND THE CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECT
A recent paper by Waters (2011) reviewed 12 school-based positive psychology
programs designed to foster student wellbeing. The author drew from international
studies across different school systems (public and private) and examined the
constructs of gratitude, hope, serenity, resilience, and strengths. Participants across
the studies ranged in age from five to nineteen years of age and came from various
ethnicities. One of these programs examined was a social, emotional resilience
program in Australia called ‘You Can Do It’. Researchers compared students in Year
5 from six government schools implementing the program with students in six
government schools not implementing the program. Over the one-year period, the
self-report data for the schools implementing the program showed significant
improvements in: student morale; stimulating learning; connectedness; student
motivation; learning confidence; connectedness to peers’ classroom behaviour;
student safety; and a reduction in student distress. The results for students in the
schools who did not have the program only showed improvement in two of these
areas, classroom behaviour and student safety (Waters, 2011). Taken together, the
evidence demonstrated that positive psychology programs were significantly
positively related to student wellbeing and academic performance.
Covitality can be viewed as a conceptual organiser for the combination of positive
psychology constructs linked to enhanced wellbeing. Recent research indicates that
covitality, defined earlier in this chapter, appears to be important in understanding
not only positive wellbeing outcomes for adolescents, but also the reduction of levels
of depression for adolescents (Pennell, et al., 2015). As adolescence is a critical time
in human development, as outlined in Chapter 1, it is crucial that more research
explores helping adolescents to navigate this time in a proactive rather than a reactive
way. Utilising positive psychological programs is one way of achieving this, and
there are those who recommend further development of positive psychology
programs in schools (Green, et al., 2011; Vella-Brodrick, 2011; Waters, 2011).
The current study addressed this need for more research in the area of positive
psychology programs, particularly in relation to adolescents. A meta-analysis
conducted by Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) found that a ‘shotgun’ approach, in which
multiple constructs (such as gratitude, grit, optimism and hope) are used within one
school program, might be more effective than utilising a single construct only. While
there may be a growing number of schools globally utilising single constructs or
multiple constructs in their programs, the majority are not being empirically
evaluated. There is a need for further research on multiple constructs and whole
school programs (Van Nieuwerburgh, 2012). This study, while it is not a program
embedded in all aspects of the school setting, does address the call for data on a
program using multiple constructs.
The positive education program (Pos-Ed) used in this study incorporated a range of
positive psychology constructs: character strengths, gratitude, flow, savouring, and
mindfulness. The constructs were chosen by the researcher as a result of completing
research on positive psychology, and from visits to schools which utilised these
concepts in their wellbeing programs. This study examined whether changes resulted
in the wellbeing of adolescent girls after being exposed to these constructs in a
positive psychology program. In this research, the researcher was cognisant of
positive psychology not being a ‘one size fits all’ approach to wellbeing. With all of
the constructs, the approach was to assist adolescents to discern what strategies
would make their lives ‘flourishing’ ones. Flourishing is a term Seligman (2011)
used to describe the notion of wellbeing using the PERMA model, and this was
discussed earlier in this chapter. Seligman adopted this term in his recent work as it
more fully explains the notion of wellbeing. Other researchers such as Gaffney
(2011) talk about flourishing as the state of feeling one’s life energy stretch and fill
every corner of one’s life to reach some high point of self-realisation. She further
asserts that this emotional vitality that comes with flourishing helps people be
happier, more productive, live more satisfying lives, and help create flourishing
organisations (Gaffney, 2011). Thus, flourishing can be regarded as a multi-faceted
concept and more complex than the concept of happiness. The author of this study
focuses on wellbeing in this study and asserts that the concept of flourishing is a
product of higher levels of wellbeing.
Nurturing qualities that are authentic to the individuals is especially important in
work with adolescents where flexibility is needed as adolescents transition into
adulthood (Norrish & Vella-Broderick, 2009). For example, as long as adolescents
are practising the construct of gratitude on a regular basis (e.g., writing in in their
gratitude journals daily, weekly, or monthly), students will be able to benefit from
this regular practice in relation to their personal wellbeing, giving it the potential to
reach its full expression (Howells, 2012). All of the five constructs chosen for the
current study are evidence-based, and all on their own have been shown to contribute
to wellbeing. The researcher wanted to use constructs that were well researched. The
researcher was aware that the construct of gratitude is also one of the VIA character
strengths and it is a construct that can be taught and practised (Howells, 2012);
further, gratitude had a significant level of research associated with it. These five
constructs are now explored in detail. The first positive psychology construct for
exploration is character strengths and virtues.
2.8 CHARACTER STRENGTHS AND VIRTUES
Definition. 2.8.1
One of the important constructs of positive psychology focuses on character
strengths. Indeed, some researchers assert that “among the pillars of positive
psychology, character may occupy the most central role” (Gilman, et al., 2009, p.
66). Peterson and Seligman (2004) define character strengths as a ubiquitously
recognised subset of personality traits that are morally valued. A practical, working
definition is that strengths are ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving that come
naturally and easily to a person and that enable high functioning and performance
(Linley, Joseph, Harrington, & Wood, 2006). Strengths are proposed to have
important benefits for wellbeing and to contribute to success in important life
domains (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Strengths enable individuals to exhibit
increased flexibility and adaptability to different circumstances, have a sense of
affirmation in life, compassion, and an increased depth and satisfaction in
relationships (Seligman, 2002).
Character strengths, while similar to talents, can be generally defined as morally
valued ways of thinking and behaving that are intrinsically part of who a person is,
and enable a high level of operating. A strength is valued for moral and intrinsic
reasons whereas talents are valued for their tangible outcomes (Peterson & Seligman,
2004). For example, a sportsperson has natural abilities that may be considered
talents, whereas the persistence to practice and determination to improve may be
considered strengths.
Classification. 2.8.2
Within positive psychology there are several ways of conceptualising strengths, and
one of the most well researched is the Values in Action (VIA) framework that was
created by Peterson and Seligman (Peterson & Seligman, 2004)see Table 2.1). A
historical study of strengths was undertaken by researchers with the aim of
identifying strengths that had been valued across time and cultures. They undertook a
historical study drawing on the philosophies underpinning the traditions of
Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Athenian philosophy, Islam, Judaism, and
Christianity to determine which strengths were consistently discussed. These
strengths and values were then included in the VIA framework if they met the
following ten criteria: (1) the strength contributes to a good and full life; (2) the
strength is valuable in its own right not just because of its outcomes; (3) the use of
the strength does not negatively impact on others; (4) the strength has a negative
opposite; (5) the strength is relatively stable and impacts a wide range of thoughts,
feelings and actions; (6) the strength is distinct from other strengths; (7) the strength
is represented in culture through stories, myths and songs; (8) there are role models
that exemplify the strength; (9) some people do not demonstrate the strength; and
(10) there are structures and institutions in society that aim to promote the strength.
There may be other positive traits that are not included, for example, patience and
ambition, but all traits included in the classification had to meet the ten criteria listed
above (Peterson & Seligman, 2004).
In order to classify the results of this extensive study, Peterson and Seligman (2004)
devised the Character Strengths and Virtues Handbook. This became known as the
VIA Classification which identifies 24 character strengths under six broad virtues
(Table 2.1). Peterson and Seligman (2004) argue that each strength is morally valued
in its own right. The VIA framework has been used in adult and youth samples (Park,
Peterson, & Seligman, 2004). The VIA Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) was
developed for adults and the VIA Inventory of Strengths for Youth (VIA-Youth) was
developed for young people aged 10 to 17. Both these instruments are questionnaires
that measure the degree to which respondents endorse items reflecting each of the 24
strengths (Peterson, 2006, p. 150). These questionnaires are freely available online
(www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/).
Ways to enhance using strengths with adolescents. 2.8.3
The VIA-Youth is a 198 item self-report survey that students complete online
(www.viacharacter.org) and provides a comprehensive assessment of the 24
character strengths (Gilman, et al., 2009). This instrument was used with the
participants in this study to enable them to identify their individual strengths. The
assessment takes 45 minutes on average to complete. Once the survey is completed,
students are provided with feedback on their strengths, and the strengths are ranked
from one to 24, one being the strongest and 24 being the lowest. The top five
strengths are known as signature strengths or the student’s top five strengths. The
description of signature strengths acts as a starting point for individuals to explore
ways of using these strengths more frequently (Park & Peterson, 2008).
Table 2.1
The VIA Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues adapted from Peterson and
Seligman (2004)
Virtues Character Strengths Wisdom and knowledge
Creativity Curiosity Love of learning Open-mindedness Perspective
Courage
Authenticity Bravery Persistence Zest
Humanity Kindness Love Social intelligence
Justice Fairness Leadership Teamwork
Temperance Forgiveness/mercy Modesty/humility
Prudence Self-regulation
Transcendence Appreciation of beauty and excellence Gratitude Hope Humour Religiousness/spirituality
Peterson (2006) believes people possess signature strengths, and these are strengths
of character that a person owns, celebrates and frequently exercises. Signature
strengths are strengths that are intrinsically linked to the essence of the ‘real person’.
A signature strength has the following characteristics:
A sense of ownership and authenticity (“this is the real me”);
A feeling of excitement while displaying it, particularly at first;
A rapid learning curve as the strength is first practised;
A sense of yearning to find new ways to use it;
A feeling of inevitability in using the strength (“Try to stop me”);
Invigoration rather than exhaustion while using the strength;
The creation and pursuit of personal projects that revolve around it;
[and]
Joy, zest, enthusiasm… while using it. (Seligman, 2011, pp. 38-39)
There are many activities that can be used with adolescents to learn about strengths,
as well as learning about their own signature strengths. Students should be
encouraged to view all of their strengths as important, not just their signature
strengths. According to a strengths approach, each individual has unique qualities
that can be used to enhance wellbeing, overcome challenges, and nurture
relationships (Park, et al., 2004). According to Seligman (2002), it is essential to
build strengths and virtues and understand positive emotion, as well as provide
guideposts for finding what Aristotle termed the ‘good life’. The second positive
psychology construct that is an important part of the positive education program is
gratitude.
2.9 GRATITUDE
Definition. 2.9.1
Gratitude is a key part of the positive education program in the current project.
Gratitude has the potential to enhance adolescent wellbeing, social development and
achievement (Gilman, et al., 2009). Gratitude is defined as “a sense of thankfulness
and joy in response to receiving a gift, whether the gift be a tangible benefit from a
specific other or a moment of peaceful bliss evoked by natural beauty” (Peterson &
Seligman, 2004, p. 554). They further assert that it as an enjoyable experience that
leads to feelings of happiness, hope, and satisfaction. A general definition of
gratitude that can be applied to adults and adolescents is that it consists of feeling a
sense of wonder, thankfulness and appreciation for life (Emmons & McCullough,
2003). While gratitude is identified as one of the 24 VIA character strengths within
Peterson and Seligman’s (2004) model, it is also highlighted as one of the central
tenets of positive psychology (Howells, 2012). Expressing gratitude is a lot more
than saying ‘thank you’. Emerging research shows that people who are consistently
grateful have been found to be happier, more energetic, more hopeful and report
more frequent positive emotions (Lyubomirsky, 2007). Lyubomirsky (2007) also
claims there are eight reasons to practise gratitude: 1) grateful thinking promotes the
savouring of positive life experiences; 2) expressing gratitude bolsters self-worth and
self-esteem; 3) gratitude helps people cope with stress and trauma; 4) the expression
of gratitude encourages moral behaviour; 5) gratitude can help build social bonds,
strengthen existing relationships and nurture new ones; 6) expressing gratitude tends
to inhibit invidious comparisons with others; 7) the practice of gratitude is
incompatible with negative emotions and may deter feelings such as anger, bitterness
and greed; and ) gratitude helps to thwart hedonic adaptation or preventing people
from taking the good things in life for granted.
Gratitude and student wellbeing. 2.9.2
Gratitude is one of the main pillars in Seligman’s PERMA model (Seligman, 2011).
It is associated with positive emotions, and the key to take advantage of positive
emotions is to regard them as resource builders, and these include pride, gratitude,
pleasure, satisfaction, interest and hope; simply put, “Gratitude can make life happier
and more satisfying” (Seligman, 2011, p. 30). Increasingly, researchers are seeing a
positive relationship between gratitude and wellbeing. Emmons and McCullough
(2003) investigated the relationship between gratitude and wellbeing in a sample of
young adolescents and found that those who displayed high levels of gratitude also
experienced “optimism, overall life satisfaction and domain-specific life satisfaction”
(p. 228).
For centuries, gratitude has been considered a powerful ingredient of health
and wellbeing for individuals and society (Gilman, et al., 2009). Research in the last
decade has shown a variety of ways in which gratitude is beneficial for optimal
development. Gratitude is one way of cultivating positive emotions and there is
correlational research that suggests gratitude is associated with good mental and
physical health (Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010). In a study of 154 adolescents (with
a mean age of 12.14 years), gratitude was found to have positive associations with
psychological outcomes (i.e., subjective wellbeing and optimism) and social
outcomes (i.e., pro-social behaviour and social support). In this sample, females
reported higher gratitude than males, and males were found to derive more gratitude
from family relationships than females (Froh, Yurkewicz, & Kashdan, 2009).
Ways to enhance gratitude in adolescents. 2.9.3
There are various gratitude exercises reported in the literature. One simple exercise
reported by Seligman (2009) is to have students write down daily three good things
that happened each day for a week. The three things can be small in importance.
Next to each positive event, students write about one of the following: “Why did this
good thing happen?”, “What does this mean to you?”, or “How can you have more of
this good thing in the future?” Lyubomirsky (2007) suggests there is an array of
possibilities in terms of gratitude exercises, for example, keeping a gratitude journal,
expressing gratitude directly to another, writing a gratitude letter, writing a ‘best
possible selves’ diary. Gratitude exercises can be implemented directly in the
classroom by the teacher. This makes it feasible to use these exercises as additions to
the existing curriculum. They do not require staff to expend excessive amounts of
time or energy and they are relatively easy to execute (McCabe, et al., 2011).
Lyubomirsky (2007) also suggests that the way students express gratitude can
depend on the individual personality. Instead of writing, some may choose to reflect
on why they are grateful. Alternatively, some may want to acknowledge one
ungrateful thought per day and substitute a grateful one. She also suggests that the
gratitude strategy should be fresh by varying it or not over-practising it
(Lyubomirsky, 2007).
Experiencing gratitude is one way for students to boost their mood, strengthen their
social ties and cultivate a sense of purpose and engagement with the world (Gilman,
et al., 2009). What may be interesting for future research is whether certain
combinations of exercises including gratitude exercises may work better to increase
optimum functioning and life satisfaction for adolescents (McCabe, et al., 2011).
Seligman (2005) asserted that applying multiple exercises at once might be more
beneficial than any exercise applied on its own.
The third positive psychology construct that is an important part of the positive
education program is flow.
2.10 FLOW
Definition. 2.10.1
“Flow describes the subjective buoyancy of experience when skilful and successful
action seems effortless, even when a great deal of physical or mental energy is
needed” (Gilman, et al., 2009, p. 132). Flow is a state of mind that is associated with
wellbeing (Lyubomirsky, 2007). Flow was a concept developed by Csikszentmihalyi
in the 1960s when he was researching the creative process. It is connected to using
individual strengths and is linked to positive emotion and experiencing pleasure in
life. Flow is Csikszentmihalyi’s term for the psychological state that accompanies
highly engaging activities (Peterson, 2006). Csikszentmihalyi (1990) argues that the
good life, a happy life is one that is characterised by flow, by complete absorption in
what one does, and to achieve flow there must be a balance between the skills and
challenges (Lyubomirsky, 2007). Finding flow involves the ability to expand one’s
mind and body to the limits, to strive to accomplish something challenging and to
discover rewards in the process of each moment, which goes unnoticed because of
absolute engagement (Lyubomirsky, 2007).
Csikszentmihalyi (1997) suggests there are nine features of flow: 1) task-challenge
balance; 2) a feeling of oneness with the activity or merging of action and awareness;
3) clear goals; 4) clear and immediate response; 5) concentration and absorption; 6) a
sense of control; 7) loss of self-consciousness or awareness; 8) decreased awareness
of time; and 9) a task that is valued and intrinsically motivating. Flow is not
automatically achieved when an individual enjoys an experience. An essential
element of flow is the appropriate match between skill level and the task challenge,
so that skills are stretched but not overmatched A mismatch between task challenge
and skill level can lead to anxiety (low skill and high challenge), relaxation (high
skill and low challenge), or apathy (low skill, low challenge) (Snyder & Lopez,
2005). If the challenge is too low and boredom or apathy is experienced, then
attention wanders. If the challenge is too great and tension or anxiety is experienced,
then attention shifts to the self-conscious or personal limitations (Gilman, et al.,
2009).
Ways to enhance flow in adolescents. 2.10.2
When flow is present, an individual engaged in a task will not notice the passing of
time as there is total absorption and engagement in the activity. In addition, an
individual experiences intrinsic happiness and pleasure when experiencing flow.
“Schools need only the vision, initiative, and commitment to create environments
where learning is enjoyable as well as rigorous for flow in schools to become a
reality” (Gilman, et al., 2009, p. 143). Strategies for cultivating flow include noticing
and making time for flow activities and re-crafting activities to create an appropriate
match between skill and challenge. Concentration, attentiveness and student
engagement were much higher when instruction was seen as challenging and
relevant; further, flow was more likely to occur during experiential activities (group
work, discussions) than passive activities (lectures, videos) (Shernoff,
Csikszentmihalyi, Schneider, & Shernoff, 2003). Shernoff et al. (2003) also
recommend strategies for creating matches between student skill level and
expectations, teaching skills in an incremental way, and providing regular and
specific feedback.
There are many variables that affect whether students experience flow in their
learning experiences. These variables include individual personality traits,
background characteristics, family, the age of students, socio-economic status,
individual ability level and talent, as well as the teacher’s role. The breadth of these
variables make it difficult to measure flow in relation to student learning (Hunter &
Csikszentmihalyi, 2003).
Flow and teachers. 2.10.3
An important influence on students’ engagement with learning is the teacher
(Gilman, et al., 2009). Three strategies for cultivating teacher engagement are: 1)
encourage staff to continue to nurture and cultivate their own passions and interests;
2) focus more on the intrinsic rewards of learning more than the external rewards
such as grades or results; and 3) provide mastery or learning feedback rather than
performance or outcome feedback (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). Several researchers
have explored the teacher’s flow experience while in classrooms. A study in 2000 by
Di Bianco conducted on both teachers and students in a limited sample of a
mathematics classroom reported that students were not in flow when teachers were in
flow, and vice-versa (Gilman, et al., 2009). However, research in this area is limited.
A school where arguably flow has occurred for teachers and students is Geelong
Grammar School. In 2008, teachers and students were involved in the Geelong
Grammar School Project (involving 1500 students). It was the first time that Martin
Seligman and staff from the Positive Psychology Centre at the University of
Pennsylvania had an entire school interested in implementing a positive psychology
program (Seligman, et al., 2009). Teachers were trained to use the skills in their own
lives, both personally and professionally. The use of this program throughout the
school has also been extended, and over 100 ancillary staff were trained in the
program in 2011. There is evidence that supports the in-principle approach of
infusing teachers as well as students with the skills of the positive education
program. For example, relationships between teaching staff and students in schools
are gaining an increasingly high profile, not only in relation to wellbeing, but also for
developing an effective learning environment (Lowry-Webster, Barrett, & Lock,
2003). Studies in this area are limited. However, St Peter’s College Adelaide
conducted research to measure whole school wellbeing in students and staff by
applying Seligman’s PERMA model in 2012. School employees were invited via
email to complete an online survey (n = 143) based on Butler and Stern’s 2015
measure to evaluate PERMA. This study revealed that staff with higher levels of
wellbeing reported better health, and staff who reported positive relationships with
co-workers had greater job satisfaction (Haase, Poulin, & Heckhausen, 2012). This
suggests that positive affect motivates individuals to invest time and energy into
educational and occupational goals. Additionally, there are those in education who
assert that teacher efficacy is one of the critical factors in determining student
motivation and engagement (Hattie, 2008). Forging positive relationships between
staff and students is important to bring out the best in students and create an effective
and connected learning school community (Roffey, 2012).
The fourth positive psychology construct that is an important part of the positive
education program is savouring.
2.11 SAVOURING
Definition. 2.11.1
Savouring refers to our awareness of pleasure and our deliberate attempt to make it
last (Peterson, 2006). Bryant and Veroff of Loyola University are the founders of a
small field they call ‘savouring’ (Seligman, 2002). Author Russ Harris links
savouring with mindfulness and living in the present and suggests exercises to
increase these experiences in our lives (Harris, 2008, 2011).
Adolescents in secondary education spend a great deal of time striving to achieve
their goals in multiple domains such as academic, sporting and cultural. Much of the
time, teachers encourage and support students to reach the goals they set for
themselves in these domains. Those who habitually savour are happier and more
satisfied overall with life, more optimistic and less depressed that those who do not
savour (Peterson, 2006).
There are several studies that have found savouring increases positive emotions and
wellbeing. Research has found that the individual’s perceptions of their ability to
savour were positively correlated with indicators of wellbeing (e.g., positive affect,
optimism, subjective wellbeing and self-esteem) and negatively correlated with
indicators of distress (e.g., guilt, hopelessness, depression, and negative affect)
(Bryant, 2003). In 2010, a study via the intranet at a Belgian University was
conducted involving 282 adult participants and found that savouring strategies
focused on being present in the moment, vividly remembering or anticipating
positive events, and sharing events with others were associated with wellbeing
(Quoidbach, Berry, Hansenne, & Mikolajczak, 2010). In contrast, suppression
strategies of fault finding, ruminating, and distracting were associated with decreased
wellbeing. Taken together, these studies support the power of savouring as a strategy
for maximising positive emotions derived from life experiences.
Ways to enhance savouring in adolescents. 2.11.2
There are strategies that can enhance and promote savouring with students. These
include:
1) sharing with others: seeking out others to share the experience or telling
others how much you valued the moment;
2) memory building: taking mental photographs or reflecting about an
event later with others;
3) self-congratulating: telling oneself how impressed others are and
remembering how long it took for this to happen;
4) sharpening perceptions: focusing on certain elements of the experience
and blocking out others; and
5) absorption: letting oneself get totally immersed in the pleasure and
trying not to think about other things. (Peterson, 2006)
These techniques support four kinds of savouring: 1) basking (receiving praise and
congratulations); 2) gratitude (expressing gratitude for blessings); 3) marvelling
(losing the self in the wonder of the moment); and 4) luxuriating (indulging the
senses) (Seligman, 2002). Savouring and mindfulness are key elements of what
Seligman terms ‘a pleasant life’:
Savouring and mindfulness happen by sharing your pleasures with
someone else, by sharpening your perceptions (particularly using
perspective shifting) and by absorption. Basking, giving thanks
marvelling, and luxuriating are all means to amplifying pleasures.
(Seligman, 2002, p. 110)
The fifth positive psychology construct that is an important part of the positive
education program is mindfulness.
2.12 MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness can be described as purposefully paying non-judgemental attention to
what one is actually experiencing in the present moment. The objective is to
welcome and accept the current state including any emotions, thoughts and
perceptions (Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Mindfulness is not new and locates its roots in
Buddhism. In particular, Zen Buddhism involves training the mind to be more aware
of, and open to, the present moment (Lyubomirsky, 2007). Mindfulness, while
similar to meditation, is not the same as meditation. It can be practised for short or
long periods on a daily basis: “Mindfulness begins with the observation that
mindlessness pervades much of human activity. We fail to notice huge swaths of
experience” (Seligman, 2002, p. 109). Lyubomirsky (2007) asserts that people who
are regularly mindful of their current circumstances are more likely to experience
positive emotions, feel self-sufficient and competent, and have positive social
relationships.
Mindfulness research. 2.12.1
Mindfulness research in children and adolescents is in the formative stages but initial
results are promising (Burke, 2010). In a meta-analysis of 16 studies of mindfulness
therapies in children and youth (ranging in age from six to 18 years), mindfulness
programs were found to have a beneficial impact on physical heath (cardiovascular
functioning), mental health (anxiety) and behavioural outcomes (social skills,
attention, problematic school behaviours) with moderate effect sizes across all
outcome variables (Black, Milam, & Sussman, 2009). Similar results were found in a
review of 15 mindfulness studies in children and adolescents, suggesting that
mindfulness has a key role to play in students’ health (Burke, 2010).
Mindfulness is also believed to have a positive impact on the physical body; in
particular, it is known to calm the stress response and improve immune functioning
(Hassed, 2008). In addition, mindfulness creates a state of relaxed attention that
enables the individual to achieve more flexibility in their psychological and physical
responses to various situations (Greenberg & Harris, 2011).
The power of mindfulness is that it can break the link between negative thoughts and
negative emotions. Regularly practising mindfulness is believed to lead to deeper
self-awareness and increased capacity to manage emotional responses effectively and
resist emotional impulsivity (Black, et al., 2009). Mindfulness is a skill and it does
not come naturally; it requires instruction and practice (Fredrickson, 2009).
There are numerous scientific studies that confirm the physical and mental health
benefits of beginning a practice of mindful awareness (Fredrickson, 2009). Research
suggests that regular mindfulness practice is essential for beneficial outcomes.
Huppert and Johnson (2010) conducted a study where a sample of 155 adolescent
boys (aged 14 and 15) were allocated either to a four week, 40 minute mindfulness
program or to a control condition that involved classes as usual. Contrary to
expectations, there were no significant differences between students in the
mindfulness group or students in the control group on measures of resilience or
psychological wellbeing after the program ended. However, analysis of the data of
students who completed the mindfulness training yielded some interesting results.
The study revealed there was a significant improvement on measures of mindfulness
and psychological wellbeing related to the level of individual mindfulness practice
undertaken outside the classroom. Students who regularly practised mindfulness
outside the classroom reported improvements in psychological wellbeing (Huppert &
Johnson, 2010). This finding suggests that learning about mindfulness is not enough.
Mindfulness techniques must be applied and practised regularly for benefits to be
obtained. Burke (2010) proposed recommendations for the use of mindfulness in
schools including: amending the length of the mindfulness practice to cater for
shorter attention span compared with adults, the use of active forms of mindfulness
such as walking mindfulness activities, and, where possible, the inclusion of key
adults in students’ lives—such as parents, caregivers and teachers—to reinforce the
practice across important life domains (Burke, 2010).
Researchers have begun to talk about ‘mindful learning’. For example, Langer
(2009) asserts that when humans learn mindlessly, the learner looks at experience
and imposes a contingent relationship between the two things: what they or someone
else did and what they think happened as a result. This can result in the learner
interpreting that experience from a single perspective, oblivious to the other ways it
can be seen. This aligns with Frederickson’s (2001, 2004) ‘broaden and build’ theory
where she asserts that positive emotions broaden psychological and behavioural
repertoires and build psychological resources. Mindful learning looks at experience
and understands that it can be seen in countless ways, that new information is always
available, and that more than one perspective is possible and extremely valuable. It is
an approach that promotes creative and critical thinking and allows the learner to be
careful about what we know to be true (Langer, 2009).
Ways to enhance mindfulness in adolescents. 2.12.2
Janet Etty-Leal (2010) has developed mindfulness exercises for children in her book
Meditation Capsules: A Mindfulness Program for Children. In this book, she
provides practical resources for adults who wish to teach children the skills of
mindful meditation. She created awareness with Year 4 students by noticing, feeling,
reflecting, choosing, and creating (Etty-Leal, 2010). This was achieved through
activities such as: body awareness; discussion, stories, poems; the use of props; and
practices of standing, sitting, and lying. Harris (2011) suggests using mindfulness
exercises, such as the one below to develop mindfulness. This exercise is usually
completed at the start of a class (but can be done at any time) with the teacher asking
the students to close their eyes, sit into the backs of their chairs and follow the
instructions of the teacher; for example:
Pause. Pause for a few seconds and notice what your mind is telling
you. Notice its choice of words and the speed and volume of its speech.
Be curious: is this story old and familiar, or is it something new?
Don’t try to debate with your mind or try to silence it; you’ll only stir it
up.
Simply notice the story it’s telling you
And notice with curiosity, all the different emotions that arise… (p. 99)
The five constructs of character strengths, gratitude, savouring, flow and mindfulness
discussed above are used in combination with each other throughout the Pos-Ed
program that is the focus of the study. This study focuses on using these five
constructs with female adolescents in the transitional year to secondary school and
the following year. This period of adolescence is a time where schools can play a
role in enhancing the wellbeing of students.
2.13 SUMMARY
This chapter examined the period of adolescence with particular attention paid to the
period of early adolescence for female adolescents. It explored the factors impacting
on female adolescent wellbeing which is at the centre of this study. The scope of this
study was discussed, with a justification given as to why the early adolescent period
was chosen. Additionally, this chapter traced the emergence and growth of positive
psychology as well as examining how opponents view this branch of psychology.
The model of the five positive psychology constructs used in the current research
was outlined in detail. The discussion on wellbeing continues in the next chapter
with links made to positive psychology and the school context which is the context
of this study.
Chapter 3: Literature Review Part 2
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter examines the application of positive psychology in schools. This is a
relatively new area. In the United States, the main area of influence for positive
psychology has been the clinical area as well as those in organisations with an
emphasis on the improvement of working life (Sheldon, et al., 2011). Education is
now beginning to receive attention. This chapter explores the concept of wellbeing as
related to schools, and examines a number of wellbeing programs in schools from a
strengths approach. The researcher identifies this strengths approach as a proactive,
preventative approach. Most of these programs discussed here are based in Australia.
3.2 WELLBEING AND SCHOOLS
Schools play a significant part not only in the formal and informal education of
young people but also in their wellbeing (Roffey, 2012). Increasingly, schools in the
21st century are being called upon to incorporate student wellbeing as part of the
overall school vision, and to promote life-long learning beyond adolescence into
adulthood (Huitt, 2011). In 1995, the World Health Organisation (WHO) introduced
the Global School Health initiative which aimed at strengthening health promotion
and education initiatives at the local, national, regional, and global levels. It brought
the concept of education for wellbeing into the foreground (Roffey, 2012). In
Australia, the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child states “if we
really want to build a strong platform for healthy development and effective learning,
then we must pay as much attention to children’s emotional wellbeing and social
capacities as we do to their cognitive abilities and academic skills” (Australian
Bureau of Statistics, 2008, p. 7). Schools are now seen as institutions whose role
extends beyond academic competence to preparing the whole child (Huitt, 2011).
The focus on school as a means for preparing adolescents for adulthood is one of the
hallmarks of developed countries (National Commission on Excellence in Education,
1983). As a result of this shift in approach, there are many schools now considering
more contemporary approaches to wellbeing.
As discussed in Chapter 2, there are many definitions and views on what actually
constitutes wellbeing, and these seem to keep evolving. Wellbeing is an overarching
term that encapsulates an individual’s quality of life, satisfaction with life, and
experience of good mental and physical health. Additionally, the area of student
wellbeing poses challenges in this regard as there is very little consensus on what
defines student wellbeing (Roffey, 2012). Roffey (2012) presents one definition
which is stated in Chapter 2. Noble et al. (2008) define it as a positive emotional
state resulting from a harmony between the sum of specific context factors and
personal needs and expectations towards the school. In contrast, a more simple
definition is that it is the degree to which a student feels good in the school
environment (Fraillon, 2004). For this study, the researcher’s understanding of
student wellbeing aligns with that of Huppert and Johnson (2010), which is that
wellbeing is the combination of feeling good and functioning well as applied to
students in the school setting.
Over the last 10 years, there has been a gradual shift in both research and practice
from supporting adolescents in distress towards the concept of wellbeing and
resilience. This trend is strongly evidenced in a positive psychology approach
(Seligman, 2011). Teaching the personal skills of wellbeing and resilience can make
a significant difference in terms of adolescent health and wellbeing (Roffey, 2012).
The constructs of wellbeing and resilience are closely linked; most definitions of
wellbeing incorporate references either explicit or implicit to the capacity of an
individual to be resilient (Roffey, 2015).
Further, Roffey (2015) asserts that when student wellbeing is a whole school or
whole student approach with the learner at the centre of the approach, this can be
seen as a proactive and preventative approach. It involves all levels of the school
from leadership to policy and practice, and it means high expectations for everyone.
Increasingly, schools around the world are adopting their own models of educating
the whole child, and are exploring ways to achieve this. Incorporating positive
psychology is one such way.
3.3 POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: WELLBEING AND SCHOOLS
As an institution, the school has immense influence on the development of young
people and as Gilman et al. (2009) argue, positive psychology might be a useful lens
through which to view schools and the educational process. Schools could be one of
the institutions that utilise positive psychology to promote human development.
Seligman et al. (2009) argue that schools are uniquely placed to promote the
wellbeing of young people and of school communities more broadly. Studies of
positive psychology in children and youth remain in the early stages of development
(Gilman, et al., 2009). Research on positive psychology and mental health is still in
its formative stages, and some researchers suggest that developing, testing, and
refining positive psychology programs catering specifically for adolescents should be
a priority (Norrish & Vella-Broderick, 2009). In recent years, there has been
increased impetus to apply positive psychology principles to research with children
and adolescents (Chafouleas & Bray, 2004; Clonan, Chafouleas, McDougal, &
Riley-Tillman, 2004). One way this can be achieved is by the introduction of school-
based programs that teach positive psychology principles. However, there are limited
empirical studies available on school-based programs. For schools wishing to
implement programs, there are scant studies to examine as a source of guidance in
relation to implementing a program.
As well as being interested in happiness and wellbeing in adults, Seligman (2009)
investigated whether positive psychology principles could be taught to students in
schools through school-based programs. Seligman (2009) argues that the synergy
between learning and positive emotion is a strong reason for positive psychology to
be taught in schools. For too long the conversations in schools have been dominated
by a deficit approach, for example, eliminating bullying. Rather than focusing on this
deficit approach, conversations and approaches should be focused on promoting a
proactive approach to wellbeing, such as promoting respect, friendship, inclusion,
and other positive attributes (Roffey, 2015). Seligman has led the way in arguing for
positive psychology to be used in schools. Tough (2012) argues that the qualities that
matter the most in relation to children’s success have more to do with character skills
like perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, optimism and self-control, and that
parents and schools can play a powerful role in nurturing these character traits that
foster success. Tough’s theory aligns with Seligman’s (2009) claim that “skills that
increase resilience, positive emotions, engagement and meaning can be taught to
school children” (p. 293). Seligman and colleagues (2009) argue that positive
psychology should be explicitly taught to schoolchildren for three reasons: 1) as an
antidote to depression; 2) to increase life satisfaction; and 3) as an aid to improved
learning and creative thinking (Seligman, et al., 2009). While these researchers
advocate for positive psychology in schools, there is limited material about how to
achieve this. Despite this, there is continuing interest in the contribution of positive
psychology to enhanced adolescent wellbeing for these reasons.
Current research available on positive psychology highlights that if research based
programs are applied in a systemic and considered manner, positive psychology has
the potential to make a valuable contribution to adolescent health beyond that of the
established deficit-based programs. In order to appreciate the various aspects of
wellbeing, and gather a broader understanding of school-based programs aimed at
enhancing student wellbeing, selected education programs from preventative and
proactive models will now be discussed.
3.4 POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAMS
In the literature available on positive psychology, there are a number of terms which
are used interchangeably. For the current study, the researcher used the term
‘positive psychology construct’ to signify the use of a single construct, such as
gratitude. Positive psychology interventions (PPIs) are defined as programs,
practices, treatment methods or activities aimed at cultivating positive feelings,
positive behaviours, or positive cognitions (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009). The positive
education program is not regarded as an intervention as, unlike some interventions
which have a limited time-period for implementation, the Pos-Ed program is a
timetabled program in the school. Additionally, Waters (2011) states that a PPI has to
be evaluated using valid research designs and measures. In the current study, as
mentioned earlier, the researcher is the author of a positive psychology program
designed for an all girls’ school. This program is named the Positive Education (Pos-
Ed) Program, and comprises five positive psychology constructs (character strengths,
gratitude, flow, savouring and mindfulness). These five constructs were chosen by
the researcher as they are evidence-based. Positive psychology programs are distinct
from other wellbeing initiatives such as ‘depression-reduction’ programs or ‘anti-
bullying’ programs that enhance wellbeing through the removal of negative factors,
as the former seeks to enhance the psychological strengths that students already
possess. Such programs approach wellbeing from a strengths perspective. Waters
(2011) observes that these programs typically include strategies that:
1) cultivate hope in students;
2) cultivate gratitude in students;
3) cultivate serenity in students;
4) focus on developing resilience in students; and
5) focus on developing character strengths in students.
These programs are based on the practical application of positive psychology
research. Examples of positive psychology programs include identifying and
developing strengths, cultivating gratitude, and visualising best possible selves
(Seligman, et al., 2005). A series of wellbeing programs from a proactive approach is
presented in the next section.
3.5 PROGRAMS THAT ADDRESS ADOLESCENT WELLBEING FROM A PREVENTATIVE, PROACTIVE APPROACH
Positive Educational Practices (PEPs). 3.5.1
PEPs is a framework that was developed in Australia by Toni Noble and Helen
McGrath (2008) and includes elements of positive psychology. PEPs adapts and
applies Seligman’s (2005) five pillars of wellbeing to school wellbeing and is a
useful and comprehensive framework for facilitating the work of education
psychologists in promoting student wellbeing. The PEPs framework is an example of
applied positive psychology in action, where the focus shifts from deficits, problems
and treatment to a preventative focus on positive experiences, strengths, and the
intentional promotion of wellbeing (Noble & McGrath, 2008). The framework
comprises five foundations: 1) social and emotional competency; 2) positive
emotions; 3) positive relationships; 4) engagement through strengths; and 5) a sense
of meaning and purpose. In an article examining positive psychology programs,
Waters (2011) suggests that this framework could be used by schools as an
overarching framework to promote student wellbeing. There are no empirical studies
currently available on this framework; additionally, there is no evidence currently
available of how widely this program is being used in schools to promote wellbeing.
One major drawback of this approach for schools considering its adoption is that
there is a lack of scientific evidence on the impact of this program. Schools looking
to adopt wellbeing programs are more likely to consider programs that have proven
to be successful.
AEIOU: Academic, Emotional Intelligence, 3.5.2Optimising performance, Understanding you.
One such program is AEIOU, run at Anglican Church Grammar School, a private
boys’ school that caters for students from Prep (four years of age) to Year 12 (17
years of age) in Brisbane, Australia. The school’s mission is ‘Making of Men’ and
this incorporates academic achievement, personal growth, spiritual awareness, and
community service. There is evidence to support that one of the common attributes
of top scholars is high emotional intelligence (EI), and conversely depression is a
common attribute of people with low EI scores (Goleman, 1995). AEIOU learning
experiences incorporate emotional intelligence self-assessment for boys. This
program is aimed at increasing emotional intelligences in boys, and uses elements of
Goleman's principles of emotional intelligence, research from Swinburne University
Melbourne, and elements of positive psychology (Wellham, 2010). Emotional
intelligence research in education is in its infancy; however, the application of
emotional intelligence understanding, combined with the use of the school’s research
findings is being integrated into the school’s curriculum (Wellham, 2010). Strategies
were devised for improved academic outcomes through an EI specific language in
the curriculum. Students, teachers, and parents were provided with multiple
presentations about the program. This program explores positive psychology
principles in conjunction with Goleman’s principles of Emotional Intelligence
(Goleman, 1995). Assessment of this program is in the initial stages with no findings
currently available. The researcher has observed that in the years since this program
was introduced (2010), the author of the program moved to another school, and it
appears the program has changed. Information available on the school’s website in
2016 indicated the wellbeing program is no longer labelled as AEIOU, but is listed
under a heading called ‘Our Culture’ and the tenets of “belong, lead, improve, serve
and strive” appear to have replaced the AEIOU program. While this program
received attention in educational magazines when it began, it has not received any
attention of late. Additionally, there is no empirical data available on the wellbeing
outcomes of this program for students.
Evidence-based life coaching for senior high school 3.5.3students: Building hardiness and hope.
Evidence-based life coaching can be defined as a collaborative, solution-focused,
results-oriented process in which the coach facilitates the coachee’s life experience,
goal attainment, and wellbeing (Green, Grant, & Rynsaardt, 2007). A recent
Australian project examined a life coaching program which consisted of ten
individual face-to-face coaching sessions with an allocated teacher-coach and was
conducted over two school terms. Participants were 56 volunteer adolescent females
(16 to 17 years of age, mean age=16.09) from a normal and mainstream (non-
clinical) population in a private girls’ school in Sydney. Participants were assigned to
participate in the control group or a wait-list control with 28 in each group. They
completed self-report measures as Time 1 (pre-program) and Time 2 (post-program).
The measures used were the Trait Hope Scale, the Cognitive Hardiness Scale, and
the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. Each coaching session involved the setting
of session goals, followed by a discussion of what was going on the coachee’s life.
Participants were then coached to identify personal resources that could be utilised in
moving towards their goals and to develop specific action steps to achieve their goals
(Green, et al., 2007). Results were promising. With regard to hope, participants in the
program scored significant increases in agency, pathways, and total hope. There was
also a significant treatment by time interaction for cognitive hardiness for those in
the control group (Green, et al., 2007). In relation to the depression, anxiety, and
stress measures, there were no significant changes for either group from Time 1 to
Time 2.
This was the first controlled study of an evidence based life-coaching program for
senior high school students in Australia. Green is hopeful that an “evidence-based
life coaching programme implemented in schools may provide a platform for applied
psychology, delivering a multitude of benefits that impact positively on student’s
overall health and well-being” (Green, et al., 2007, p. 31). This study provides
preliminary evidence that a solution-focused life-coaching program can be effective
in increasing hope and cognitive hardiness and decreasing self-reported symptoms of
depression. It may provide an applied positive psychology option for schools
wanting to enhance student wellbeing. This program is interesting as it is the first
study of an evidence-based life-coaching program for senior high school female
students in Australia. However, studies of this nature are limited and further research
using other educational samples and possibly exploring other elements such as
academic performance are needed.
Coaching in education is about helping a person to achieve his or her goals or
improve performance through structured one-to-one conversations (Van
Nieuwerburgh, 2012). It can also increase goal attainment and satisfaction with life,
increase perceived control over environmental factors, and result in greater openness
towards new life experiences (Spence & Grant, 2005). In addition, life coaching can
assist in increasing quality of life and reducing depression, anxiety, and stress
(Green, et al., 2007).
Recent studies have provided initial evidence for the efficacy of evidence-based life
coaching (Green, et al., 2007). These studies come from the relatively new field of
coaching psychology, which is defined as the systematic application of behavioural
science to the enhancement of life experience, work performance, and wellbeing of
individuals (Grant & Cavanagh, 2007). What these studies have indicated is that an
evidence-based life coaching program can enhance goal striving, wellbeing, and
hope in female adolescent participants (mean age 16 years) in evidence-based life
coaching (Green, Oades, & Grant, 2006).
To date, much of the research on life coaching research has focused on adult,
community populations (Grant, 2003), although interest in coaching in schools is
growing. In a recent publication titled “Coaching in Education”, the author provides
examples of coaching applications in schools in Australia, the United Kingdom, and
the United States (Van Nieuwerburgh, 2012). This be because evidence-based
coaching underpinned by the field of coaching psychology is similar to positive
psychology as it is also concerned with optimal functioning and enhanced wellbeing.
However, there are currently only limited studies of coaching used in schools and,
while the evidence is promising, more empirically evaluated studies may increase
interest in this approach.
The Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP). 3.5.4
This is a universal, group-based resilience-building program focusing on the
prevention of depression in a health promoting framework (Shochet et al., 2001). It is
designed for students aged 13 to 15 years to be run in groups from eight to 16
students, typically in a high school environment. RAP aims to promote coping
abilities and the maintenance of a sense of self in the face of stressful and difficult
circumstances for adolescents. It is comprised of 11 sessions, each designed to fit
within a normal school period, and addresses the following areas: personal strengths;
cognitive restructuring; keeping calm; general problem-solving; support networks;
keeping the peace; and interpersonal problem-solving. A study of this program was
conducted in a large secondary school in Brisbane, Australia. The purpose of the
program was to investigate the efficacy of a universal depression prevention program
that operated as part of a school environment (Shochet, et al., 2001). Participants
were 260 Year 9 male and female secondary school students with low to middle-
class socioeconomic status who completed measures of depressive symptoms and
hopelessness and were assigned to one of three groups: 1) RAP-A, an 11 session
school-based resilience program as part of the school curriculum; 2) RAP-P, a 3
session parallel program for the parents of the participants to support what their child
was learning in RAP-A; and 3) Adolescent Watch, a comparison group in which
adolescents simply completed the measures. There was a high recruitment rate
(88%), low attrition rate (5.8%), and satisfactory adherence to program protocols.
Adolescents in either of the RAP programs reported significantly lower levels of
depressive symptomatology and hopelessness at post-program and 10 month follow-
up, compared with those in the comparison group. Adolescents also reported high
satisfaction with the program (Shochet, et al., 2001). The major theoretical
underpinnings of RAP are CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) and interpersonal
therapy (Shochet, et al., 2001). This program is still utilised, but the researcher was
unable to determine the extent to which schools utilise this program.
The Geelong Grammar School Project. 3.5.5
This is a project where Seligman and his colleagues incorporated positive
psychology principles into a whole school setting at Geelong Grammar School
(GGS) in Australia. Seligman and his team assisted GGS in developing a program
where teachers used the science of positive psychology in their classes, on the sports
field, in the chapel, and in their house structure on a daily basis. GGS has four
campuses with about 1500 students (co-educational) and approximately 200 staff
members. In January 2008, Seligman assembled 15 staff trained in positive
psychology at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States to come to
Geelong Grammar School to teach the skills of positive psychology, including skills
in resilience, character strengths, gratitude, positive communication, and optimism.
Seligman used two different programs utilising positive psychology principles at the
school: the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP) and the Strath Haven Psychology
Program. Both these programs have been empirically tested, with 17 studies having
evaluated the PRP. In relation to the Strath Haven Psychology Program, Seligman
and his researchers with a $2.8 million grant from the US Department of Education
completed a randomised controlled evaluation of the program. This study revealed
improvement in strengths related to learning and engagement in schools, and there
was an improvement in social skills. However, it did not improve students’ reports of
depression and anxiety symptoms. The program was delivered to approximately 100
Geelong Grammar School staff members over a nine-day program. Geelong
Grammar School staff members were encouraged to use the skills in their own lives.
The principles and skills of positive psychology were taught in plenary sessions, and
reinforced through exercises and applications in groups. Following this training,
seven trainers were in residence at Geelong Grammar School for one year to further
embed the principles of positive psychology and approximately a dozen scholars in
the field visited the school for a week or more to instruct staff members in their
positive psychology specialities (Seligman, et al., 2009).
Subsequent to this first program, teachers (2010 to 2012) and ancillary staff (2011)
were trained in positive psychology skills. What occurred following the initial
training was that stand alone courses and course units in positive psychology and
positive education emerged (Seligman, et al., 2009). Between 2009 and 2013,
Geelong Grammar School teachers and administrators were engaged in the process
of embedding positive education into most academic courses, on the sports field, in
pastoral counselling, in music and in the chapel (Seligman, et al., 2009). Initially, no
empirical data was gathered on this project. In 2012, the school announced that
research students would be working with them to generate data on their program.
In 2013, a paper was published which provided an overview of the Geelong
Grammar School model of positive education, an applied framework developed over
five years of implementing positive education as a whole-school approach (Norrish,
et al., 2013). The model includes explicit and implicit teaching targeting six
wellbeing domains: positive emotions; positive engagement; positive
accomplishment; positive purpose; positive relationships; and positive health.
However, this article opens itself up to claims of bias as the four authors are all
employees of the Geelong Grammar School. A further limitation is that this paper
does not supply any data on evaluating the framework. Subsequent to this paper,
Geelong Grammar announced they would conduct a three-year study of their positive
education program funded by the Australian Research Council due to conclude at the
end of 2015. To date, only initial results have been made available. The school is
now embarking on researching the program, which perhaps might have been more
beneficial at its inception in 2008.
Anecdotally, it appears that Geelong Grammar is more than satisfied with the
outcomes of their program, as they continue to embed the program by widening the
groups they train. In 2013, the Geelong Grammar School announced it would begin
working with their parents to train them in positive psychology skills. Geelong
Grammar continues to be a highly regarded school showcasing positive psychology
with many Australian and international educators visiting the school to find out about
positive psychology in schools. In the last two years, this success in promoting
positive psychology has expanded as they launched the Institute of Positive
Education, the aim of which is to improve student and staff wellbeing. The institute
has the dual purpose of nurturing positive education at the school and assisting the
growth of positive education throughout Australia and the world. Through this
institute, they offer training courses for teachers, parents and the wider community.
The researcher has observed this expansion with a degree of scepticism as, while it is
a ground breaking initiative, it can also be viewed as a lucrative economic asset to
the college.
3.6 SUMMARY
To date in secondary schools, many programs in the area of wellbeing have tended to
focus on students with problems (Green, et al., 2007). The current study explored the
impact of a positive psychology program (the positive education program or Pos-Ed)
on the wellbeing of mainstream adolescent girls to lead meaningful, purposeful lives
and develop skills in resilience. This chapter examined wellbeing programs in
schools from a preventative, proactive, or strengths approach. Schools can serve as
the nexus between positive psychology which promotes a proactive approach to
human development, and the institutions that can serve as the vehicle for this
development (Clonan, et al., 2004). The next chapter provides details of the Pos-Ed
program.
Chapter 4: The Positive Education Program
4.1 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this chapter is to provide details of the positive education program
(Pos-Ed), designed and organised by the researcher. It is a school-based positive
psychology program for mainstream adolescent girls focused on five evidence-based
positive psychology constructs: strengths, gratitude, mindfulness, savouring and
flow. This program is a proactive, strengths-based wellbeing program that replaced
an existing program that was not evidence-based. Of importance to the researcher
was the process of evaluating the program and this was the main aim of this study.
The Pos-Ed program was launched in the school in 2011, and this study evaluated the
Year 8 and 9 programs over two years, 2013 and 2014.
4.2 POSITIVE EDUCATION
Positive education was formally defined as a field in 2009 and can be described as
education for both traditional academic skills and skills for happiness and wellbeing
(Seligman, et al., 2009). Since that time, the definition of positive education has been
expanded and refined as education for both traditional academic skills and skills for
happiness and wellbeing (Seligman, 2011). It can also be regarded as ‘applied
psychology in education’ and there is a growing number of schools using positive
psychology programs (Green, et al., 2011). Positive education is growing globally
and schools in Australia are rapidly creating large scale, strategic, and customised
positive education programs or positive psychology programs (Green, 2014). While
more and more schools are adopting positive education, there is a concern about how
they will implement these programs, and how they will evaluate them. Some in this
area such as Van Nieuwerburgh (2012) signal a need for further research on such
programs and the need for expert external consultants and educators to work
collaboratively with schools to create and evaluate individualised programs that
teach wellbeing skills.
Researchers and practitioners in the positive education area argue that schools can
both teach the skills of wellbeing and the skills of achievement (Seligman, et al.,
2009). A key tenet within the field of positive education is that the skills and
mindsets that promote positive emotions, positive relationships, resilience and
character strengths can be taught explicitly by schools (Green, et al., 2011). They
also assert that these wellbeing skills can ameliorate subsequent health issues such as
depression and increase life satisfaction.
This shift from a deficit model to a more positive approach to wellbeing continues to
gain momentum. Historically, like many western countries, Australia has high
expectations in relation to academic performance in secondary schools. However,
more recently and in a similar way to other western nations, there are a growing
number of schools interested in a more holistic secondary education with a stronger
focus on wellbeing. In Australia, Seligman’s approach is growing in popularity with
an increasing number of schools implementing wellbeing programs based on positive
psychology. It was interest in Seligman’s ideas that prompted the researcher to
closely examine the area of positive psychology as a major focus of the current study
is that wellbeing strategies can be taught explicitly to students. The researcher
wanted to develop a program that was evidence-informed and one that would be
evaluated.
The researcher is the author of the program and chose the generic term positive
education as the name of the program, but shortened it to Pos-Ed. As stated in
Chapter 3, the researcher used the term ‘positive psychology construct’ to signify the
use of a single construct, for example, gratitude. The Pos-Ed program in this study
(also considered a positive psychology program) incorporates five positive
psychology constructs: character strengths, gratitude, flow, savouring, and
mindfulness. As stated in Chapter 2, these five constructs are all evidence-based and
have been shown to contribute to wellbeing. It was important to the researcher that
the five constructs had considerable and reputable evidence behind them.
Any school can introduce a positive education program as long as it uses positive
psychology principles. This can present challenges, as mentioned at the start of this
chapter, as not all programs that are emerging are evidence-based and may not, in
fact, achieve the goal of enhanced wellbeing. Before schools take on positive
psychology approaches, they need to be informed by evidence that the positive
psychology programs and constructs are effective in enhancing wellbeing in students
(Waters, 2011). This view is shared by Kristjánsson (2012) who suggests that,
although there are a variety of positive psychology constructs available, they have
rarely been used or assessed in combination with each other, or as part of a whole
school approach. The researcher is aware that more research on positive psychology
constructs and programs would be beneficial and is hopeful that this study makes a
contribution to this area.
4.3 POS-ED: A POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAM
More recently, educational and other psychologists have begun to develop
school-based programs that take a positive proactive approach to enhance student
wellbeing through the strengths they already possess (Peterson, 2006). There are
some researchers who argue that a positive psychology program should have two
essential components: 1) a program’s goal must target wellbeing; and 2) the pathway
by which the program operates should be evidence-based. Others, such as Bolier and
her colleagues (2013), limited their interest to programs covering the period from
1998 (the start of positive psychology) to 2012. A broader understanding of
pathways is posited by Schueller, Kashdan, and Parks (2014) to include an
accumulated knowledge of the affective, behavioural, cognitive and motivational
processes that support wellbeing. The researcher concurs with Schueller and his
colleagues (2014) who argue for a more expansive definition of positive psychology
programs. Strategies such as gratitude, kindness, optimism, savouring, and
mindfulness to name just a few are highlighted by Lyubomirsky (2001) to support
these pathways. Of interest, the constructs that the researcher used—gratitude,
savouring, and mindfulness—parallel those in Lyubomirsky’s study. As research
continues in the area of positive psychology, it would seem likely that other
evidence-based techniques will emerge as viable programs. In the current study,
constructs have been chosen because of the empirical evidence associated with them.
4.4 POS-ED: A POSITIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR ADOLESCENT GIRLS
Program Origin. 4.4.1
The programs that address adolescent wellbeing from a positive and proactive model
discussed in the previous chapter, particularly the positive psychology program at
Geelong Grammar School, strongly influenced the program examined in the current
study. The researcher visited schools that were using positive psychology constructs
in order to examine how they were implementing positive education. In doing so, the
researcher hoped to learn what was working well and what was not in these schools.
This knowledge assisted the researcher in the initial stages of thinking about what
type of positive education program would be effective for female adolescents in the
school where the researcher works. In 2010, the researcher visited Geelong Grammar
School, a co-educational independent school, and Genazzano College, an
independent Catholic all girls’ school, both in Melbourne, to talk to staff who were
involved with designing and implementing their positive psychology programs.
The researcher was accompanied by two staff members who were also pastoral
middle leaders who would be involved in teaching the program. At this time in 2011,
there were very few schools using positive psychology in any capacity. At the
conclusion of these visits, the researcher wrote a summary of how both these schools
were implementing positive psychology and presented this to the principal. These
notes are included in Appendix A. The column titled ‘Exploration for MSM’ was left
blank to be filled in when the researcher met with the principal to share thoughts
from the visits. After discussion with the principal, the researcher was given
permission to design and implement a positive education program to replace the
existing personal education program. The researcher, while having overall
responsibility for the program, would work with the college psychologist and the
team of pastoral middle leaders to achieve this change. The principal and college
leadership team were highly supportive of the program, and the principal chose to
attend, along with the researcher and the college psychologist, a three-day training
opportunity in 2011 at Geelong Grammar School to develop an understanding of
positive psychology.
4.5 PROGRAM PLANNING
Researcher as the author of the program. 4.5.1
The researcher sought input, suggestions, and guidance from the college psychologist
throughout the process of designing the program. The psychologist was able to assist
the researcher in understanding the developmental needs of adolescent girls from a
psychological perspective, and was able to contribute valuable suggestions for the
overall design of the program. This was, in part, due to her qualifications in
psychology, as well as her extensive experience of over twenty years working with
adolescent girls.
The researcher had overall responsibility for the Pos-Ed program in an all girls’
college which offered education from Years 8 to 12. As mentioned in Chapter 1,
there was a change in 2015, when Year 7 girls also joined the college as a result of
Queensland state legislation mandating that Year 7 move from primary to secondary
school. In this study (2013 to 2014) the transition year to secondary school was Year
8, and only Pos-Ed in Year 8 and Year 9 were evaluated.
The researcher, as the initiator of the move towards positive psychology, drove the
change process. This change was viewed as a major cultural change impacting on all
students and all teaching staff. An advantage of the researcher’s role as part of the
school leadership team is that it allowed the process of change to be driven by the
senior executive of the school as they were supportive of the initiative. The ethical
consideration raised by this is discussed in Section 5.6. The conceptualisation,
research, and planning for positive psychology were completed by the researcher.
These aspects can be considered conceptual and, to implement the change, the
researcher worked very closely with the team that consisted of five pastoral middle
leaders (one for each year level from 8 to 12) and the college psychologist. The
pastoral middle leaders then worked with their teams of home room teachers to
deliver the program. Schools, like many organisations, operate with a hierarchy of
teams. The researcher realised that as this change would affect the whole school, the
staff teams needed to be on board and trained in positive psychology. As discussed in
Chapter 1, the focus of this study is a positive education program and, for staff to
implement this program, they needed to be trained in positive psychology principles
as positive education is applied positive psychology in education.
The change would affect the whole school, as all students would be involved as well
as all home room teachers and pastoral middle leaders which comprise the majority
of the teaching staff. Consequently, a decision was made to provide professional
learning for all staff in positive psychology over a number of years, so that there
would be a common language and approach shared by staff and students. Due to
budgetary concerns, this professional learning spanned a number of years which is
seen in Table 4.1, and training has continued beyond this study. While this change
can be regarded on one level as a whole school approach in the wellbeing area, and
affected all students and the majority of the teaching staff, it was not the whole
school approach taken by schools such as Geelong Grammar School. In these
schools, not only do they have explicit lessons for Positive Education, but what is
taught in these lessons is integrated into the curriculum and all aspects of college life,
from the sporting field to the chapel. Geelong Grammar School has an applied
framework for positive education which provides an empirically-informed roadmap
for how positive psychology can be applied and embedded in schools (Norrish, et al.,
2013). This type of comprehensive whole school approach was not adopted by the
school in this study. While there is increasing evidence to link academic performance
with increased wellbeing, as discussed in Chapter 1, the school in this study did not
extend the application of positive psychology explicitly to the curriculum area. This
was in part due to the principal not wanting it to extend to the curriculum area, and in
part due to the researcher viewing this as too large a project to manage.
Table 4.1
Research and Training for Staff
Positive Psychology Research/Training External Experts Year
Visit to Geelong Grammar School & Genazzano
College
Key staff visit these
colleges
2010
Introduction to Positive Psychology training
Geelong Grammar School
Karen Reivich Jan 2011
Staff PD January 2011 (Positive Psychology)
Current Staff driving
the program
20 Jan 2011
Applied Positive Psychology in Education:
strengths/flow/mindfulness/gratitude
Emily Scanlon from
Positive Psychology
Institute
Jan 2012
Resilient Kids Need Resilient Teachers Dan Haesler 2013
Mindfulness Janet Etty-Leal 2014
Program design. 4.5.2
As planning and implementation began the researcher designed the program for each
year level. This design consisted of using planning sheets that were kept in a central
place at the workplace (R Drive, Pos-Ed, on the school network), where all the
teachers of the program could access them. The researcher organised a template for
these planners. There was an overall planning sheet showing the program for the year
across all year levels, and there were also four separate term planners (one for each
term of the school year) for each year level. The overall yearly planning sheets for
Year 8, 2013, and Year 9, 2014 are provided as Appendix B. They were all kept
electronically in folders on the school R drive for teachers of the program to access.
An example of a term planner for Year 8 is provided as Appendix C and for Year 9
as Appendix D.
As well as this overall yearly and term planning, the pastoral middle leaders met at a
scheduled time for 50 minutes every fortnight with the researcher and college
psychologist to plan individual lessons. These lesson plans were also saved on the
school R drive in the Pos-Ed folder organised by the particular year level (e.g., Year
7, Year 8) and were available to all teachers involved in the program. Additionally,
the home room teachers met weekly for twenty minutes every Wednesday morning
before school to discuss the individual Pos-Ed lesson plans for the term. As they met
weekly, the pastoral middle leader was able to check that all teachers were following
the program and were confident about teaching the lessons. The pastoral middle
leader discussed the individual lesson plans at these meetings. On some occasions the
researcher visited these meetings to talk about the lesson plans. The researcher is
aware of the limitation that, while as many checks as possible were put in place to
ensure the same material was being covered in alignment with the planning, there
would be variance in the manner in which the teachers would present the material.
However, this limitation applies to teachers teaching in any subject area. As while
there will be a syllabus to follow, and subsequent individual subject planners as well
as individual lesson plans, there will still be variance in the way the material is
taught, as this is the nature of teaching. There is no guarantee that teachers will
deliver content to students in exactly the same way; this is just not possible or
realistic as an expectation. While the researcher recognised this as a limitation, the
weekly meetings of the home room teachers to discuss lesson plans were the
researcher’s method of addressing this limitation. Another strategy used to address
this limitation was that the researcher asked the pastoral middle leaders on occasion
to visit and observe lessons delivered by home room teachers, which was an
incentive for them to comply with the lesson plans.
Each pastoral middle leader worked with their own teams consisting of five home
room teachers for each year level. Each of these five home room teachers was the
teacher in charge of a particular class (for example, 8A, 8B, 8C, and so on). These
teachers would meet with students at the beginning of the day, mark the roll, and
attend to organisation and pastoral matters. These teachers were also allocated to
teach Pos-Ed to their home room class. The pastoral middle leaders together with the
home room teachers and the college psychologist would then deliver the program to
students in the time allocated to Pos-Ed in the timetable, details of which are
provided in the next section. Delivery of the Pos-Ed program varied, and this was
deliberate with the aim of stimulating and engaging students with different types of
lesson delivery. Some lessons were taught by the home room teacher in the home
room classrooms. Some lessons were taken by the pastoral middle leader or the
college psychologist. On these occasions, all home rooms in the year level would
assemble in a large area, and the home room teachers would supervise students as
they were taught the lesson and as they completed activities as directed by the
pastoral middle leader or college psychologist. As well as aiming for varied lesson
delivery, the researcher was cognisant of varying the structure of the lessons to
motivate and engage students, and this will be discussed in detail in one of the
sections below.
Training for teachers implementing the program. 4.5.3
As a result of the researcher’s visit to the Geelong Grammar School in 2010, the
researcher was offered three places in a three-day training opportunity in positive
psychology presented by Dr. Karen Reivich who works very closely with Martin
Seligman in the United States. Dr. Reivich is the Director of Training Programs for
the Penn Positive Psychology Centre at the University of Pennsylvania. In
consultation with the principal, it was decided that the researcher, the principal, and
the college psychologist would attend this training. Strategically, this decision was
wise as both the researcher and college psychologist would be involved in the design
of the Pos-Ed program, and it was important to have the principal’s endorsement in
subsequently gaining widespread staff support for the program. In order to train the
pastoral middle leaders, the researcher organised a one-day intensive training session
with Dr. Suzy Green at the Positive Psychology Institute in Sydney. All of this
training occurred prior to the launch of the program.
One of the challenges the researcher faced was in bringing the staff on board with
positive psychology. Rather than just train the teachers delivering the program, the
researcher, with the pastoral middle leaders and the college psychologist, prepared
and presented a six-hour training session to all teaching staff on a professional
learning day in January 2011 prior to the launch of the program. At this session,
administration staff were also invited to attend, and a small number attended.
Teachers were provided with professional learning on the five key constructs by
outside experts in the area of positive psychology. This professional learning
provided for teachers is listed in Table 4.1. As this was a new and evolving program,
teachers were continually provided with professional learning opportunities to
enhance their own understanding of the concepts they were teaching. This
professional learning for staff on positive psychology was ongoing.
4.6 PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
The Pos-Ed program was launched in February 2011, with a special whole school
assembly to announce to staff and students that the previous pastoral care program
was being replaced. The launch was organised by the researcher and the pastoral
middle leaders and college psychologist. It consisted of a presentation using a
PowerPoint presentation along with music and video clips to highlight key aspects of
the program. The launch lasted for twenty minutes and students responded with
enthusiasm. This launch informed the whole school community of the change to
positive education. This was only two years after positive education was formally
defined as a field (2009). The researcher was aware that this was a new direction for
the school and that, as an early adopter, there needed to be education of staff and
students in this field. At this time there were very few schools apart from Geelong
Grammar School using positive psychology.
This program was part of the six-day timetable and was taught by home room
teachers. Pos-Ed was timetabled for 50 minutes once per six-day cycle, as well as
another 50 minutes every week when there was not a whole school assembly. As
stated above, elements that were taught in this program were: character strengths,
gratitude, flow, savouring, and mindfulness. While positive psychology encompasses
other concepts, these concepts were chosen as they align with Seligman’s (2011)
latest wellbeing theory.
Table 4.2
The Pos-Ed program (Current Study)
Age Group
Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 4 Yearly Total
Year 8
(12-13)
Positive
Identity
11.2 hours
Positive Health
11.2 hours
Positive
Relationships
11.2 hours
Positive
Purpose
11.2 hours
44.8
hours
Year 9
(14)
Positive
Relationships &
Transition to
Year 9
11.2 hours
Positive
Identity
11.2 hours
Positive
Purpose
11.2 hours
Positive Health
11.2 hours
44.8
hours
Year 10
(15)
Positive Health
11.2 hours
Positive
Identity
11.2 hours
Positive
Purpose
11.2 hours
Positive
Purpose
11.2 hours
44.8
hours
Year 11
(16)
Positive
Identity
5.8 hours
Positive
Relationships
5.8 hours
Positive
Purpose
5.8 hours
Positive
Purpose
5.8 hours
23.2
hours
Year 12
(17)
Positive
Purpose
5.8 hours
Positive Health
& Positive
Identity
5.8 hours
Positive
Purpose
5.8 hours
Positive
Purpose-
Transitioning
to Adulthood
5.8 hours
23.2
hours
The researcher was influenced by the six organising pillars used by Geelong
Grammar School: positive purpose; positive relationships; positive accomplishment;
positive emotions; positive engagement; and positive health. These organisers reflect
the PERMA model (Seligman, 2011) with the addition of positive health. Four
organising pillars were chosen by the researcher: positive identity; positive purpose;
positive health; and positive relationships. Identity and health were chosen as they
are important factors in the social-emotional development of female adolescents and
in building confidence and resilience as they move to adulthood (Bellhouse, 2004).
Purpose and relationships are both key elements of Seligman’s (2011) PERMA
model of wellbeing. While the researcher was influenced by Seligman’s PERMA
model, this model was not adopted in its entirety. This should not be surprising as
schools will choose what best suits their educational environment and generally
speaking, school systems will implement positive psychology in their own way. The
overall structure of the program is outlined in Table 4.2.
While there were four organising pillars and five main constructs that were explicitly
taught, the program also comprised other elements related to wellbeing. These
elements aligned with positive psychology and included examples such as goal
setting, positive affirmations, community-focused activities, as well as personal and
social safety. Not every lesson focused on the five key constructs, as for practical
reasons this would not have worked as there were many lessons to fill each term. The
researcher considered that the five key constructs were the most important elements
of the program and these were threaded not only through the program in Years 8 and
9, but through all year levels. The program was designed to allow students as they
progressed through secondary school to gain a deeper understanding of these
constructs which they could apply personally to their own lives.
More time for Pos-Ed was allocated to Years 8, 9 and 10, and this is where the five
constructs were taught explicitly to students. Less time was available in the timetable
for Years 11 and 12 due mainly to state legislative requirements for senior schooling.
As mentioned earlier in this chapter, Years 8 and 9 were the two years chosen as the
focus of this study. These years were chosen for two main reasons: 1) the transition
year to secondary school is a significant year for adolescents; and 2) the researcher
realised that by targeting the transition year and the following year, these adolescents
would almost certainly not have had any exposure to positive psychology, and
therefore would be a suitable group from whom to gather data. Moreover, the
research was confined to a limited time frame, as these were the conditions that the
principal of the college agreed to for this research.
Program delivery. 4.6.1
The method of lesson delivery varied and this was deliberate. The researcher planned
lessons that would be engaging and meaningful. Each lesson had a number of
different components and some lessons would be delivered by guest presenters. The
researcher, also a teacher, realised that teaching in any area where there is no
assessment is challenging as students often treat these classes with scant regard. This
is why it was important to carefully plan engaging lessons.
Lesson delivery included formal teacher instruction, group activities, guest speakers
from outside the school, and presentations by the college psychologist. It also
included teachers who organised competitions or challenges to make the content
interesting. One example of this is teachers organising students into teams according
to their top five signature strengths, and then setting a challenge for each of these
teams. Students then work on the challenge in groups, learn more about their
signature strengths, enjoy friendly competition, and enjoy the learning.
While the lesson plans were organised by the pastoral middle leaders for the home
room teachers to deliver, these were not exclusively prescriptive. Teachers could
obviously add to the lesson by giving their own explanations, and provide their own
examples of whatever they were teaching. Pos-Ed as a subject is well regarded and
students generally speaking enjoy the lessons. Possible reasons for this are that there
is no assessment, and also teachers deliver the material in an interesting and
engaging manner; this is a result of the careful planning and design of the program. It
is also a result of the teachers embracing positive psychology themselves personally.
Examples of lessons. 4.6.2
As stated in the previous section, the lessons were designed to be meaningful and
engaging, as well as varied in both format and delivery. The researcher worked
closely with each of the five pastoral middle leaders and the college psychologist in
designing the overall yearly plan and the four term plans. The pastoral middle leaders
then designed individual lesson plans in consultation with the researcher and the
college psychologist. As stated earlier in the chapter, the pastoral middle leaders then
met with the home room teachers to train them to deliver the lessons. Some lessons
were delivered by home room teachers to their individual classes, and some were
delivered by the Pastoral Middle Leader or the college psychologist to the entire year
level.
The lessons discussed here provide examples of lessons being taught to students, the
content, and the content later revisited and built on. An example of a Year 8 lesson
on strengths, provided in Appendix E, was delivered by the home room teachers to
their individual classes. Students were given revision information about strengths
followed by instructions to complete the VIA Inventory of Strengths for Youth
(discussed in Chapter 2). As the questionnaire took 30 to 40 minutes to complete,
this took most of this lesson. This lesson followed an introductory lesson on
strengths by the Pastoral Middle Leader to the whole year level in the school
auditorium using a PowerPoint presentation. Later in the year, home room teachers
revisited strengths with the Year 8 students to reinforce their importance. The plan
for this lesson is provided in Appendix F and this was a worksheet emailed to the
students just prior to the lesson. This lesson consisted of the teacher revisiting the
area of strengths after an opening activity. There were three key tasks on the
worksheet the students had to complete, followed by a class sharing of their
responses in the latter part of the lesson.
In Year 9, as mentioned above, lessons were built on the work taught in Year 8, with
the aim of students developing a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the
constructs. An example of a Year 9 lesson building on the work completed on
strengths in Year 8 is provided in Appendix G. This lesson was delivered by the
college psychologist and was focused on strengths in teams. Students brought to this
lesson their printout of the VIA Inventory of Strengths for Youth survey completed
in Year 8, and students were to record their top five strengths on posters that were
provided. The aim of this lesson was to allow students to gain an understanding of
the strengths of other students in the class as well as the strengths of the class as a
whole. Students were then engaged in a group activity brainstorming where they
could apply their top five strengths at school and they shared their ideas with the
group. The lesson ended with students writing in their gratitude journals about being
grateful for their individual strengths.
Examples of activities. 4.6.3
Gratitude as one of the key constructs of the program featured strongly in the Year 8
and 9 programs. As part of the stationery package purchased by families at the
beginning of the year, students received a small book to use as their gratitude diary.
Students in both these year levels regularly used their gratitude diaries in Pos-Ed
lessons. Gratitude activities varied; for example, students were directed to take time
to write down three things that went well that day and why they went well. Another
example of a gratitude activity was dividing their diaries into three sections
(gratitude, goal setting, strengths), and they were given time to reflect on positive
things in their lives at the time related to these areas.
Students were given directions about how to use their gratitude diaries and an
example of this is provided in Appendix H. This lesson consisted of a PowerPoint
presentation presented by the pastoral middle leader to the whole year level, with the
aim of explaining the significance of gratitude and directing students to commence
entries in their diaries. Students would be given time in class to write in their diaries
and meditative music was played during this time. Students appreciated the time to
stop and reflect, and they enjoyed the process of individualising their diaries.
Teachers respected that these diaries were private, but on occasion would invite
students to share what they were writing about and called for volunteers to share.
Evidence of this is provided in Chapter 6, where students in both focus groups spoke
about the practice of using the gratitude diaries helping them ‘feel better’ and be
‘happier’. There were students who found the sharing process with the whole group
helpful as they heard what other students were grateful for in their lives.
As well as gratitude diaries, each of the Year 8 home rooms with the teacher
assembled their own class gratitude tree over the period of one term (10 weeks), and
in Pos-Ed time they would write personal gratitude messages and place them as
leaves on the tree over the 10 weeks. Students spoke about this in the first focus
group with some students preferring to work in their diaries while others enjoyed
preparing messages for the gratitude tree. It seemed that providing variety with
gratitude activities catered for personal differences in learning. These trees were
creative, promoted class cohesion, and students enjoyed the activities. Members of
the college leadership team visited these classes and affirmed students for their
creative and thoughtful work on gratitude.
In a similar way to strengths, the lessons taught about gratitude in Year 8 were built
on in Year 9. This was a deliberate strategy to extend and deepen the learning in the
five constructs. An example of an early lesson in Year 9, 2014 is provided in
Appendix I where the lesson was delivered by the pastoral middle leader to the
whole year level. This lesson could also easily be delivered by home room teachers
in individual classes, but as this was the start of the second year of positive
psychology in the school, the pastoral middle leaders tended to take the lessons at the
beginning of the terms. The lesson began with a mindfulness exercise, which was
then followed by work in their gratitude diaries.
By this stage, students in Year 9 were becoming very familiar both with using their
gratitude diaries and starting the lesson with a mindfulness activity. The researcher
recognised that in the second focus group some of the participants spoke about the
gratitude activities being repetitive and some students were writing the same things
over and over. This was noted by the researcher as a suggestion for improvement and
was taken on board for further consideration.
4.7 SUMMARY
This chapter provided a detailed explanation of the school-based positive psychology
program for mainstream adolescent girls called the Pos-Ed program Examined in this
chapter are the background, the research, planning, and implementation of the
program. Also provided here are the processes the researcher engaged in to design
the program. This program relied on the involvement and commitment of a number
of different teams of staff within the school, and information on how these teams
delivered the program is supplied here. The final section of the chapter provided
examples of lessons and activities that formed part of the Pos-Ed program.
Additionally, in this chapter there were references to program plans, term plans,
lessons, and activities for teaching the program, as well as a schedule of professional
learning for staff.
Chapter 5: Research Design and Theoretical Framework
5.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter outlines a mixed methods research design, underpinned by the science
of positive psychology and applied to adolescents within a constructivist paradigm.
The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of a positive education program
for adolescent girls in their transition from primary to secondary school. First, the
research questions are identified. Second, a justification for using a mixed method
design is outlined. Third, the rationale for the three quantitative and two qualitative
data phases of the mixed method design is provided, including information about the
participants, measures, and analysis. Fourth, the framework of the positive education
program (Pos-Ed) that comprises the two phases of this study is presented. Fifth,
pertinent ethical issues relevant to this study are also highlighted. Finally, the chapter
concludes with an outline of the theoretical framework used.
5.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
There are three central research questions for the current research project.
1) What are the short-term and long-term changes in the level of wellbeing that
adolescent girls experience in the Pos-Ed program?
2) What are the experiences of adolescent girls in the Pos-Ed program at the end
of the first and second year of the program?
3) Have any observed changes been consistent, or strengthened, over the two
years of the program (Years 8 and 9)?
In relation to the questions above, question one aimed to gain an understanding of the
levels of wellbeing of adolescent girls on transition to secondary school and during
the following year. Question two sought to examine the experiences of Year 8
adolescent girls in their transition year, as well as Year 9 girls who had completed
two years of the program. It was hoped that insights into specific aspects of the
program could be gained by identifying what the students considered to be the most
and least helpful parts of the program, as well as how they felt their wellbeing had
been impacted by their participation in the program. Question three focused on
examining whether there were any observed changes to the participants’ wellbeing
over the two-year period, and whether the changes if any, had been consistent or
strengthened over the two-year period.
An issue of concern for the researcher was whether the students involved in the
current study had been previously exposed to a positive psychology program.
Students were asked at the beginning of the final survey they completed at the end of
Year 9 to verify whether they had participated in any positive psychology program in
primary school, and all students stated that they had not.
5.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
Mixed methods approach: Strengths and challenges. 5.3.1
Mixed methods or multimethod research first emerged in the 1950s in the field of
psychology (Hunter & Brewer, 2003) and has continued to develop into a separate
and distinct methodology with a body of accompanying literature (Creswell & Plano
Clark, 2001). Mixed methods research involves collecting and analysing both
quantitative and qualitative data. A mixed methods research design is a procedure for
collecting, analysing, and ‘mixing’ both quantitative and qualitative methods in a
single study or a series of studies to understand a research problem (Creswell &
Plano Clark, 2001).
The strength of mixed methods lies within its capacity to traverse different
approaches, therefore providing increased confidence to final conclusions. Another
advantage of the mixed methods model is that the researcher is able to collect two
types of data simultaneously, providing the current study with the advantages of both
quantitative and qualitative data (Creswell, 2009). When used in combination,
quantitative and qualitative methods complement each other and allow for more
in-depth analyses (Greene, Caracelli, & Graham, 1989; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003).
By using both datasets, the researcher is able to provide a better understanding of the
topic than if either dataset had been used alone (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2001).
Despite the advantages of using a mixed methods design, there were challenges for
the researcher. A mixed methods design requires that the researcher be conversant
with both qualitative and quantitative methods (Creswell, 2003). For small projects
with only one researcher, as in the current study, mixed methods poses challenges in
relation to the time and work required to collect and analyse both quantitative and
qualitative data. This situation however, provided continuity and closeness with the
data that is difficult to achieve when studies have separate researchers involved in the
qualitative and quantitative phases. A small, mixed methods project is also a
personally and professionally enriching experience which extends researcher
competencies (Creswell, 2003).
The mixed methods approach used in this study is a concurrent explanatory
approach, where the researcher aimed to elaborate on the findings of one method
with another (Creswell, 2009). The concurrent explanatory approach usually implies
collecting and analysing first quantitative and then qualitative data in two
consecutive phases within one study (Ivankova, Creswell, & Stick, 2006). Typically
with this approach, quantitative data is collected and analysed in the first phase
followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data in a second phase, which
builds on the initial results (Creswell, 2012a). The straightforward nature of the
concurrent explanatory approach is a strength of this method because the steps fall
into clear and separate stages (Creswell, 2012b). The quantitative data was collected
using survey instruments. The qualitative data was collected through focus groups
which provided the power of the narrative, and was used as a supplementary source
of data. Focus group methodology is useful in exploring what people think and why
they think the way they do, about the issues of importance to them (Liamputtong,
2011). The concurrent explanatory design was used in this study as wellbeing is a
difficult area to study because of the many variables at play. That is, the quantitative
research alone may not be enough to address the research problem, while the
addition of qualitative data extended and enriched the quantitative data.
The mixed methods research design for the current study occurred over seven phases.
These phases, listed in Table 5.1, include the quantitative and qualitative gathering of
data, as well as the implementation of the program over two years.
Table 5.1
Research Timeline for the Current Study
Phase Instrument Timeline
Phase 1 Pre-Test
Social Emotional Health
Survey
Administered Feb 2013
Participants randomly selected for
focus groups
Permission gained from parents for
focus groups
Phase 2 Positive psychology program,
Year 8
Program implemented in 2013
across the whole year level
Phase 3
Focus Group 1- Year 8
students at the beginning of
Year 9 (focused on the
experiences of Year 8 students
in their transition year)
6 students- conducted February 2014
Phase 4 Post-Test
Social Emotional Health
Survey
Post-Test completed November 2013
Phase 5 Positive psychology
program- Year 9
Program implemented 2014
Phase 6 Focus Group 2- Year 9
5 students- conducted November
2014
Phase 7 Post- Post-Test
Social Emotional Health
Survey
Post- Post-Test implemented
November 2014
5.4 PHASES OF THE STUDY
Quantitative phases. 5.4.1
There were three quantitative phases in this study—phases 1, 4 and 7—which
occurred over a two-year period. The quantitative instrument used in this study was
the Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary (SEHS-S) which was used as a
general measure of psychological wellbeing (Furlong, 2014). This survey examined
the psychological wellbeing of the participants in this study at different points in
time.
Phase 1 consisted of generating and analysing quantitative data before the students
undertook the Pos-Ed program (the pre-test phase). Phase 4 involved the generation
of the second set of quantitative data, gathered after the students completed the first
year of the Pos-Ed program (the post-test phase). Phase 7 involved the generation of
the final set of quantitative data, collected after the students completed the second
year of the Pos-Ed program (the second post-test phase).
Phase 1: Pre-Test (Transition to secondary school: Year 8).
The process of generating data in Phase 1 involved surveying the entire Year 8
cohort of approximately 170 female students. The survey was voluntary and, of the
170 female students in the cohort, 149 students completed the survey in Phase 1.
This was due to some students being absent on the day the survey was completed,
and some students not wanting to participate. As stated above, this pre-test survey
occurred prior to the commencement of the Pos-Ed program in 2013. The SEHS-S
asked a range of questions about student perceptions in relation to their overall
psychological wellbeing and their life at school (see Appendix J). This occurred at
the beginning of the first Pos-Ed lesson in February 2013. This was a point in time
survey, and these students had just transitioned from various primary schools to a
new secondary school and were just settling into a new educational environment.
Also, at this point in time, they were not familiar with the school’s positive education
program. To protect the identity of the students, they were asked to supply answers
to three questions at the beginning of the survey: 1) provide the first two letters of
their mother’s first name, 2) the day of their birth, and 3) the last letter of their last
name. While this information protected the identity of students, it also enabled the
researcher to track responses over the two years. A consent form was sent home to
parents and students to participate in the survey, and signed forms were required for
students to complete the survey (see Appendix K).
For reasons of educational equity, a situation where a control group is utilised was
not possible in this study. The researcher gained approval from the school principal
for the study (see Appendix L). The school principal at the research site would not
give permission for one group to be excluded from completing the program as she
felt this would be inequitable. The ideal research opportunity consists of two groups,
an experimental group (where the test variable is introduced), and the control group
(where the independent variable is neither introduced nor manipulated) (Gray,
Williamson, Karp, & Dalphin, 2007). However, this was not possible in this study.
The study was conducted within these parameters and the researcher obtained a
baseline for all new Year 8 students before their exposure to the Pos-Ed program
through the pre-test.
Phase 4: Post-Test (End of Year 8).
The same students who completed the SEHS-S as a pre-test at the beginning of Year
8 completed it again as a post-test at the end of Year 8, the end of their first year of
exposure to the Pos-Ed program. Of the 170 girls in the cohort, 151 students
completed the survey at this point in time. This information was presented earlier in
Table 1.1.
Phase 7: Second Post-Test (Quantitative Data: End of Year 9).
A final post-test using the SEHS-S occurred at the end of 2014, after students had
completed the two years of the Pos-Ed program. Of the 170 girls in the cohort, 163
students completed the survey at this point in time. This completed the exploration of
the students’ social-emotional wellbeing and laid the foundation for the assessment
of the impact of the positive psychology program over two years.
Participants.
The participants in the quantitative phases of the study comprised the entire 2013
Year 8 cohort of approximately 170 female students in their transition year to
secondary school. Participation was voluntary, so not all of the 170 students agreed
to participate. At Time 1, the beginning of Year 8, 149 students completed the
survey. The secondary school was a Catholic girls’ secondary school in suburban
Brisbane, Australia. The population was approximately 750 students aged 12 to 17
years. It is an independent school in a relatively wealthy middle-class area
approximately 10 kilometres from the capital city of Queensland, Brisbane; it serves
predominantly middle-class families. As a Catholic school, it espouses an ethos of
compassion and it takes a small percentage of students from families experiencing
financial hardship. Students come to this school from over 20 state and independent
primary schools. The Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA)
measure in 2013 was 1127 and in 2014 it was 1139. This measure enables fair and
reasonable comparisons among schools with similar students, and was developed
specifically for the ‘My School’ website: https://www.myschool.edu.au/. The ICSEA
is set at an average of 1000. The lower the ICSEA value, the lower the level of
educational advantage of students who attend the school. As the level increases to
higher levels, the level of educational advantage of the students also increases. These
ICSEA results indicate that students were in the high level of educational advantage.
For this school, destination survey results over the last five years revealed that most
graduates progressed to post-secondary study at universities and colleges of technical
and further education.
Measures.
The Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary was used to assess the levels of
wellbeing in the students. This measure was chosen as it allowed for the
combinatorial effect of numerous positive psychological variables to be measured,
and it has been designed for use with secondary school students. As discussed in
Chapter 2, the Social Emotional Health Survey-Secondary (SEHS-S) is a better
predictor of subjective wellbeing and quality of life as it measures the combinatorial
effect of a range of positive psychological variables (Furlong, et al., 2013). Furlong
et al. (2013) developed the SEHS-S as an instrument that is used to investigate the
social and emotional wellbeing of adolescents. It is based on the covitality model,
which is defined as the co-occurrence of positive personal assets and interpersonal
resources that increase the likelihood of positive development for individuals. This
model identifies four constructs—belief-in-self, belief-in-others, emotional
competence, and engaged living—that are widely used in positive psychology
research and are individually related to highlight scores on measures of
psychological health. The model asserts that a combination of positive traits is
needed for wellbeing rather than a focus on any one specific trait.
The SEHS-S has undergone robust statistical analysis including confirmatory factor
analysis (CFA) which has supported the four factor structure (Furlong, et al., 2013).
It consists of 36 items, nine per construct, where belief-in-self, belief-in-others, and
emotional competence are assessed using a four-point Likert scale: not at all true of
me, a little true of me, pretty much true of me, and very true of me. The first three
items of the engaged living construct use the same four-point Likert scale, while the
other six (related to gratitude and zest: see below) use a five-point scale: not at all,
very little, somewhat, quite a lot, extremely. The four constructs that comprise the
SEHS-S will now be discussed in detail.
Belief-in-Self.
In a school setting, belief-in-self is important in understanding how students choose
what tasks they will be involved in, how much effort they will exert on the task, and
how long they will persist when there are difficulties or when they experience failure
(Bandura, 1989). Belief-in-self is important towards adolescents regulating their own
functioning and exercising control over their personal life circumstances (Bandura,
1997). Belief-in-self in a school context has been identified as comprising three
internal concepts: self-awareness, self-efficacy, and persistence, which has
characteristics of what is called ‘flow’ (Furlong, et al., 2013). This concept can be
applied to female adolescent development, which can be a challenging time and is
characterised by losses as well as high expectations that may increase emotional
vulnerability (Bennett, 2012). Self-awareness can be defined as a person’s capacity
to actively reflect on their own abilities to learn and complete tasks (Ridley, Schutz,
Glanz, & Weinstein, 1992). In relation to adolescents, this may involve knowing
when to ask for assistance with their academic work or identifying that it may be
time to invoke a new learning strategy (Furlong, et al., 2013). Self-awareness allows
students to set goals and implement necessary strategies to achieve these goals. An
example of a self-awareness item is “I understand my moods and feelings.”
Self-efficacy can be defined as an individual’s beliefs about their own capability to
learn or engage in a task at a given level (Gore, 2006). The beliefs of self-efficacy
permeate every area of students’ lives, including their thought processes, motivation,
persistence, and their capacity to use emotional and behavioural regulation.
Self-efficacy also plays a key role in assessing how likely it is a student will be at
risk of experiencing feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress (Bandura, 1997). An
example of a self-efficacy item is “I can do most things if I try.”
Persistence can be defined as perseverance in and passion for accomplishing one’s
goals (You et al., 2013). An example of a persistence item is “When I do not
understand something, I ask the teacher again and again until I understand.”
Persistence in academic tasks for students is positively affected by the experience of
flow (Furlong, et al., 2013). In the current study, the belief-in-self construct showed a
Cronbach α of .83 for Time 1, .84 for Time 2, and .86 for Time 3. These are
acceptable internal consistency coefficients as they are greater than .7. Below this
point they are typically considered too low (Pallant, 2011).
Belief-in-Others.
Belief-in-others occurs for adolescents when they feel cared for across peer, school,
and family contexts. Belief-in-others, in a school context, has been conceptualised as
consisting of three components: peer support, school support and family coherence
(You, et al., 2013). In an important study, researchers drew on data from over 12,000
middle school and high school male and female students in America who
participated in The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Resnick et al.,
1997). It was found that both family connectedness and perceived school
connectedness protected against every measure of risky behaviour (emotional
distress, suicidality, violence, substance use, age of first sexual experience) except a
history of pregnancy (Resnick, et al., 1997). A sense of relatedness, along with
feelings of competence and autonomy has been identified as a psychological need
which is important for positive wellbeing (Ryan & Deci, 2000). A review of the
literature undertaken by Gilman et al. (2009) led the authors to suggest that a
belief-in-others is positively related to psychological wellbeing. In the current study,
the belief-in-others construct exhibited acceptable internal consistency with a
Cronbach α of .85 for Time 1, .84 for Time 2, and .84 for Time 3.
Emotional Competence.
Emotional competence can be defined as having self-efficacy in immediate situations
where key emotional skills are needed. Children demonstrate emotional competence
by initially showing an awareness of their own emotions and then developing an
ability to go beyond themselves and understand the emotions of others (Saarni,
Campos, Camras, & Witherington, 2006). Research suggests that poor emotional
competence in early adolescence predicts the development of depression (Zeman,
Shipman, & Suveg, 2002). The SEHS-S describes emotional competence as
including emotional regulation, self-control and empathy.
Emotional regulation is defined as a person’s capacity to influence which emotions
are expressed (Gross, 1998). Students may exercise emotional regulation consciously
or unconsciously. Emotional regulation has been described as having two main
elements: the management of emotional expression and the modulation of emotional
reactions (Gilman, et al., 2009). An example of an emotional regulation item is “I
accept responsibility for my actions”.
Self-control or delay of gratification can be defined as the ability to control one’s
actions and resist taking immediate rewards in favour of anticipated outcomes. This
process develops over time and is central to successful goal-oriented behaviour
(Mischel et al., 2011). An example of a self-control item is “I can wait for what I
want.”
Empathy is defined as an individual’s affective response to the experience of another
person. Empathy has been linked to positive social and psychological outcomes
(Davis, 1983). An example of an empathy item is “I try to understand what other
people go through.” In the current study, the emotional competence construct
exhibited acceptable internal consistency with a Cronbach α of .85 for Time 1, .78
for Time 2, and .76 for Time 3.
Transition to secondary school is an important milestone and can be a stressful time
in the lives of adolescent girls (Waters, et al., 2014). Consequently, emotional
competence can be affected at this time, and it is important to provide girls with
skills to navigate this important period in their lives.
Engaged Living.
Engagement can be described as the experience where a person is highly attentive
and motivated with a task, and absorbed in the specific challenges in the activity
(Dawes & Larson, 2011). Three strength-based constructs that have been identified
as being central to engaged living are gratitude, optimism, and zest. Gratitude is
defined as the feeling people experience when they are aware of and thankful for the
good things that happen to them and express thanks to those responsible (Emmons &
McCullough, 2003). Optimism is defined as a general expectation for good outcomes
in the future (Scheier & Carver, 1985). Zest is defined as a positive trait reflecting a
person’s approach to life with anticipation, energy, and excitement (Peterson, Park,
Hall, & Seligman, 2009).
Overall, these constructs are significant in linking adolescents’ attitudes towards
past, present, and future developments in their lives (Froh, et al., 2009). For
adolescents to develop optimally and to think strategically about their life challenges
and opportunities they need to experience purposeful and meaningful engagement
(You, et al., 2013). In the current study, the engaged living construct exhibited
acceptable internal consistency with a Cronbach α of .87 for Time 1, .88 for Time 2,
and .87 for Time 3.
Qualitative phases. 5.4.2
Focus Group Interviews.
Focus group methodology can be attributed to Emory Bogardus who, in 1926,
described group interviews in his social psychological research (Liamputtong, 2011).
Focus groups can be defined as a discussion among a group of selected individuals
about a particular topic (Wilkinson, 2004). Qualitative research in the form of focus
groups that use open ended questions can offer many different perspectives on the
topic and provide a complex picture of the situation (Creswell, 2012a). A major
advantage of using focus groups is the opportunity to observe a large amount of
interaction on a topic in a limited amount of time (Morgan, 1997). An appealing
feature of focus groups is their robust versatility for shedding light on almost any
topic. Focus groups are particularly useful for exploratory research when little is
known about the phenomenon of interest (Stewart, Shamdasani, & Rook, 2007).
Currently, there is limited research on positive psychology and female adolescent
wellbeing. The current study makes a contribution to research in this area as it
examines female adolescent wellbeing over a two-year period. Drawbacks of the
focus group technique include sampling bias and expectancy effects. Due to the use
of random sampling to select participants and the small size of the groups,
participants may not be broadly representative of any population (Gray, et al., 2007).
The researcher considered this limitation when designing the study, but realised that
it would not be possible to conduct large focus groups due to the parameters agreed
to by the principal for this study.
There were two qualitative phases in this study, Phases 3 and 6, which occurred over
a two-year period. The qualitative data for this study consisted of two focus groups.
The first occurred following the first year of the program at the start of Year 9
(February 2014), before the second year of the program. The second occurred at the
end of the second year of the program (October 2014) in Year 9. The two focus
groups were comprised of the same participants and though still a small
representation of the student population (n = 6 and 5 respectively), these narratives
provided valuable data for the researcher, that could not be gained in the quantitative
phase. It was anticipated that these narratives would provide specific information
about effective and ineffective aspects of the program in relation to their wellbeing.
Procedure. 5.4.3
The same procedure was used in both focus groups. The focus groups were held
during Pos-Ed time in a classroom away from the main area of the school where it
was quiet and private. A semi-structured approach was used and the moderator
devised a number of questions for the participants to respond. The moderator adopted
a flexible approach should there be items outside of the questions that the
participants wished to discuss. The participants were welcomed and given a sheet
with the questions and asked to complete written anonymous responses for ten
minutes before the commencement of the focus group, and these written responses
were collected at the end. The purpose of the sheet was to give the participants time
to think about their responses before the discussion started, and also to give the
researcher a written set of responses should there be students who offered minimal
input to the discussion. The researcher informed the participants that she would be
acting as the moderator, as well as taking notes throughout the discussion to assist
with gathering information. The researcher explained the term moderator, where the
researcher would take the ‘deputy principal’ hat off, and act as a non-judgemental
person gathering information about the Pos-Ed program, without offering any
personal views or opinions. As the researcher did not teach any of these students
including not teaching them the Pos-Ed program, the researcher made the decision to
conduct the focus groups despite the fact the researcher was a deputy principal.
The moderator then informed the participants of a number of ground rules for the
focus group, for example, ‘there were no right or wrong answers’. Participants were
encouraged to feel comfortable to share their views even if they were different from
others. The researcher explained the focus group would be audio-recorded to enable
a written transcript to be generated. The researcher clearly explained that their
identities would remain confidential, no identifying information would be recorded
or collected, and if at any time they felt uncomfortable they could ask to leave. At the
end of each focus group, there was a short time to debrief with participants before
they went to their next class. The researcher went around the group individually and
asked if each participant was feeling comfortable and if they were ready for their
next class. All participants replied they were ‘ok’, and the researcher observed all
participants were smiling and energetic. Participants were thanked for their input.
After the focus groups were conducted, the researcher gave the participants a movie
voucher on the last day of term when the whole cohort was gathered in the library for
end of term celebrations and the atmosphere was informal. The researcher quietly
found each student and thanked them for their participation, and gave them an
envelope with the voucher.
In Focus Group 2, the moderator noticed there were more comments that were not
able to be identified with a particular participant, so these comments are noted as
‘student unidentified’. This was due partly to the discussion flowing more quickly
and freely than in focus group 1, and the moderator was unable to quickly name each
participant who was speaking. Also, the students did not readily use the names of
other students when reflecting or responding to their comments.
Participants. 5.4.4
The participants in the qualitative phases of the study comprised six female students
in the first focus group and five in the second focus group (six Year 8 students in
2013 and five Year 9 students in 2014). Students in Year 8 were aged 13 in 2013,
and students in Year 9 were aged 14 in 2014.
Participant selection. 5.4.5
Participants were chosen using a random sampling process available in Microsoft
Word. This program generated a list of all Year 8 students in random order. The sort
function of this program was used to generate six random lists of the students in the
six Year 8 home rooms. The first student on each of these lists was selected to be a
participant. The researcher did not teach these students and did not have any input
into their academic results.
For Time 1, Phase 3, the researcher contacted the six students by email and gave
them a brief overview of what a focus group is, the topic and the purpose, and stated
that they had been selected randomly by a computer software program. In this email,
the researcher invited the students to be participants in the focus group and clearly
stated this was optional and there would be no disadvantages if they chose not to be
involved. The researcher also set a short meeting time in a designated room during
Pos-Ed time for these students to meet with the researcher (the year level
co-ordinator was also present) to talk to them personally about the focus group and
allow them to ask questions. At this meeting, the researcher talked to them about the
process of being involved in the focus group and assured them that their contribution
would be valued and confidential. This meeting occurred a week after the email was
sent and was approximately ten minutes in duration. The researcher also explained
that, should they become uncomfortable at any time in the focus group, they could
withdraw and would later be offered counselling support by the college psychologist
if it was requested.
At the end of the meeting the researcher gave each of the students a permission letter
to take home to parents. The students were asked to talk to their parents, decide if
they were interested in being a participant, and email the researcher a ‘yes’ or ‘no’
response two weeks after the meeting. Both students and parents were required to
sign the consent forms. All of this occurred approximately a month before the date
set for the focus group, to allow time for the researcher to invite other students to be
involved (going back to the list of students who were random sampled), should any
of the selected students opt not to participate. All six students and their parents gave
permission to participate at Time 1, and five gave permission for Time 2, Phase 6.
The researcher then emailed them with details of the date, place, and time for each
focus group, and they were told to meet at the venue.
Phase 3: Focus Group Interviews 1.
Focus Group 1 occurred in February 2014, after Year 8 students completed the first
year of the program and before they started Year 9. Permission was sought from both
the students and their parents (see Appendix M). The researcher was the moderator
for the focus group. An advantage in this study was that the researcher had over
thirty years’ experience working with adolescents in group situations. In addition, the
researcher had not had direct contact with these students through teaching any of
their classes. It was anticipated that this would make the students more willing to be
open and honest with the researcher, as the researcher did not have any impact on
their day to day learning or results. A limitation of the researcher being the
moderator was the researcher as deputy principal in the school was perceived as an
authority figure and, as such, this could affect the nature of responses and sharing of
information from the participants. The researcher led the discussion, and attempted to
ensure that discussion occurred between participants, instead of between them and
the moderator (Liamputtong, 2011). This was achieved by the moderator posing the
questions to the participants and then encouraging them to offer their own personal
responses to the questions. The questions were delivered by the moderator in a
non-judgemental manner, and students were asked to elaborate on their responses
where appropriate by comments such as ‘go on’ and ‘could you describe that
further?’ The moderator was careful to accept all responses from the students in an
open and supportive manner.
A strength of the focus group methodology is that the researchers are provided with a
great opportunity to appreciate the way people see their own reality and hence “to get
closer to the data” (Ivanoff & Hultberg, 2006, p. 126). The focus group provided
participants with the opportunity to share their experiences of the Pos-Ed program
and, in doing so, provided information in relation to how this impacted on their
wellbeing, and what they perceived as the positives and negatives of the program. As
stated previously, focus groups are particularly useful for exploratory research when
little is known about the phenomenon of interest, in this case positive psychology
and its effects on female adolescent wellbeing (Stewart, et al., 2007). As well as
providing data on the impact of the Pos-Ed program on adolescent wellbeing, the two
focus groups provided rich information on the specific constructs of the program:
character strengths, gratitude, flow, savouring, and mindfulness. Data on these
constructs is important as they underpin the Pos-Ed program. The questions that were
asked in the focus groups are listed below as well as in Appendices C and D.
Phase 6: Focus Group Interviews 2.
Phase 6 involved conducting a second focus group, which occurred at the end of the
second year of the program (November, 2014, approximately one year after the first
focus group was completed). The rationale for this sequence is that the quantitative
data and results provided a general response to the research problem, while the focus
group interviews enriched and extended the general picture (Creswell, 2012a). The
students were in Year 9 for the second focus group. The same six student participants
involved in Focus Group 1 were invited to participate in Focus Group 2, and five
students responded affirmatively (see Appendix N). The letter sent home to parents is
included as Appendix O for the first focus group and Appendix P for the second
focus group. The rationale for using the same students was to gauge what had
happened for them in the Pos-Ed program over the two years. The data gained from
the two focus groups using the same participants helped provide longitudinal data on
the program.
Interview Questions.
The interview questions formed the foundation of gathering the qualitative data in
the two focus groups. The guiding questions in the focus groups were:
Focus Group 1
1) What does wellbeing mean, if anything, to you? (If someone asked you what
wellbeing means to you, how would you answer?)
2) Now you are aware in your first year of high school last year you were
involved in the Pos-Ed program, which is the school’s wellbeing program for
students, and there is time created in the timetable for this to occur each six
days. I would like to ask you some specific questions about how you found
this program last year. Describe what you believe have been the most useful
or helpful aspects of Pos-Ed for you personally.
3) Describe what you believe have been the least useful or helpful aspects of
Pos-Ed for you personally.
4) Last year, in Year 8 at [xxxx College] you have experienced a wellbeing
program called Positive Education (Pos-Ed). Describe your own experience
of the Pos-Ed program in 2013.
5) Do you think the Pos-Ed program has helped your move from Primary to
Secondary school? If so, in what ways?
6) Do you think you have developed any strategies to assist with your wellbeing
as a result of Pos-Ed? If not, why not? If so, what specifically are these
strategies?
7) Have you noticed any changes in yourself, related to your personal wellbeing
since the beginning of the Pos-Ed program? If so, what changes have you
noticed?
Focus Group 2
1) This is your second year of secondary school, and you have been involved in
the Positive Education program (Pos-Ed) for two years. What does wellbeing
mean to you now?
2) You have been involved in the Pos-Ed program, the school’s student
wellbeing program, for two years now and there is time created in the
timetable for this to occur each six days. I would like to ask you some
specific questions about how you found the program this year. Describe what
you believe have been the most useful or helpful aspects of Pos-Ed for you
personally.
3) Describe what you believe have been the least useful or helpful aspects of
Pos-Ed for you personally.
4) This year, in Year 9 you have experienced the second year of a wellbeing
program called Positive Education (Pos-Ed). Describe your own experience
of the Pos-Ed program in 2014.
5) Do you think the Pos-Ed program has helped your adjustment from primary
to secondary school, the further you have gone with Pos-Ed?
6) Do you think you have developed any strategies to assist with your wellbeing
as a result of Pos-Ed? If not, why not? If so, what specifically are these
strategies?
7) Have you noticed any changes in yourself, related to your personal wellbeing
since the beginning of the Pos-Ed program? If so, what changes have you
noticed?
Positive psychology program (Pos-Ed). 5.4.6
The Pos-Ed program was designed by the author of this study. The author sought
guidance from the college psychologist throughout the process of designing the
program. The details of the delivery of the program were outlined in Chapter 3. The
program consisted of embedding the five positive psychology constructs: character
strengths, gratitude, flow, savouring, and mindfulness. The program was explicitly
delivered by home room teachers (teachers who teach the students every day) who
were trained by the author and the college psychologist. The home room teachers
were trained at the end of 2012 and they met weekly in 2013 to discuss the delivery
of the program. The Year 8 co-ordinator oversaw lesson delivery and resources in
consultation with the researcher (author of the program) and the college
psychologist. The program was part of the students’ weekly timetable.
Phase 2: The Positive Education Program (first year the program).
Phase 2 involved the implementation of the Pos-Ed program for Year 8 students at
the beginning of 2013. Pos-Ed was timetabled for 50 minutes once every six day
cycle as well as 50 minutes every week when there was not a whole school assembly
(this varied throughout the year). Lesson delivery was varied, and included formal
teacher instruction, group activities, guest speakers from outside the school, and
presentations by the college psychologist.
Phase 5: The Positive Education Program (second year of the program).
Phase 5 was the implementation of the second year of the Pos-Ed program for Year 9
students in 2014 (the same students who were in year 8, 2013). Pos-Ed was
timetabled for 50 minutes once every six day cycle as well as 50 minutes every week
when there was not a whole school assembly (this varied throughout the year).
Lesson delivery was varied, and included formal teacher instruction, group activities,
guest speakers from outside the school and presentations by the college psychologist.
Quantitative and qualitative data analyses. 5.4.7
For the quantitative data, the means, standard deviations, and percentages were
reported to summarise the participants’ scores on all measures. A correlational
analysis was conducted to measure the strength of any relationships between the
Social Emotional Health Survey (SEHS) constructs. A repeated measures analysis of
variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare the Year 8 and Year 9 groups to
ascertain if any change in scores on the SEHS over two years was statistically
significant. The details of these analyses are fully discussed in Chapter 6.
For the qualitative data, the methodology is discussed below, with more detail
provided in Chapter 7. The data from each group was analysed and organised around
themes using Creswell’s (2009) Eight Steps Model (see Figure 5.1). The researcher
engaged in a systematic process of analysis, which assisted the researcher to identify
themes or perspectives and report on them. Although Creswell’s (2009) model
espouses a linear or hierarchical approach, he also suggests that the model should be
seen as interactive and interrelated and not always solely applied in the order
presented. When the coding of results was completed, the results were analysed
through the literature review and the theoretical framework to identify themes and
common perspectives. A detailed account of how the researcher analysed the data is
provided in Chapter 7.
In analysing the qualitative data, triangulation of data was achieved through the
researcher using the expertise of her two supervisors to read transcripts and discuss
findings. This allowed the researcher to achieve a more detailed and balanced picture
of the program and how the participants related to it in terms of their wellbeing
(Altrichter, 2008).
In Chapter 8, the final chapter, the researcher then examined the results of the
quantitative and qualitative data, and examined the quantitative and qualitative data
together. In this way, methodological triangulation of research data was achieved
through using a mixed methods approach.
Interpreting the meaning of themes/descriptions
Interrelating themes/descriptions
Themes Descriptions
Coding the data
Reading through all data Figure 5.1. Data analysis in qualitative research adapted from Creswell (2009).
Longitudinal results. 5.4.8
A further consideration is this study also occurred over three time points, whereas
most recent studies examining positive psychology do not provide data beyond
testing over a one-year period. A review of school-based positive psychology in 2011
revealed that most of these studies were evaluated in their pilot stage, and that further
evaluation beyond the pilot stage with multiple student groups, larger sample sizes,
and across multiple settings is needed (Waters, 2011). What this study offered is data
beyond the time period of many of the available studies in this area. This study offers
a contribution to research in this area by reporting data over a period of time.
5.5 ISSUES IN DATA COLLECTION
Researcher at the research site. 5.5.1
In choosing a site, the researcher should aim for a site where entry is possible to the
site and the researcher must be able to build trusting relations with the research
participants (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2001). The author of the current study is in a
senior administration role as a member of the school leadership team. In the current
research project, the author is regarded as an insider. An insider can be defined as a
researcher who chooses to study a group to which they belong, while
outsider-researchers do not belong to the group under study (Breen, 2007).
As an insider and a well-respected educator, the researcher already had the trust and
respect of the student population. For the quantitative phase of data generation, being
an insider was an asset in relation to the mechanics of organising students to
complete the Social Emotional Health surveys, as the insider works on site and has a
working knowledge of organisational processes, which allowed for efficient
administering of the surveys. For the qualitative phases of data collection, the
researcher is one of the three Student Protection Contacts (staff trained in the Student
Protection Policy, and the contacts for students if they have any personal safety
concerns), and this was an advantage with the focus groups should any sensitive
information be divulged. As an insider, the researcher was already immersed in the
culture and ethos of the school (eight years of teaching experience at this school),
which is another advantage. There are researchers who claim an advantage of being
an insider researcher is having a greater understanding of the culture being studied
(Bonner & Tolhurst, 2002). A further advantage with the focus groups is that the
researcher is an experienced deputy principal, and is highly proficient in the skills of
conversing, interviewing, and dialoguing with students. This aligns with research that
asserts qualitative case study requires researchers to spend extended time at the site
being personally involved with activities and operations of the research, reflecting,
and revising meanings of what is going on (Stake, 2005).
While there are distinct benefits in using an insider approach, there can also be
disadvantages. For the qualitative phase, there may be disadvantages as the author is
in a position of authority at the school, and students may provide information that
they think they should provide to be seen in a positive light, thus making this
information unreliable. Because of this, the structure of the focus groups using
students as participants was carefully considered to avoid unreliable information.
That is, questions asked were non-biased and open-ended to invite personal
perspectives. The researcher did not teach any of the participants who were in the
focus groups and did not have any impact on their day-to-day schooling or their
academic results. Therefore, this helped minimise potential problems, such as
students feeling pressured to give favourable responses as they may have felt that
their academic results could be affected if the moderator taught them. Morgan (1997)
has warned that the researcher’s influence on the data is an issue in almost all
qualitative research. The researcher as an insider was aware of this dilemma. To help
overcome this dilemma, the study was comprised of three quantitative surveys in
addition to the focus groups, which provided the qualitative interview data.
Additionally, the researchers’ supervisors read the transcripts and discussed analysis
and outcomes of findings to minimise bias.
Furthermore, it could be perceived that an insider may already have biased
perceptions of the study. In this study, the researcher as the author of the program
automatically had a vested interest. For an insider, some researchers such as Glesne
(1999) warn about preconceptions that narrow their perspective; for example,
previous experience with people on-site may set up expectations for certain types of
interactions that will constrain data collection (Glesne, 1999). For this study, the
principal who approved the study already had high expectations in relation to the
Pos-Ed program. In choosing a concurrent explanatory mixed-methods design,
weight was given to the major form of data collection (quantitative surveys in this
study), and then secondary status to the supportive form (qualitative interviews in
this study) (Creswell, 2012b). This sequence was chosen for the current study to
avoid any issues of limited perceptions or bias of the researcher. The secondary form
was used in this mixed methods study to support and provide additional information
to the primary form. The qualitative data was used to explain and interpret the
quantitative results, and provided more data to address the three research questions
listed earlier in this chapter. The qualitative data collection may be used to examine
any surprising results should they occur in the quantitative data collection (Creswell,
2009).
Another concern was a potential conflict of interest in relation to the author’s role as
deputy principal at the school, as student participants in the focus groups may have
felt constrained in their responses for fear their information may be shared or used in
ways that may cause them worry or anxiety. The procedures outlined in the ethics
section following will present approaches used to mitigate this issue. The generation
of qualitative data can also create ethical and political dilemmas, but this was
weighed against the enormous potential benefits that working as an insider can bring,
which can have future implications for similar programs in other schools (Jones, et
al., 2012). Overall, the benefits of being an insider in this research project far
outweighed the disadvantages, as the disadvantages were able to be satisfactorily
addressed. It was hoped that this study would be of value to other schools wishing to
introduce a positive psychology based program.
5.6 ETHICAL ISSUES
The setting for this study is an education setting, a single-sex girls’ Catholic
secondary school. As the school is an independent Catholic school, approval was
sought and gained from the principal in liaison with the School Board. The principal
expected that the research adhered to the guidelines for Brisbane Catholic Schools.
That is, even though the setting is an independent Catholic school and is, to a large
degree, self-governing, it still comes under the overall governance of Brisbane
Catholic Education, Queensland. Therefore, ethics approval was obtained from the
Brisbane Catholic Education office in addition to the Queensland University of
Technology (QUT) Human Research Ethics Committee (QUT Ethics Approval
number 1100001523). More particularly, the guidelines from Brisbane Catholic
Education are specific in relation to child protection legislation, and required that if a
research participant discloses confidential information to a researcher in relation to
sexual or physical abuse or harm or circumstances where a student’s health, safety,
or wellbeing is in danger, the researcher is required to disclose this information to the
school principal. Participants were made aware of this requirement in the permission
letter provided to the participants and their parents, as well as verbally in the focus
groups.
5.7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Early adolescence: The trajectory point for the 5.7.1program.
The early adolescent period was chosen for the current study as research shows that
girls enter this developmental period with very high self-esteem, and this can drop
dramatically as this developmental period progresses (Roeser, et al., 2008). This
group is in the early adolescent category, aged 12 years when they enter secondary
school, turning 13 years of age in the transition year, and 14 years of age during Year
9. The program was aimed at enhancing female wellbeing at this trajectory. It was
anticipated that the group of Year 8 students would not have had any exposure to
positive psychology during their primary years of schooling, and they completed a
question on the survey to confirm this. The main focus of the current study was to
examine a positive psychology program for female adolescent wellbeing in the
transition year to secondary school, and subsequently track this program over two
years.
Positive psychology: A theoretical position. 5.7.2
Positive psychology is an evidence-based sub-field of psychology. It shares
similarities with humanism and existentialism. Positive psychologists acknowledge
the legacy of the humanistic psychology of the 1950s to the 1970s with its emphasis
on self-fulfilment and self-education (Kristjansson, 2012). They have consistently
credited humanistic psychology for pioneering the territory of positive psychological
research and practice (Robbins, 2008). Humanism is the doctrine where the needs
and values of human beings take precedence over material things and they adhere to
the process of self-actualisation where people strive to make the most of their
potential (Peterson, 2006). Humanistic psychology also shares similar views with
existentialism. The critical idea of existentialism is that a person’s experience is
primary and people are the products of their own choices freely undertaken; further,
there is no fixed human nature, only the sort of person that each unique individual
becomes by the way people choose to define themselves (Peterson, 2006).
Despite acknowledging the commonalities between humanism and existentialism
with positive psychology, Seligman (2002) chose to distance positive psychology
from humanism and existentialism for two main reasons. First, positive psychology
regards both the good and the bad about life as genuine, whereas humanists often
assume people are inherently good. Second, positive psychology is committed to the
scientific method, whereas humanists are often sceptical of science and its ability to
shed light on what they believe really matters. The main theoretical framework for
this study sits within the scientific discipline of psychology, with positive
psychology an accepted sub-field of psychology. What also underpins this study is
the concept that students build on existing knowledge and experiences to create new
knowledge, and this concept is aligned with constructivism.
Constructivism. 5.7.3
There are many definitions and understandings of what constitutes constructivism.
Constructivism is an epistemology, a learning or meaning-making theory, that offers
an explanation of the nature of knowledge and how human beings learn (Ultanir,
2012). The common core of constructivist theory is that we do not find knowledge,
we construct it (Boghossian, 2006). “Constructivism is a multifaceted expression of a
philosophical tradition that recognises the individual as an active, anticipatory, and
developing participant in his or her own life-span experience” (Franklin & Nurius,
1998, p. 3). The learner is at the heart of the learning experience in constructivism,
which maintains that individuals create or construct their own new understandings or
knowledge through the interaction of what they already believe, and the ideas, events
and activities with which they come into contact (Ultanir, 2012). While there may be
other definitions and understandings of constructivism, these definitions align with
the current research project.
Constructivism is a theory about knowledge and learning. It is not a theory about
teaching, but it has a significant impact on the educational world, as it promotes a
radically different approach to the teacher-centred authoritarian model.
Constructivism has gained recognition for different reasons among diverse groups,
including social work, psychology, family therapy, cognitive therapy, and education
(Franklin & Nurius, 1998). Pioneering expressions of constructivism can be found in
the writings of William James (1890), Jean Piaget (1926), and Frederic Bartlett
(1932) (Bartlett, 1932; James, 1890; Piaget, 1926). Constructivism as a theory of
cognition can be traced back to the developmental psychologist Jean Piaget (Piaget,
1969). A constructivist view of learning suggests an approach to teaching that gives
learners the opportunity for concrete, contextually meaningful experience through
which they can search for patterns, raise questions, and model, interpret, and defend
their strategies and ideas (Fosnot, 2005). Piaget’s (1969) main focus of
constructivism has to do with the individual, and how the individual constructs
knowledge.
Piaget took the notion of adaptation out of the biological context and turned it into
the cornerstone of his genetic epistemology (Fosnot, 2005). Piaget (1953, 1969)
stated that the development of a person’s intelligence is forged through adaptation
and accommodation. Adaptation is the process of assimilation and accommodation.
According to Piaget (1953) assimilation is when children bring new knowledge to
their own schemas to accommodate the new information or knowledge (Piaget,
1953). This adjustment process occurs when learning is the result of processing the
new information to fit into what is already in one’s memory. This process of building
on existing knowledge to forge new information is of significance to the current
study, where the new learning about positive psychology constructs will build on the
adolescent student’s existing knowledge and experiences. Real understanding is only
constructed on learners’ previous experience and background knowledge, and this is
a developmental process (Ultanir, 2012).
Piaget (1926) identified four main periods of development of the child’s mind: 1)
sensorimotor stage (ages birth to two); 2) pre-operational stage (ages two to seven);
3) concrete operational stage (ages seven to 11); and 4) formal operational stage (age
11 to adulthood). Of significance to the current study is the fourth stage, the formal
operational stage where students will start using higher levels of thinking or abstract
ideas to solve problems, although not all students reach this stage in all aspects of
their lives. The teacher is a guide or facilitator who encourages learners to formulate
their own ideas, opinions and conclusions (Cannela & Reif, 1994). The early
adolescent years prior to adulthood are an important trajectory where students are
capable of higher order thinking and can cognitively understand positive psychology
constructs. Thus, the period from adolescence to adulthood presents significant
opportunities for positive change in life course trajectories (Hawkins et al., 2011).
Constructivism as a theory about knowledge and learning underpins the current study
for two main reasons. First, positive psychology constructs are relatively new and
unknown both by teachers and students. Therefore, the learning journey is shared by
the teacher and student and the teacher is a guide or facilitator in the learning.
Second, students learning about positive psychology constructs will build on
experiences and knowledge they already have. A fundamental assumption of the
current study is that students will not only embrace the new knowledge about
positive psychology, but will also make meaning out of this knowledge in an
individual way significant to them, in order to lead flourishing lives. This may mean
they experiment and explore the constructs and find out what works best for them,
which may not be the same as what works for others. Some researchers assert that
when adolescents engage in a more intimate exploration of their life experiences,
particularly those that cause significant change, positive consequences can emerge at
the personal level. It is only in exploring these constructs that meaningful, lifelong
learning will occur (Tavernier & Willoughby, 2012). It is anticipated that students
will be learning concepts and ideas that they can apply inside and outside of school
to help them become their best selves, and that this learning can help them develop
into the best adults they can be.
This chapter provided an overview of the research aims and design, in conjunction
with the stages and timeframes for the implementation of each phase of the current
study. The research questions informing this study were identified. The data
collection processes, both quantitative and qualitative, were described for each phase
of the study. The chapter also provided a description of the theoretical framework
adopted for this study.
Chapter 6: Analysis of the Quantitative Survey Data
6.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the results of the quantitative survey data gathered for this
study using the Social Emotional Health Scale-Secondary (SEHS-S). It outlines the
methodology, analysis, and findings of this phase of the study. It examined if there
are any significant differences in the subscale scores (belief-in-self, belief-in-others,
emotional competence, and engaged living), between the three data collection points.
The focus group interviews (Chapter 7) serve to highlight and expand on the
quantitative findings on the effectiveness of the Pos-Ed program as a program to
enhance student wellbeing.
6.2 RESULTS
Data screening. 6.2.1
Questionnaire item results were entered into three separate SPSS data files as Time 1
(149 students), Time 2 (151 students), and Time 3 (163 students). Only those
participants with full data sets for the three data collections were used in the final
analysis and these numbered 124. As none of the items were negatively scored, there
was no re-coding of any items. Individual student responses to all items on each
questionnaire were added to generate individual scores for belief-in-self,
belief-in-others, engaged living, emotional competence, and a total covitality score.
Correlational analyses. 6.2.2
Results of the bivariate correlation analyses for all variables are provided in Table
6.1. This analysis was performed to ensure that covitality and its underlying
constructs—belief-in-self, emotional competence, belief-in-others, and engaged
living—were all positively related as per the original development of the scale
(Furlong et al., 2013). The analysis revealed that each of the components of
co-vitality was positively related and that there was no perfect linear relationship
between any of the constructs. That is, as Furlong et al. (2013) suggest, each
individual score represents an individual aspect of covitality and can therefore be
used to measure distinct factors.
Table 6.1
Correlations for the Four Underlying Co-vitality Components and Co-vitality
Belief-in-Self
Belief-in-Others Emotional Competence
Engaged Living
Belief-in-Self
Belief-in-Others .55**
Emotional Competence
.64** .42**
Engaged Living
.55** .46** .51**
Co-vitality .84** .76** .77** .82**
Note: Values rounded to 2 decimal places. Correlations marked with (**) were significant at the .01 level
One-way repeated measure ANOVA. 6.2.3
Firstly, a one-way repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted to compare
scores on the four independent variables, belief-in-self, belief-in-others, emotional
competence, and engaged living, at Time 1, Time 2, and Time 3. The means and
standard deviations are presented in Table 6.2. For belief-in-self, there was a
significant effect for time, Wilks’ Lambda = .94, F(2, 122) = 6.06, p < .05,
multivariate partial eta squared = .08, which is a moderate effect size (Cohen, 1988).
For belief-in-others, there was a significant effect for time, Wilks’ Lambda = .64,
F(2, 122) = 34.34, p < .001, multivariate partial eta squared = .36, which is a large
effect size. For emotional competence, there was not a significant effect for time,
Wilks’ Lambda = .90, F(2, 122) = 6.95, p < .005, multivariate partial eta squared =
.03. For engaged living, there was a significant effect for time, Wilks’ Lambda = .64,
F(2, 122) = 34.34, p < .001, multivariate partial eta squared = .10, which is a
moderate effect size.
Finally, a one-way repeated measure ANOVA was conducted to compare scores on
covitality at Time 1, Time 2, and Time 3. The means and standard deviations are
presented in Table 6.2. There was a significant effect for time, Wilks’ Lambda = .91,
F(2, 122) = 6.12, p < .005, multivariate partial eta squared = .09, which is a moderate
effect size.
Table 6.2
Summary of Scores.
Descriptive Statistics for Belief-in-Self, Belief-in-Others, Emotional Competence, Engaged
Living, and Covitality
Belief-in-Self M(SD)
Belief-in-Others M(SD)
Emotional Competence
M(SD)
Engaged Living M(SD)
Covitality M(SD)
Time 1 27.50 (4.52)
30.26 (4.27)
29.47 (3.74)
33.70 (5.65)
120.92 (14.33)
Time 2 27.35 (4.44)
30.57 (4.43)
29.76 (3.17)
33.95 (5.95)
121.63 (14.72)
Time 3 25.90 (5.15)
25.89 (5.15)
29.10 (3.27)
31.35 (6.24)
115.32 (16.61)
Range 9-36 9-36 9-36 9-36 36-150
All the effect sizes indicated that there were significant differences in actual scores
over time for all measures except for emotional competence. Overall, the difference
in mean scores between Times 1 and 3 for each of the underlying constructs were:
belief-in-self = 1.6; belief-in-others = 4.37; emotional competence = 0.37; engaged
living = 2.35 (see Table 6.2). There was a large effect size for belief-in-others (36%
of the variance explained), while there was a moderate effect size for both
belief-in-self (8% of the variance explained) and engaged living (10% of the variance
explained). For covitality, there was a moderate effect size with 9% of the variance
being explained. Overall, this suggests that the differences in time could be
considered to be of low to medium practical significance (Pallant, 2011).
However, it is important to note that these results also showed that at Time 1 82.6
percent of participants were in the high average to high levels of covitality scores
(see Table 6.3). The fact that the participants started in these highest levels of
covitality scores indicates that there was limited scope for reaching higher scores in
covitality. Overall, between Time 1 and Time 2 the results reveal a small upward
movement in covitality score means (.71). At the time of the upward trend, students
were aged approximately 12 or 13 years. Between Times 2 and 3, there was a large
drop in the covitality mean (6.31). Despite this drop, 72.3 percent of the participants
were still in the high average to high range of covitality scores. However, the number
of girls in the low and low to average range increased from 12.1 to 26.8 percent.
Participants during this time were between 13 and 14 years of age.
These results reveal insights into what was happening for this group of adolescent
girls in relation to their wellbeing at different age points. The covitality scores reveal
that at the age and time this group transitioned to secondary school, the Time 1
survey, they were already in the high range of covitality scores. This could be
reflecting the high socio-economic status of the majority of the group, as students
belonged to predominantly wealthy middle-class families. What was evident from
the Time 1 survey was that these students arrived at secondary school with high
levels of wellbeing. As these students came from over 20 primary feeder schools, it
was not possible to have a clear understanding of what may have been taught in these
schools in relation to wellbeing prior to their transition to this secondary school. As
stated above, this then gave limited scope for reaching higher scores in covitality in
subsequent years. Wellbeing in the first year (transition year) of the Pos-Ed program,
Time 1 (beginning of program), and Time 2 (end of the first year of the program)
indicate a positive response.
Table 6.3
Percentages of Participants in Each Level of Covitality Scores
Time 1 Time 2 Time 3
1.3% low
1.6% low
5.2% low
16.1% low average
10.5% low average
21.6% low average
50.4% high average
51.6% high average
49.7% high average
32.2% high 36.3% high 23.5% high Note: Low ≤ 85; Low Average = 86-106; High Average = 107-127; High = ≥ 128 (Furlong, 2014)
Despite the above scores showing an upward movement by the end of Year 8 and
then a downward movement in Year 9, this downward movement was still within a
range which indicates wellbeing was reasonably stable for this group (72.3 percent
still in the high average to high range of covitality scores). This downward
movement may be explained by a number of factors. While a range of factors may be
at play, the following discussion will focus on: developmental changes (including
self-esteem issues, depression, and transition to secondary school), challenges
associated with being a Year 9 student (labelled the Year 9 factor), and reference bias
(the notion that as one’s awareness of a construct increases, one may rate oneself less
favourably in the area). To begin, the discussion will focus on the developmental
changes faced by adolescents.
6.3 DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES
Self-Esteem issues. 6.3.1
The belief-in-self construct was the only construct that had a very slight downward
trend of .15 between Time 1 and 2. There was a slight mean rise of 0.31 for
belief-in-others, 0.29 for emotional competence, and .25 for engaged living.
Additionally, there was an increase of .71 in the covitality score. This indicates that
participants stayed relatively stable in this domain from the start of their transition
year (Year 8) to the end of their transition year. However, between the start of the
following year (Year 9) and the end of this year, there was a small decline in this
domain (6.31) which, while a drop, is still a small variance. It does however, point to
something happening for the participants in this year, and this disturbance was
puzzling for the researcher. The main changes in scores occurred between Time 1
and Time 3. The largest effect size was 4.37 for belief-in-others. Belief-in-others as
discussed in Chapter 5 occurs for adolescents when they feel cared for across peer,
school, and family contexts. It has been conceptualized as comprising three
components: peer support, school support, and family coherence. The changes for the
other three elements (Belief-in-self 1.60, emotional competence 0.37, and engaged
living 2.35) were considered to be of minor effect size.
The period of early adolescence for females corresponds with the transition from
primary to secondary school (except for those students who attend K-12 schools,
where they remain on the same campus for the duration of their schooling). It is
difficult to isolate variables that may account for this drop in Year 9; however
research shows that a peak in self-esteem can occur for some girls at the end of
primary school, followed by a dip in early adolescence, with a return soon after. This
is in contrast to what researchers report about adolescent males, with boys reporting
higher self-esteem than girls at the same age (Rosenberg & Simmons, 1975;
Simmons & Blyth, 1987). Research shows that for some adolescent females,
self-esteem can peak at ages 10 to 12, then dip markedly in early adolescence from
ages 13 to 14, then return to a pre-adolescent levels after 14 years of age (Eccles, et
al., 1993; Galambos, et al., 2004). Research has established that for some early
adolescent females (aged 12 to 14) this can be a time of self-image disturbance. This
is supported by a number of studies.
For example, Roeser et al. (2008) found that self-esteem was shown to dip markedly
for girls around early adolescence at 13 to 14 years of age (Roeser, et al., 2008).
Other researchers also identified negative changes in self-esteem among girls during
early adolescence (Chaplin, et al., 2009). Not only self-esteem, but negative changes
in self-consciousness have been found among girls during early adolescence
(Galambos, 2004; Graber & Sontag, 2004; Peterson, Compas, et al., 1993). While
there is a body of research that shows a dip in self-esteem for early adolescent
females, the evidence shows that the disruption is minor, temporary, and there is
recovery from the decrease later in the year, and a steady increase in self-esteem
through remaining adolescence (Eccles, et al., 1993; Rosenberg, 1979; Simmons,
Rosenberg, & Rosenberg, 1973). This is in contrast to what happens for boys’ levels
of self-esteem during adolescence (Block & Robins, 1993). Studies have typically
found that males have a higher self-esteem than females, particularly during
adolescence. A recent meta-analysis of self-esteem studies supported this conclusion,
showing a modest, yet significant difference between male and female self-esteem (d
= 0.21) (Kling, et al., 1999). Overall, there is conflicting evidence among researchers
on the development and significance of self-esteem in early adolescence. Some
studies show a dip in self-esteem in early adolescence for girls (Simmons, et al.,
1973), while other studies show no significant change for girls at this time
(Nottlemann, 1987). In the current study, the data reflects a dip in self-esteem for
females in the early adolescent period.
This drop was supported by the quantitative data that emerged in this study, showing
high levels of covitality throughout the first year (transition year) of secondary
school, following the departure from primary school, and for girls this is a peak
period in self-esteem. This could be a result of social positioning, in that 11 to 12
year olds in primary school are at the top of the social ladder age-wise and enjoy a
prestigious position as the leaders of the school (Waters, et al., 2012). This changes
dramatically the following year where they are at the bottom of the social ladder as
the youngest in the school and no longer hold a prestigious position as school
leaders. Research has shown that, after controlling for factors of race, socioeconomic
status, and academic achievement, 12 year olds in secondary school had greater
disturbances in self-image (i.e., lower self-esteem, higher self-consciousness and less
stable self-image) than 12 year olds in elementary (primary) school (Simmons, et al.,
1973).
In summary, recent evidence supports that self-esteem is dynamic and changing
rather than a static construct (James, 1983; Rosenberg, 1979). It appears that
self-esteem amongst adolescent girls is more sensitive to issues such as transition to
secondary school, stressful life events, and changes in body image due to the onset of
puberty (Dweck, Davidson, Nelson, & Enna, 1978). It would seem that for some of
the participants in the study their self-esteem could have been affected by the factors
mentioned above, the transition to secondary school, as well as physical changes due
to puberty. As the largest drop in scores between Time 1 and Time 3 was for the
belief-in-others construct, this group of participants may also have experienced
challenges in relation to peers, school, and family. This may be linked to self-esteem
and, while this group transitioned successfully to secondary school, something
changed for them in the year following the transition year. Additionally, it would be
difficult to isolate particular factors causing the drop, as a combination of factors
such as the transition process and puberty may have contributed.
Depression rates. 6.3.2
Another possible explanation for the downward trend in the data from Time 2 to
Time 3 is that females in adolescence experience downward slides in self-esteem and
related areas such as confidence and optimism (Roeser, et al., 2008), and an upward
trend in depression scores from issues such as body image, struggle for
independence, and academic pressures (Galambos, 2004). A recent Australian
Federal Government Survey of over 6,300 Australian families with children and/or
adolescents aged four to 17 years revealed increasing rates of depression, self-harm,
and suicidal thoughts in teenagers (Lawrence, et al., 2015). These rates are
disturbing, with approximately one in ten teenagers indicating that they have
engaged in self-harming behaviour, and one in thirteen (7.7%) adolescents aged 11 to
17 years met the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder in the
previous 12 months. Major depressive disorder was more common in females and
older adolescents, affecting 7.2 percent of males and 19.6 percent of females aged 16
to 17 years. One fifth (19.9%) of adolescents had very high or high levels of
psychological distress, which was almost twice as high for females at 25.9 percent
compared with 14.8 percent for males (Lawrence, et al., 2015).
These statistics suggest that female adolescents suffer from disturbing rates of
depressive disorders and psychological distress. Strategies and programs need to be
explored to help reduce these rates. There is nascent research indicating that teaching
positive psychology constructs to adolescents can have a positive effect on their
wellbeing, and this research continues to grow (Green, et al., 2011; Norrish & Vella-
Broderick, 2009; Seligman, et al., 2009; Waters, 2011). Increased wellbeing
contributes to more positive mood, which assists in preventing depression (Bolte, et
al., 2003). Experiencing positive mood helps develop better coping strategies and
builds resilience. In particular, there is consistent evidence that females experience
emotions intensely and are also more susceptible to negative moods such as feeling
anxious and sad, and they are also more vulnerable to experiencing depression and
anxiety (Gaffney, 2011; Lyubomirsky, 2007). The Pos-Ed program is a positive
psychology program aimed at increasing wellbeing for adolescent females, which
can possibly act as a buffer to help reduce the rising depression rates in adolescent
females. This can be achieved by teaching them strategies to experience more
positive mood and coping strategies as mentioned above, and these strategies are
taught in the Pos-Ed program.
Transition to secondary school. 6.3.3
The transition to secondary school has been identified as a time where two
simultaneous major transitions occur: the transition from primary to secondary
school, and the transition from childhood to adolescence. As stated in Chapter 2 of
this study, there are rapid physical, cognitive and social changes occurring at this
time, and girls are more affected than boys by the physical rather than the cognitive
and social changes (Eccles, et al., 1991). A recent Australian study (Table 6.4),
undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in 2014
found that female adolescents were less likely to report a positive transition
experience than males (Waters, et al., 2014). This study investigated what primary
school students worried about in relation to transitioning to secondary school and
how their expectation predicted their actual experience. The sample consisted of
2078 students aged 12 to 13 years enrolled in 20 Perth (Australia) metropolitan
Catholic secondary schools. These students were invited to complete two surveys six
months apart, the first at the end of Year 7, and the second in Term 1 of Year 8. As
shown in Table 5.4, female adolescents found the transition experience more difficult
than the boys did. This was in contrast to the data showing that both boys and girls
had similar expectations about the transition (Waters, et al., 2014).
Table 6.4
Transition Expectation and Experience by Gender as a Percentage of the Sample as Adapted
from Waters et al. (2014)
Male Female (n = 480) (n = 552) Transition expectation
Difficult 10.6 10.9
Somewhat difficult 19.2 22.3
Somewhat easy 28.8 24.5
Easy 20.2 16.8
Don’t know 21.3 25.5
Transition experience
Difficult 7.1 10.2
Somewhat difficult 12.7 19.1
Somewhat easy 19.1 21.1
Easy 53.7 43.5
Don’t know 7.4 6.1
There is evidence to show that successful transition to secondary school is linked to
higher levels of wellbeing. A successful transition is important as it can have far
reaching implications later in schooling, with those who transition poorly being
shown to have higher levels of victimisation, depression, anxiety, and loneliness as
compared to those who transition well (Waters, et al., 2014). The success of any
transition involves the process of coping with change, which involves adolescents
being able to be resilient. The skills and strategies taught in Pos-Ed are designed to
strengthen the capacity of students to cope with the change to secondary school.
In considering data from the current study, it reveals that for the duration of the
transition year, the scores were in the high range. At Time 1, 1.3% were in the low
range of covitality, 16.1% were in the low average range, and 82.6% were in the high
or high average range. At Time 2, 1.6% girls were in the low range of covitality,
10.5% were in in the low average range, and 87.9% were in the high or high average
range. This indicates that the participants were predominantly in the high range at
both points in time. There was even a slight rise of 5.3% in covitality between Time
1 and 2. For the participants in the current study, the data shows a successful
transition to secondary school with covitality scores slightly increasing at the end of
this year. In examining the data, it can be argued the transition to secondary school in
Year 8 for the participants in the study was a positive experience. It can also be
argued that the Pos-Ed program is one of the factors that contributed to the transition
year being a successful one, where participants maintained positive wellbeing levels.
It is also possible that the Pos-Ed program assisted in maintaining high levels of
wellbeing during the transition year, and acted as a preventative factor buffering
against the development of mental health issues. Furthermore, it can also be
suggested that the Pos-Ed program is acting as a protective factor against these
mental health issues. In contrast, the second year of secondary school offers different
challenges to students. What will be examined in the following section is what
occurred for participants in Year 9. The drop in scores occurred in this year, and
therefore the researcher identified this year as the ‘Year 9 factor’.
6.4 CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH BEING A YEAR 9 STUDENT: THE YEAR 9 FACTOR
There is a downward trend for each of the four constructs and covitality between
Time 2 (end of transition year, Year 8) and Time 3 (end of Year 9), which can be
seen in Table 6.2. Participants during this time were between 13 and 14 years of age.
This drop is not dramatic and can be considered in the low to moderate range, with
overall scores remaining stable. However, Year 9 is a time when girls have to meet
other challenges related to their wellbeing.
What happens for students in Year 9 is not a subject that has been widely researched
in the literature, in comparison to research available on the impact of transition to
secondary school on adolescents. For Year 9 students (approximately 14 years of
age), the transition to secondary school is no longer a challenge or concern to them,
as they have already navigated this milestone in their lives and have completed the
‘settling in’ process to secondary school. These students have moved beyond the
transition process to face new and different challenges as they progress through
adolescence. In Year 9, generally speaking, it is difficult for teachers to engage and
motivate students using traditional models of teaching and learning (Bissett,
unpublished). This challenge for teachers was documented recently in an education
magazine with the author asserting that Year 9 is a time where many become
disengaged and develop a contemptuous view of education (Gazzola, 2016). The
researcher labelled this change as the ‘Year 9 factor’.
As they move further into adolescence, after navigating the transition year,
adolescents continue to gain independence from their parents and teachers while
developing more supportive relationships with their peers (Ausubel, Montemayor, &
Svajian, 1977; Muuss, 1975; Soenens et al., 2007). Developmentally, students in
Year 9 are emerging as more complex thinkers and are able to apply logical
reasoning processes. They are more flexible and have the capacity to regulate their
learning and to expand and organize their thinking in more complex ways than they
could in primary school (Bellhouse, 2004). It is highly likely that the participants in
the current study were facing developmental changes as they entered the second year
of the Pos-Ed program.
As the participants were asked whether they were exposed to any form of positive
psychology during their primary school years, and all responded they had not, it can
be assumed that the exposure to the Pos-Ed program in their transition year to
secondary school was their first experience of positive psychology and a positive
education program. They were exposed to the program in their transition year and, as
they continued with the program, further brain development as part of adolescence
helped them internalize what they were taught and enabled them to think about how
they could fit these ideas into their own lives. Initially though, there may have been
some reduction of uptake of these ideas (Pendergast, 2005). This could be attributed
to the fact that, as they continued to develop cognitively in Year 9, they also began to
critically analyse how they really felt about what they were being taught (Bellhouse,
2004).
In relation to the current study, as the participants knew nothing about positive
psychology prior to being exposed and made aware of the concepts, it is plausible to
consider that this made their reporting of wellbeing more stringent. This could
account for the small drop in scores. Then, as they worked on enhancing and
experimenting with these variables in their lives, and as awareness and understanding
of them grew, their scores in covitality could rise. Research shows that this rise in
covitality scores will usually occur from age 15 or Year 10 onwards (Simmons, et al.,
1973). This also coincides with the research that reveals the disturbance in
self-esteem for girls is temporary and returns to pre-adolescent levels from year 10
onwards (Galambos, et al., 2004). The results of the research reported here seem to
follow this pattern of starting high, then dipping, so it is possible that a rise could
follow. Unfortunately, a longitudinal design with greater reach is necessary to
determine with any certainty and was, unfortunately, outside the scope of this study.
Reports and evidence on the characteristics and developmental needs of students in
Year 9 reveal that these students form a very diverse and challenging group.
Research in Australia shows that adolescents do not progress from the transition
period, Year 8, to more independence in Year 9 in the same way or at the same rate,
and need to be supported through these times of not only potential and promise but
also frustration and uncertainty (Cole, Mahar, & Vindurampulle, 2006). It is not
surprising then, that Year 9 is a difficult year for teachers and students as the
developmental needs of students are changing. With this occurring, the traditional
models of learning and teaching are not necessarily engaging the majority of Year 9
students successfully (Bissett, unpublished). It can be argued that these challenges in
Year 9 can lead to a decline in resilience for some students, as they become aware of
the limitations of their academic abilities and this affects their self-esteem. For
female adolescents in Year 9, it is not only this awareness of their academic abilities,
but also a disturbance in their self-esteem generally that can impact on their
wellbeing. Given these two factors, the researcher believes it is not surprising that the
participants in the current study experienced a drop in covitality in Year 9.
A decline in resilience for this age group is also supported by evidence in a report
which reveals findings from a survey on Australian students’ own perceptions of
resilience. The findings indicate that resilience levels declined significantly from
Years 5 and 6 to Year 9, and this low resilience score during the middle years could
be attributed to Year 9 students becoming more aware of the limitations of their
academic abilities (Pendergast, 2005). Geelong Grammar School, which is regarded
as a flagship school in the area of positive education, explicitly teaches resilience
skills to Year 7 and Year 9 students. In particular, Year 9 students undertake
comprehensive resilience training during their time at Timbertop, a fully residential
boarding campus in the Victorian Highlands, Australia. As stated by Norrish (2015),
in Positive Education, The Geelong Grammar School Journey, explicit teaching of
positive psychology in the classroom for Year 9 students plays a critical role in
supporting the students as they manage adversity at Timbertop in a positive and
dynamic way.
Adolescents are already experiencing profound changes and have to rely on their
problem solving skills to deal with all these challenges: physiological and emotional
changes; establishing new peer networks; developing thinking skills; and coming to a
realisation about their academic abilities. If adolescents are not effective in dealing
with the stresses, or using effective coping skills, associated with these challenges,
they may develop mental health problems such as depression or anxiety that can
result in negative outcomes academically and developmentally (Cole, et al., 2006).
Some argue that if adolescents are taught coping skills, their belief about their
capacity to cope and their positive emotional experiences may be enhanced. There
are some researchers who claim there is a need to intervene in the education of
adolescents at about Year 9 level to capture students’ attention (Bellhouse, 2004).
Recently the Department of Education and Communities (DEC) in New South Wales
(NSW) released a wellbeing framework where schools are required to have a planned
approach to wellbeing in place. This is based on the approach that teaching and
learning and the development of wellbeing are now considered as parallel, integrated
and complementary processes. As the Pos-Ed program aims to enhance wellbeing
and teach skills in resilience, it can be argued this program is effective in preventing
further slides in depression, anxiety, and mental health disorders for the Year 9
participants in the study. The small changes in scores for covitality may reflect the
positive impact of the Pos-Ed program.
Another consideration in this study is the nature of the participant responses in the
quantitative survey. In particular, in this study exploring wellbeing, there are many
variables which relate to wellbeing, and participants in responding to questions
relating to their wellbeing will use some frame of reference to answer the questions,
and this can be explained as ‘reference bias’.
6.5 REFERENCE BIAS
As mentioned earlier in Chapter 4, there are many variables associated with
wellbeing that can be influenced by social context. Reference bias can be described
as a tendency for survey responses to be influenced by social context. It is difficult to
measure all the variables in support of academic success and long-term life
outcomes, as variables that are not related to cognitive success are not easy to
measure reliably. Variables not related to cognitive success have been labelled by
some as ‘non-cognitive’ skills which include a large group of personal qualities and
wellbeing skills including self-control, grit, growth mindset, and many others.
(Duckworth & Yeager, 2015). These variables are typically assessed during
self-report measures, and self-report measures such as questionnaires have
limitations.
Reference bias was first documented in cross-cultural psychology. In studies of
distinct societies, data from self-report surveys often contrast with conclusions made
by cultural experts (Peng, Nisbett, & Wong, 1997). A simple example is, when
considering whether ‘I am a hard worker’ should be marked ‘very much like me’, a
participant must imagine an image of ‘a hard worker’, and then compare his or her
habits. One participant with high standards may consider a hard worker someone
who does all of their homework, whereas another participant with lower standards
may consider a hard worker someone who brings the homework home and attempts
to complete it, but may not fully complete it (West et al., 2015). What is possible is
that reference bias can impact on quantitative data measuring non-cognitive skills
due to the diverse social contexts of the participants.
A recent study in the United States measuring students’ non-cognitive skills and the
impact of schooling used self-report surveys to gather information on a broad range
of non-cognitive skills from 1,368 Year 8 students attending Boston public schools.
The researchers then linked this information to administrative data on their
demographics and test scores. What emerged from this study was that findings about
school impact on non-cognitive skills based on self-reports may be misleading due to
reference bias occurring from differences in school climate (West, et al., 2015).
In the current study, it was plausible that reference bias may have been experienced
by some of the participants in the self-report surveys, and this could account for the
small drop in scores. This is due to participants completing self-reports using their
own frame of reference which can differ dramatically across participants (Heine,
Lehman, Peng, & Greenholtz, 2002). In addition, it is plausible that as the
adolescents learnt more about positive psychological constructs and their wellbeing
over time, they may have judged themselves more harshly. Kruger and Dunning
(1999) argue that the more competent a person is in a given domain, the more
stringently he or she tends to judge himself or herself (Kruger & Dunning, 1999). As
a result, the more students came to know and apply positive psychological practices
to their wellbeing, the more harshly they may have judged their own abilities. In
pursuing a multi-methods approach to increase reliability and validity, the researcher
selected a suitable research method, yet this is an area which other researchers have
suggested needs improvement in the suite of performance tasks available for program
evaluation and practice improvement (Duckworth & Yeager, 2015).
6.6 SUMMARY
This chapter examined the results of the quantitative data gathered to examine the
impact of the Pos-Ed program for adolescent females at three different time points.
The instrument used was the 36 item Social Emotional Health Scale-Secondary
(SEHS-S) which provided a number of subscale scores and a total covitality score.
The scores showed an upward movement by the end of Year 8 and then a downward
movement in Year 9 (although still within an acceptable range). This downward
movement may be explained by a number of factors such as developmental changes
(include self-esteem issues, depression, and the transition to secondary school), the
Year 9 factor, and reference bias. The following chapter examines the qualitative
data gathered from two focus groups which occurred at two different points in time.
Chapter 7: Analysis of Focus Groups
7.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter details the process of undertaking focus group interviews with students
who shared their experiences of the Pos-Ed program, as well as the analysis of the
results. There were two focus groups conducted at different points in time for this
study. This approach allowed for tracking of participants over two years of the
Pos-Ed program, the transition year to high school (Year 8) and the following year
(Year 9). Participants at this time will have experienced the whole transition
experience to secondary school as well as two full years of the Pos-Ed program. The
first focus group interview occurred in February 2014, before participants began the
second year of the program. The second focus group was conducted at the end of
Year 9, the end of their second year of the Pos-Ed program. In Focus Group 2, the
moderator noticed there were more comments that were not able to be identified with
a particular participant, so these comments are noted as ‘student unidentified’. This
was due partly to the discussion flowing more quickly and freely than in Focus
Group 1, and the moderator was unable to quickly name each participant who was
speaking. Also, the students did not readily use the names of other students when
reflecting or responding to their comments. This chapter provides details of the
methods and processes used for conducting the focus groups as well as providing the
results.
7.2 DATA ANALYSIS TIME 1
The data that was analysed consisted of the transcript of the focus group, the
students’ written responses to the questions and the researcher’s notes. The notes
taken by the researcher were used as a measure to check alignment of the data
(Creswell, 2009). The researcher examined the transcript first and grouped the
information under topics, then looked at the written responses to check all
information had been accounted for, and lastly checked this against the notes taken
by the researcher. For Time One, no new information was gained by looking at the
student’s and researcher’s notes. All the information used came from the transcripts.
The analytic framework used to examine the data is the Key Concepts framework of
Krueger and Casey (2009). This framework focuses on identifying the key factors of
central importance as well as the key ideas that emerge. Within this framework there
may be other moderating factors that emerge, and these could assist the researcher in
understanding the bigger picture of what is happening for the participants. This
framework is useful as it allows the participants to share their understanding and
perspectives on a topic as well as their ideas, experiences and preferences. In this
way participants can help identify the key concepts.
The audiotaped recording of the focus group was transcribed professionally and the
researcher analysed this transcript by hand. A classic analysis approach was used to
identify themes and categorise results. This is a systematic approach which makes
analysis a visual and concrete process (Krueger & Casey, 2009). The transcriptions
were initially coded where information was grouped under headings. The researcher
used highlighter pens on a copy of the transcript to identify emerging themes, and a
different colour was used for each emerging theme. The researcher determined a
theme was emerging if comments in the transcript had more than three references to
it, by at least two of the participants. In deciding on the themes the researcher took
into consideration factors such as frequency, specificity, emotion and extensiveness.
After this was completed, the researcher cut out the colour coded sections and
grouped them together under themes on a large piece of cardboard. This was done
loosely with blu-tack to allow the researcher to view the information holistically, as
well as move pieces of information around to best fit under a theme. This process
also allowed the researcher to identify the similarities and differences with the
information presented. A numbering system was used on the cut out pieces of
transcript to identify frequency of a view. Information that was unusual, in that it did
not fit under a theme was placed in a category called ‘interesting and to come back
to’. The researcher then took a break from the data for several days to refocus
attention on the big picture. On return, the researcher looked again at the themes and
once satisfied with the grouping began the process of writing up the results.
7.3 RESULTS TIME 1
The researcher decided to organise the information under themes, rather than in
response to the seven questions, as the questions were designed as a tool to generate
information about the Pos-Ed program (Creswell, 2009). Five themes connected to
wellbeing were identified in the analysis: 1) gratitude; 2) strengths; 3) mindfulness;
4) savouring; and 5) transition. The theme of transition was further subdivided into
two issues: 5a) stress and homework; and 5b) focus and time management (Figure
7.1).
Figure 7.1. Themes that emerged in the focus group discussion at Time 1.
7.4 WELLBEING
Wellbeing is the overarching focus of this study, in particular, female adolescent
wellbeing. There is little consensus in the academic literature on the definition of
wellbeing, but as stated in Chapter 2, wellbeing for adolescents is about a sustained
emotional state as evidenced by positive mood, attitude, relationships, resilience,
self-optimisation and satisfaction with learning experiences (Roffey, 2012). In the
focus group the participants were asked to share their understanding of wellbeing.
From the responses, the understanding of wellbeing was about being happy with their
lives, and taking into consideration what others feel. One participant stated that
wellbeing was, “Like how you are, both physically and mentally, and sometimes
spiritually” (unidentified student). Another participant shared, “It was being in a safe
and comfortable position or state of mind” (unidentified student). It appeared that all
of the participants had a broad understanding of wellbeing, and that they generally
associated wellbeing with being happy.
As well as female adolescent wellbeing, another focus of this study is female
students in transition (early adolescence) to secondary school, as much of the
research points to a dip in self-esteem during this time (Galambos, 2004; Graber &
Wellbeing
Gratitude Strengths Mindfulness
Savouring Transition
Stress
& Homework
Focus &Time Management
Sontag, 2004; Peterson, Compas, et al., 1993). Following the sharing of their
understanding of wellbeing, participants were asked to share their experiences of the
Pos-Ed wellbeing program in their transition year, and several participants said that
the Pos-Ed program assisted them in adopting a positive approach to life:
You would walk out from Pos-Ed feeling good about yourself, and you
thought you had a great time, but during the course of that week you
started feeling that stress again, and that every single week or six days,
we would go back to Pos-Ed and it would just repeat the good feeling
(Participant B).
I really thought that without the Pos-Ed program and without all the
sessions that we did, I think I’d probably be really stressed because it
[high school] was a really big step up from primary school (Participant
C).
When asked whether the Pos-Ed program had helped them develop strategies to
assist their wellbeing, the participants highlighted the cognitive and emotional
strategies they experienced. These included: ways to reduce stress and not feel
overwhelmed; ‘writing things down you are grateful for’; ways to achieve balance
and have more time for oneself and taking time out; ‘having quiet time where they
can focus on their thoughts and breathing’ strategies to be a happier person; ‘being
able to recognise the things in my life I am grateful for’; strategies to focus more on
homework and then have more time for themselves in the long run; ‘looking forward
to things instead of being bogged down in homework’; and strategies to set goals and
then reward themselves; and ‘just having ten minutes break from homework’. These
examples are aligned with three of the constructs of this study: gratitude, savouring
and mindfulness. One of the participants talked about continuing to use the strategies
that were taught in Pos-Ed stating, “I’m definitely putting those strategies into
action” (Participant A). When asked if they noticed any changes in their wellbeing
since beginning the Pos-Ed program, participant E stated she “feels more relaxed”
(about school), and Participant B said, “Pos-Ed really helped me gain a sense of
[being] comfortable in class and comfortable around my peers and teachers.” Other
experiences shared by participants about wellbeing included: feeling more relaxed
and confident of doing things (Participant D) and feeling like a happier person
(Participant E). Five of the six participants reported noticing changes in their
wellbeing since beginning the Pos-Ed program. A positive comment was offered by
Participant C:
I think I’m a lot happier, and with the Pos-Ed program it’s kind of made
me not dread coming to school and getting even more homework and
assignments, and a lot more things to do, and not have that time for
myself, and I really think that it’s kind of, again with stress, I think it’s
really helped relieve that.
Another positive comment was shared by Participant A:
I think, yeah, it definitely helped me feel better about myself, but it also
made me feel like a better person for being able to recognise the good
things about others as well, so that made me feel good.
There was only one comment by Participant C about negligible changes in wellbeing,
“I think after you do Pos-Ed, you walk out feeling a happier person. I haven’t noticed
significant changes.” This was interesting in that this participant seemed to value
what was being done in Pos-Ed, but this did not seem to transfer to the participant’s
overall wellbeing.
Gratitude. 7.4.1
Gratitude is defined as an enjoyable experience that leads to feelings of happiness,
hope and satisfaction (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). For centuries, gratitude has been
regarded as an important factor influencing wellbeing (Emmons & McCullough,
2003; Gilman, et al., 2009). When discussing the Pos-Ed program with the students
in the focus group, a strong area of focus that emerged was gratitude. The construct
of gratitude threaded constantly throughout the entire discussion.
All six participants spoke positively about engaging in gratitude activities.
Participant E stated:
I liked doing the gratitude journal. I think that was a good thing every, like, [every
lesson], in the first ten minutes of Pos-Ed, always reflecting on what you’re grateful
for, you do forget about those things.
Most of the participants, in describing their experience of the program, reflected on
the ‘gratitude diary’ or the ‘gratitude tree’. There was some disparity as to which
they seemed to prefer. Two participants preferred working on the gratitude tree,
while at least three other participants enjoyed working in their gratitude diaries, and
one participant did not comment. The gratitude diary is an exercise where students
wrote privately and quietly in their diaries for a set period of time in the Pos-Ed
lesson. In contrast, the gratitude tree was an exercise done as a whole class, where
students made a gratitude tree and publicly displayed their thoughts of gratitude by
writing them on paper and pasting them as leaves on the tree. Participant D said:
“Well, I liked in [it] how the gratitude diary when you wrote things you were grateful
for, you had, like, the freedom to write whatever you wanted, because teachers
wouldn’t look at what you wrote, and you could set it out how you wanted to set it
out, and so it’s, like, your personal gratitude diary.” In contrast, Participant F said, “I
preferred the gratitude tree to the gratitude diary, just, like, seeing it visually and
seeing what everyone’s grateful [for], rather than keeping it private.”
Participants talked about gratitude being used as a strategy for dealing with stress.
Participant B stated:
Well, again, with all the stress from home and all that, you kind of got
to sit back and think about all the things you’re grateful for, and then
how the teachers put on that relaxing music and meditation and all that
kind of linked into the relaxation of not focusing on what you’ve got to
do, but focusing on what you have done before, and the things that
people have done for you.
This was also reflected in Participant D’s comment: “If you write down the things
that you are actually grateful for, then it can make you feel better.” In general, the
participants identified that the strategies associated with gratitude (relaxation time,
music, gratitude diary and tree) assisted their wellbeing, helped to relieve stress, and
made them happier. Participant A identified gratitude as contributing to changes in
her personal wellbeing, “Probably being able to recognise the things in my life that
I’m grateful for, and that’s what Pos-Ed [has] taught me, and that’s helped me to
become a happier person.”
Strengths. 7.4.2
Similarly to gratitude, the construct of strengths emerged as a constant area of focus
throughout the discussion. Strengths can be defined as ways of thinking, feeling and
behaving that come naturally and easily to a person and that enable high functioning
and performance (Linley, et al., 2006). Strengths are proposed to have important
benefits for wellbeing (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). In the Pos-Ed program,
strengths refer to the 24 Values in Action (VIA) Character Strengths. All the
participants spontaneously recalled completing the VIA character strengths test as
part of the Pos-Ed program in their transition year. They recalled using the test
results to identify their top five strengths. Participant E commented that finding out
about her strengths was useful: “I liked finding out about your strengths, I thought
that was quite good.” When asked to elaborate, she said, “Yeah, and you’re always
focusing on what you’re bad at or ‘I can’t do this,’ and then you got to your
strengths, and you’re, like, ‘Oh, I can do that.’”
Three of the six participants (Participants A, E, and F) shared that they liked the
teachers telling them stories of inspirational people to start them thinking about
strengths. It appeared that the narrative technique used by teachers enabled students
to think about how they could use their strengths more fully. Participant F said that:
With the Pos-Ed teacher, if we were discussing a topic, the teacher
would always tell us a story that they had experienced to do with the
topic. And it would kind of show how that person who was dealing with
that topic kind of overcame it or sought help, or how he helped
someone about it, so it kind of encourage[d] us to do the same.
Participant E agreed, “It was kind of inspirational, maybe.” Participant A added that,
“Probably they were quite inspiring people, but you could think, oh well, if they can
do that, then I can do this.” It would appear that this strategy resonated strongly with
at least half the participants, getting them to make some significant links about their
strengths and the strengths of others, and generally how they can use their own
strengths.
Identifying strengths in inspirational people was juxtaposed with some discussion
about identifying strengths in each other. A focus on spotting strengths in the self and
in others helps individuals develop self-confidence and enrich social interactions
(Norrish, et al., 2013). Participant F suggested that, “Sometimes it was better if you
asked a friend what your strengths are, because friends see your strengths different to
what [how] you see them.” Linking strengths to the transition to secondary school
was raised by Participant D who said that exploring strengths at the beginning of the
year was helpful:
At the start of the Pos-Ed [program] when we were looking at strengths,
it helped you set out the year and how you did your work, like, I’m
good at this, so I can do my work so I can use my strengths into sorting
our assignments and stuff.
She elaborated further about how this made her feel: “At the start you’re nervous,
because it was going to be really hard, but if you know what you’re good at, then it
was easier and more comfortable when you got work, because you know that you
could get it done easier.” Participant B agreed with this view, as she thought
knowing about strengths helped her with “[g]etting things done, because I’m not
known to get things done quickly. I take a lot of time on homework and all that
stuff.” Teaching about strengths was an important part of the program.
Mindfulness. 7.4.3
Mindfulness was also a dominant theme in the discussion. The participants however,
did not use the term mindfulness; rather they called it various names (meditation,
sitting quietly, relaxation time). Teachers and students did not explicitly use the term
mindfulness during the Pos-Ed lessons. Teachers started the activity without directly
stating that they were engaging in a mindfulness activity. This was partly due to the
inexperience of some teachers using the positive psychology constructs, even though
they had been trained in these concepts. Mindfulness can be described as
purposefully paying non-judgemental attention to what one is actually experiencing
in the present moment. The objective is to welcome and accept the current state
including any emotions, thoughts, and perceptions (Kabat-Zinn, 2003).
In discussing mindfulness, the participants stated they found it useful in their lives.
Participants B and F identified this quiet time to be one of the helpful aspects of the
program. Participant F stated:
Probably just when we as a class, we, like, close our eyes and just kind
of relax for a while, and just focus on our breathing, and it’s, like, really
downtime to yourself, giving yourself downtime.
Participant B stated, “Well, I was going to say that it was time to reflect on yourself
because we don’t really get time to.” These reflections suggest that the participants
found that ‘having quiet time,’ where they could focus on their thoughts and
breathing which is mindfulness, is useful in their lives. When participants were asked
to describe their own experience of the Pos-Ed program, mindfulness emerged as a
positive experience for most of the participants.
Experiencing mindfulness activities in Pos-Ed at the beginning of the day assisted
students in setting themselves for up the day in a positive way, and this is how they
spoke about the experience of mindfulness in Pos-Ed. The following quote from
Participant C demonstrated this feeling:
At the start [of the day… it] kind of to prepared you for that [the day
ahead]. You had those couple of minutes to reflect on everything and
try and relieve the stress, so I really thought the meditation helped.
This participant elaborated further, “Well, when we had the meditation, I really
thought it was helping to take your mind off all the things that you were worrying
about,, like, exams, and that, yeah, that sort of stuff.” Mindfulness seemed to assist
participants in being relaxed at school, which prevented them from becoming
anxious and worried. Later in the discussion, Participant B identified mindfulness as
one of the aspects of the Pos-Ed program that helped her in the transition to
secondary school:
Just the sense of being relaxed in that environment, because of the
music that they played, that’s a small thing, but it did get you to be
more relaxed. But just the sense of feeling relaxed, made you feel more
relaxed about being around everyone.
The positive comments about mindfulness confirm that this construct is a useful
strategy in the Pos-Ed program that at least half the participants thought contributed
to their sense of wellbeing. In particular, mindfulness seemed to assist in helping
them feel less stressed and less overwhelmed.
Savouring. 7.4.4
Savouring is the practice that refers to our awareness of pleasure and our deliberate
attempt to be aware of it and make it last. Savouring has often been linked in the
psychological literature with mindfulness, as both are about living in the present
(Harris, 2011). As part of teaching savouring in the Pos-Ed program, teachers
explicitly taught the strategy of ‘rewarding’ oneself after focusing hard on work, or
achieving something, and this could be as insignificant as walking the dog after one
hour of homework. The reward of walking the dog could be viewed as a savouring
activity. Teachers in the Pos-Ed program did not explicitly use the term ‘savouring’,
rather they used the phrase ‘rewarding yourself’ with the Year 8 girls. The notion of
‘rewarding yourself’ is bringing attention to awareness of pleasure which is
savouring. In many regards teachers were teaching savouring and mindfulness
alongside each other.
Participants in the focus group did not use the term ‘savouring’, but they did talk
about ‘rewarding themselves’. The researcher interpreted references to ‘rewarding’
as savouring in this focus group. Five of the six participants identified the practice of
‘rewarding themselves’ as a useful strategy learnt in Pos-Ed to assist their wellbeing
as the following quotes demonstrate:
“Well, in Pos-Ed how they were always reminding you that your life is
not always about homework, like, how you have to have time for
yourself.” (Participant C)
“One of the strategies that came up for me in Pos-Ed was looking
forward to things, instead of being bogged down about the workload,
and go ‘Oh okay, after I have done this work I get to… [inaudible] a
thing coming up on the weekend like a party I could go to, so it made
me less bogged down in all the homework and happier.” (Participant E)
“So if you finished two of these subjects you would reward yourself
with something. And some of the things that would reward you was,
maybe 10 minutes to yourself, or reward you with maybe something
sweet or something like that, and that helps your wellbeing.”
(Participant B)
“Just going on from [Participant’s B’s] thing, I used that as a
motivation, like when I got home I tried to do my homework straight
away, so then I could get it all done, and then have some of the night
just to relax and be ready for school tomorrow and not be tired if I’m
doing that homework all night.” (Participant D)
“So going off [Participant’s B’s] point about rewarding yourself, or just
having 10 minutes of just a break from your homework, that kind of,
like, changed your look on homework. So before when you didn’t have
the rewards, you’d kind of look at it, oh, you’d be upset that you have
to do homework. But now, if you reward yourself, you look at it like,
‘Oh, let’s do that so I can have a reward,’ so it’s like you’re more happy
[happier] about doing it and you’re more excited to actually just get it
done.” (Participant F)
Participant B concurred with this comment and also confirmed, “I’d feel happier
about myself when I did get it done.”
What was evident here is that the participants viewed the ‘rewards’ (that followed the
completion of stressful school-related tasks) as contributing to their overall
wellbeing. The practice of rewarding oneself upon completion of work seemed to
assist in preventing stress related to homework. It emerged that five of the six
participants were regularly practising savouring throughout the year and they had
learnt this as part of the Pos-Ed program.
Another form of savouring that made participants feel happy was the activity of
receiving written affirmations at the conclusion of Pos-Ed for the year. This activity
consisted of every student in the class writing a positive comment about another
person in the class and placing it in a named envelope on the wall. Students were
encouraged to write affirmations to several students and place them in the envelopes.
Two of the participants stated they still had their affirmations from this exercise, with
one participant saying it was still up on her wall at home. One of the participants
could not recall this activity and thought she may have been absent at that time.
Almost all of the participants recalled this as a positive activity making them feel
happy. Participant E said, “It made you feel really, really good about yourself, and
see what other people’s take of yourself is.” The following was shared by Participant
A: “I think, yeah, it definitely helped me feel better about myself, but is also made
me feel like a better person for being able to recognise the good things about others
as well, so that made me feel good.”
Transition. 7.4.5
It was clear from the comments in the focus group that the transition from primary
school to secondary school was a significant milestone in the participants’ lives, and
one that caused them stress. A number of issues emerged about the transition to
secondary school and the researcher grouped these as: stress and homework; focus;
and time management. It also seemed clear that the strategies used by teachers in the
Pos-Ed program assisted the participants to deal with these challenges.
Stress and Homework.
The issue of stress emerged constantly throughout the discussion and seemed to be
linked strongly to homework. All participants acknowledged that the large amount of
homework caused them stress and, combined with the stress of being in the transition
year, both had a significant effect on their lives. Participant A explained that, “I was
becoming overwhelmed by things, because I just wasn’t used to it, because my
primary school was just so much different to the expectations here.” Participant C
said, “There was very little of, or any homework in primary school.” Participant C
revealed, “Oh well, there was no, there was probably about an hour a week, and
that’s about it. There was none at primary, hardly any.”
The researcher noticed all participants confirming this by nodding in agreement. This
was a significant revelation in the discussion. When the moderator asked all the
participants, “So what you’re saying is that in terms of homework it’s a big jump?”
all participants nodded in agreement. At least two of the participants thought this
stress was a cause for concern in relation to their emotional wellbeing: “I thought
stress was that we had just so much homework that we weren’t used to, and yes we
were getting overwhelmed, but we were getting overwhelmed to a stage where we
could start crying” (Participant B).
All participants felt that Pos-Ed assisted them to cope with homework stress.
Participant A talked about being overwhelmed by homework and stated that the
Pos-Ed program “helped me to reduce the stress, so as a result I was an overall
happier person.” Participant B stated, “Oh, there’s a lot of homework, and I’d be
very upset and down that I have to do it but, as [Participant F] said, it [Pos-Ed] really
helped me to get all my homework done, and I’d feel happier about myself when I
did get it done.” This participant elaborated further, and this point was confirmed by
another participant who said, “I think I’m a lot happier, and with the Pos-Ed program
it’s kind of made me not dread coming to school” (Participant C). Additional
agreement came from Participant D who said, “Well, it [Pos-Ed] makes me more
relaxed and confident that I can do things.”
The researcher found there was general consensus about homework being a
significant issue in their transition year. The participants said that with their six
subjects they were expected to complete 30 minutes of homework every night for
each subject, yet Participant C stated that “it’s more like 45 minutes or something”
on each subject. As well as homework being a constant stress throughout the week,
the participants talked about much of their weekends being consumed with
homework as well. The burden of homework was a topic which the participants felt
strongly about and which they identified as the source of stress. Most of the
participants in this group stated they were experiencing stress in the transition year
and Pos-Ed was assisting them to alleviate this stress.
There are clear links between stress and adolescent wellbeing, with girls
experiencing stress that is debilitating if continued over long periods, and on a
greater level than boys the same age, and depression emerging during early
adolescence for girls (Deak, 2010; Debold, 1995; Twenge & Nolen-Hoeksema,
2002). Developmental success during this period has implications throughout
adulthood (Gilman, et al., 2009). Throughout the discussion, Pos-Ed emerged as
helping students cope with the stresses associated with navigating the transition year
to secondary school, particularly as it offered strategies to help them undertake their
homework (focusing on what they could do well and rewarding themselves for work
done) and reduce the stress associated with homework. In this way, Pos-Ed assisted
students with their wellbeing by providing strategies to cope with the intense
emotional stress that most of the participants experienced at times during their
transitional year.
Focus and Time Management.
Focus and time management were two areas that were discussed in a minimal way as
part of what the participants experienced in the Pos-Ed program, and were related to
strategies they were learnt in Pos-Ed. Focus was a term which seemed to be
associated with their transition to secondary school. Participants wanted to improve
their ability to focus in order to manage their homework and school load, and in this
way focus was linked to time management. Participant D stated that what was being
taught in Pos-Ed helped students focus on their work, “Well, I feel like it keeps you
focused on what you’re doing and not getting distracted.” Participant A stated:
At the beginning of the year I wasn’t really taking a break every sort of
half an hour or something, so then I find [found] that my mind would
just be totally off track, because I’d been focusing on something for too
long.
It appeared that the workload in the first year of secondary school caused stress for
the participants and they felt pressured to remain focused to cope with this workload.
Most of the discussion seemed to associate the ability to focus with mindfulness and
taking time out for oneself. The participants reported that Pos-Ed lessons assisted
them in achieving a balance in their lives, which was also linked to their ability to
focus at school. Participant A stated, “Well, I got more time for myself if I could do
my homework and focus more, and then have more time for myself in the long run.”
There was also some discussion around time management issues. A number of
participants repeatedly talked about Pos-Ed helping them to take time for themselves.
They talked about the teachers in Pos-Ed teaching them about aiming to achieve a
balance in their lives. More than half the participants felt that Pos-Ed enhanced their
wellbeing through teaching them to take some time for themselves. Participant B
spoke about Pos-Ed helping her in this area, “All through Pos-Ed they taught you
how to do your time management.” This participant also stated:
If I didn’t have Pos-Ed and that little session of sometimes, of learning
how to manage your time well, I wouldn’t have ever finished an
assignment on time, or I would have been really struggling on finishing
homework and assignments by the due date.
Participant A said, “I thought Pos-Ed taught me to have more time for myself.” This
was shared by Participant F who also said that, “Pos-Ed was giving more time to
yourself.”
7.5 SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP 1
The purpose of the focus group was to gather information from the six participants
about their experiences of the Pos-Ed program in the transition year to secondary
school. The seven questions used in the focus group were aimed at developing
discussion and were useful to elicit information sharing among the participants about
their experiences of the program. Overall, the participants reported positive
responses, and all except one participant shared that the program contributed to their
wellbeing. Participants spoke about feeling happier, more relaxed, and balanced in
their lives through the experience of the Pos-Ed program.
Stress was experienced by all the participants in the transition to secondary school,
and the concepts taught in Pos-Ed appeared to assist them in coping with the stress. It
seemed that a significant contributor to this stress was homework, as many students
went from having almost no homework in primary school to large amounts of
homework in their transition year. Participants talked about the practice of rewarding
oneself (a form of savouring), and having quiet time (mindfulness), and stated that
they had been taught these strategies during the Pos-Ed program. These strategies
assisted them in to manage homework and decrease their stress in this area.
Participants spoke about the constructs of gratitude, strengths, savouring, and
mindfulness. These are four of the five constructs that comprise the Pos-Ed program
and the target of the study. The fifth construct of flow was not mentioned by the
participants. Even with this small gap in understanding, there was a strong response
from the participants that the Pos-Ed program contributed to their wellbeing in the
transition year, and they shared a number of strategies (such as taking breaks and
rewarding themselves after focusing for a set period of time, taking time for
themselves to do things they enjoyed, being grateful and expressing gratitude,
knowing and utilising their individual strengths) they developed as a result of the
program, with some students stating they would continue to use these strategies.
An identical process was used for writing up the results for the second focus group,
with the only difference being that this group had five of the original six participants,
and not the original six participants that the researcher had hoped for. The same six
participants involved in Focus Group 1 were invited to participate in Focus Group 2,
and five of the six responded affirmatively.
7.6 DATA ANALYSIS TIME 2
As with Focus Group 1, the researcher organised the information under themes,
rather than in response to the seven questions. Five themes connected to wellbeing
were identified in the analysis: 1) gratitude; 2) strengths (with a sub theme called
flow); 3) mindfulness; 4) savouring; and 5) transition. What also emerged in this
focus group was the issue of confidence, which was aligned closely with wellbeing.
Two participants spoke about confidence directly and one indirectly. In Figure 7.2,
the researcher placed ‘confidence’ alongside the overarching concept of wellbeing as
a side issue that emerged from the data.
Figure 7.2. Themes that emerged in the focus group discussion at Time 2.
7.7 WELLBEING
Similarly to the first focus group, the participants in the second focus group were
asked to share their understanding of wellbeing. From their responses, the
understanding of wellbeing was broad and holistic. Participant C stated, “It’s the
state of being physically, emotionally and mentally happy.” This participant also
added, “It’s important to take care of yourself well, then you’re sure to sort of
succeed in school.” A similar comment was offered by another participant, “It’s the
emotional and physical and spiritual, positive state of how someone is.” A similar
comment was shared by another participant, “I thought it was like positive health,
like, mental and physical health for your wellbeing” (unidentified student). These
comments on wellbeing were similar to the comments shared by participants in
Focus Group 1.
Following the sharing of their understanding of wellbeing, participants were asked to
share their experiences of the Pos-Ed wellbeing program over two years, their
transition year in Year 8 (2013) and their second year of secondary school, Year 9
(2014). Three participants shared that the guest speakers organised for Pos-Ed topics
in Year 9 were engaging and inspiring. One participant talked about the Positive
Purpose unit in Pos-Ed as useful and applicable in her own life: “I think that really
showed everyone that you do have, like, a purpose in life” (student unidentified).
Other responses shared about their experience of Pos-Ed included: the value of
mindfulness; the benefit of understanding personal strengths and how they work; and
the importance of having a sense of gratitude, all of which will be discussed in the
following paragraphs.
At Time 2, students had varied responses about strategies developed in Pos-Ed to
assist their wellbeing. Four of the five participants talked about aspects of the Pos-Ed
program they found helpful in relation to their wellbeing. Examples of strategies
talked about included: taking deep breaths to calm themselves down when feeling
stressed; stopping to think about something before acting; and using gratitude. These
examples aligned with two of the constructs of this study: mindfulness and gratitude.
Confidence. 7.7.1
When participants were asked to reflect on whether they had noticed any changes in
relation to their wellbeing over the two years of the Pos-Ed program, the responses
were interesting. A key area raised by the participants in response to this question
was the notion of confidence. Participant D stated that due to the strategies she learnt
in Pos-Ed, “I’ve become calmer and less stressed… noticing when you’re in flow
and when you’re not… and being grateful and recognising that you are always going
to get your things done”, and that this gave her confidence. When asked by the
researcher “So are these strategies giving you…” the participant replied,
“Confidence, yeah, that’s what it is, yeah.” It is important to note that the researcher
did not introduce the word confidence. This term entered the discussion via one of
the participants.
The term confidence was used by at least two of the five participants throughout the
discussion. Participant B used the term when talking about learning about her
strengths: “I think I have become more confident….more confident in yourself, I
guess.” This was also shared indirectly by Participant A when she talked about
self-awareness being a change she noticed in relation to her wellbeing as a result of
Pos-Ed, “Also, just like knowing yourself, and knowing how to take care of your
wellbeing and how to manage yourself, I guess.” There was one participant who was
ambivalent in relation to changes in her wellbeing as a result of the Pos-Ed program,
“I don’t think I’ve noticed any major changes [to the others, I don’t know]. I mean
maybe I have changed but I just haven’t really noticed” (Participant C).
Gratitude. 7.7.2
Once again gratitude emerged as a theme that was spoken about the most by
participants. The construct of gratitude threaded constantly throughout the entire
focus group discussion. There was acknowledgement by participants that they
experienced gratitude exercises in every Pos-Ed lesson: “We do so much on
gratitude, like most Pos-Ed lessons” (Participant B). This participant went on to say,
“So you start, like, thinking about, like, what you’re grateful for and it’s, like, helped
you, like, put that into your daily life, like, what you’re grateful for each day.” Two
of the five participants spoke about gratitude as being a most useful aspect of the
program. One participant said, “I think that gratitude was really helpful because you
got to, like, take time to reflect on things that you’re grateful for” (unidentified
student). Another participant shared, “I think that gratitude, because we do it early in
the morning, it’s a good way to start the day, and so it helps you to be calm for the
rest of the day” (unidentified student).
In contrast, two participants spoke about repetition associated with the gratitude
dairy as a least useful aspect of the program, one said:
Yep, all the time I just found it like…..a bit repetitive and it’s, like,
some people would just be, like, food, shelter and sometimes I had to
find myself writing down those things as well (unidentified student).
Another participant said, “Yeah, I kind of agree” (unidentified student). They spoke
about the repetitive nature of the comments in their gratitude diaries, writing similar
entries each time they had to write in their diaries in Pos-Ed. Another participant
reflected, “They kind of write the same thing over and over again” (unidentified
student). When the researcher stated that it was sounding like they were doing a very
similar thing each time they wrote in their gratitude diaries, there was general
agreement from all five participants. One participant made a suggestion about the use
of the gratitude diary, “I think maybe if the questions we were asked had been more
varied each session and that could have been more helpful” (unidentified student). At
the end of the focus group, one participant offered a suggestion to vary the gratitude
exercises saying, “Every Pos-Ed lesson do, like, a different one, so it’s not so
[repetitive]” (unidentified student).
While two of the five participants spoke about the repetitive nature of the gratitude
exercises and offered suggestions for improvement, three of the five participants
spoke positively about gratitude itself. Participant B stated, “I guess it (Pos-Ed) helps
you become more grateful for things.” Another participant said, “Yeah, I, like, agree
with that” (unidentified student). Another participant said, “It’s been pretty useful”
(unidentified student). Taken together, participants experienced gratitude as a useful
strategy to assist their wellbeing.
When asked if participants noticed any changes related to their wellbeing since the
beginning of the Pos-Ed program, two participants spoke about gratitude. One
participant stated, “So since the Pos-Ed program, I think that everyone has been able
to stop and think about what it is they’re actually grateful for” (unidentified student).
Still related to noticing changes in their wellbeing, when asked if there were any
strategies in the Pos-Ed program that helped them a participant stated, “I think being
grateful and recognising that you are always going to get your things done. I think I
sort of doubt that I’m going to finish something” (unidentified student).
Gratitude was a positive psychology construct that at least half of the participants
were using beyond the classroom in their personal lives. In this second focus group,
some participants made connections between an awareness of gratitude and putting
gratitude into action. Emerging literature on gratitude focuses on two aspects of
gratitude: a personal awareness of gratitude and expressing gratitude through actions
(Howells, 2012). Participants talked about the Pos-Ed initiative of putting gratitude
into action through a community service action project, where over a period of ten
weeks they were issued a volunteer card and were required to enter details of any
community service they completed. This was a ‘gratitude in action’ project in the
Pos-Ed program, focused on during the Positive Purpose Unit. One participant found
this useful, “The positive purpose unit makes you stop and think every once in a
while what you can do, and sometimes you can, like, sometimes go do those sort of
activities that will help and benefit others" (unidentified student). Another participant
shared a different view:
The positive purpose unit, I found really, like, pressuring I suppose,
although, like, the community service was rewarding in a way, but I
think that is was kind of like, it wasn’t us that wanted to do that in the
beginning, I think that it was more of a pressuring thing, and so it
wasn’t rewarding as it would be if we got [to choose whether or not to
do it] (unidentified student).
When the researcher asked whether they put gratitude into their daily lives, two
participants responded: Participant B replied, “Yeah, because you, like, begin to
think about it and what you have and what others don’t have” and another
(unidentified) student said, “Yeah, I, like, agree with that.”
Strengths. 7.7.3
Strengths emerged as a construct that was positively acknowledged by all
participants. When asked to comment on the most useful aspect of the Pos-Ed
program, there was general agreement that they found the work on strengths useful:
At the start we did that survey and we found, like, our five top
strengths, and so that can, like, help us with, like, putting them into like
our study that we can. If it’s, like, determination or something and you
can, like, know that you’re determined and, like, helps you, like, figure
out how using your strength you can make things easier. (unidentified
student)
When asked whether they had developed any strategies to assist with their wellbeing
over the two years of the Pos-Ed program, four of the five participants nominated
strengths as a strategy. One participant stated:
I just think again, with the strengths, I think if you find something very
difficult, you can reflect on the strengths you have, and put them into
practice, so then something will become easier and you can get it done
faster, yep, and just adding to that as well, I can’t remember who said it,
but they told us, like, rather do things that you actually enjoy doing,
than doing stuff that just you feel, like, you have to do. (unidentified
student)
As well as strengths being talked about as a useful strategy, a number of participants
talked about strengths being connected to flow and how they could use this outside
of school. One participant stated, “Well, I suppose it [kind] of relates to flow then, if
you use your strengths and then you find something challenging you will go further”
(unidentified student). Participant C then commented that, “Yeah, well, like, you
know they taught us in Pos-Ed about flow. It’s, like, you do something that you can
do, so that you’re good at, I suppose, but then also something, like, that is
challenging you.” This participant stated she saw a connection between strengths and
flow she could use in her life outside of school: “I suppose, well, say in, like,
university with your work and you choose a field that you’ve got a strength in but
then it’s also challenging, so you get flow, and then you succeed.” Another
participant agreed with this view, and went on to comment further that she could use
strengths and flow in choosing subjects at school: “I suppose choosing subjects…
yeah, they’ve told us a fair few times to do what you love and what you’re good at,
and I think that connects to flow” (unidentified student).
As well as linking strengths to flow, Participant B spoke about strengths giving her
confidence, and this comment was in response to the question about noticing any
changes in their wellbeing since the beginning of the Pos-Ed program. She identified
this as a change she noticed in her wellbeing:
I think maybe I’ve become, like, more confident,, like, with learning
my five strengths you can put them to use, because in, like, a new year,,
like, it’s going to be, like, harder, so a bit unsure but, like, when you
know what you’re good at, you can put that to use and then become
more confident in yourself, I guess.
At the very end of the focus group when participants were asked if there were any
final comments they wanted to offer about the program, one participant made a
suggestion about doing the strengths test more often. She commented:
Personally for me, I think it would’ve been helpful to do one of those
strengths test, maybe at the end of each term, not the beginning of each
term so that we could see how we’ve changed. I think I would’ve liked
to do that. (unidentified student)
Mindfulness. 7.7.4
Mindfulness, after gratitude, was the next most discussed theme throughout the entire
second focus group. As with Focus Group 1, the participants referred to mindfulness
as meditation, sitting quietly, and relaxation time. Participants in this focus group
spoke confidently about mindfulness and its usefulness in their lives, including
outside of school.
When asked about the most useful aspects of the program, two participants stated
that they found mindfulness a most useful aspect of the program. One participant
stated, “I also thought the, like, self-massage, like, the meditative kind of thing, it
just, like, relaxes everyone and kind of puts them in a positive state” (unidentified
student). Another participant stated, “I found it really useful. Like even just, like, the
little things, like, taking deep breaths, I’ve used that sometimes outside of school”
(unidentified student). One participant talked about being stressed at times and using
the strategy of mindfulness to cope with the stress. She said, “If something is
becoming overwhelming, you can, like, stop and think about it and not get all
stressed, you can just stop and then, like, be mindful [of] it and calm down”
(unidentified student). Participant C spoke about mindfulness in response to being
asked to comment on the experience of the program over the last two years. She said:
They give you time to, like, stop and just think about yourself and, like,
your wellbeing, instead of just, like, thinking about lots of things, so
you kind of just stop and think about where you’re at… and then, like,
the mindfulness activities, I think, like, if you already have, like, a little
bit of a bad morning or something’s, like, happened the night before
and you’re in, like, a bit of an upset mood or like, I don’t know,
miserable state kind of thing, I think it’s better to use the mindfulness
activity, like, personally, because it just relaxes you instead of, like,
having to think and actually write down something if you’re, like, in a
bad mood, it may not help.
Mindfulness emerged strongly as a strategy the participants said they would use in
the future to assist with their wellbeing. In response to the question asking if they had
developed any strategies to assist with their wellbeing as a result of the program,
three participants spoke about mindfulness, stating they were either using
mindfulness, would continue to use it, or may use it in the future. One participant
stated, “I just think that the mindfulness, I would use that personally through my
schooling and after that… I think it’s definitely helped me” (unidentified student).
Another participant said, “I think I’ll definitely continue, like, the mindful and
meditation exercises, which is, I found… I found them really good to just, like, calm
down, just relax.” This participant further stated, “I suppose I’ll try it in the future to
make it a regular part of my life because I think it is really useful” (unidentified
student). Participant A stated, “I was just going to say, but also, like, the
mindfulness, I’d use it, because it makes you aware of, like, your emotions and, like,
how you’re feeling, so you kind of, like, can adjust to the situation you’re in.”
At the end of the focus group when participants were asked for any final comments,
two of the five participants talked about mindfulness. One participant confirmed
learning about mindfulness in Pos-Ed saying, “I think we learnt, like, how to be in
the moment.” Another participant offered a suggestion, “Instead of always starting
with, like, the gratitude diary in the morning, maybe also you just go back to
mindfulness” (unidentified student). As stated above, mindfulness was a constant
theme throughout this focus group.
Savouring. 7.7.5
Savouring was a construct that featured only in a minor way throughout this focus
group. As with Focus Group 1, participants used the phrase ‘rewarding yourself’
when discussing savouring. When the researcher asked the participants whether they
had experienced savouring in the program, all participants replied no, but they did
comment on the strategy of ‘rewarding oneself’. One participant talked about
‘rewarding yourself’ after finishing something as a strategy she learnt in Pos-Ed to
assist her wellbeing. She said, “Reward yourself after you’ve done something, so I
found that, like, good, like, you’re doing, like, an assignment and you, like, finish
one little part you can, like, stop and, like, reward yourself” (unidentified student).
The participant confirmed that she would use this as she went through school and
beyond school. She said, “Yeah, because I think it’s really useful.”
Another form of savouring that made participants feel happy was the activity of
receiving written affirmations at the conclusion of Pos-Ed in the transition year (year
8). Participants really liked this activity, and talked about and remembered this
savouring activity two years later. This activity consisted of every student in the class
writing a positive comment about another person in the class and placing it in an
envelope which had their name on it. Students were encouraged to write affirmations
to several students and place them in the envelopes. Several participants nodded in
agreement at a suggestion by one unidentified participant at the end of the focus
group for more affirmation activities. The suggestion was, “So, I think that
[affirmation activities] really helped people to know that everyone actually, like,
does see them as a person and does actually like them.”
Two participants at the end of the focus group, when asked for final comments about
the five constructs of the program, offered a suggestion about doing more work on
savouring in Pos-Ed. One said, “Maybe add a little more on the savouring. We didn’t
really focus [on savouring]” (unidentified student). A second participant said, “They
[the teachers] didn’t’ really identify it as savouring and… Yeah, I would, like to do
that a bit more” (unidentified student).
Transition. 7.7.6
The participants were asked to comment whether the Pos-Ed program had helped, or
not helped, with their adjustment to secondary school now that they had experienced
two years of the program. Four of the five participants stated that the program had
helped. Participant C who did not think it helped commented, “I just don’t think it
focuses on the adjustment of primary school and secondary school, and I’ve been just
fine myself.” This participant also commented, “Like last year I think was more
focused on settling in, but now this year it doesn’t really, like, help you transition;
it’s just kind of, I don’t know, provides you with the knowledge you can use.”
The participants talked about transition being important in the first year of transition
(Year 8) but in Year 9 they had moved on. One participant said, “We’re settled in,
but now we’re moving on to things that mean more than just settling into the school”
(unidentified student). Another participant said, “Most of the topics last year were
about fitting into school and… This year it’s more topics that relate to now and not
so much [about fitting in]” (unidentified student).
It was clear from the comments in the second focus group that the transition from
primary school to secondary school, while a significant milestone in the participants’
lives in the first year (Year 8), was not a significant issue in the second year of
secondary school (Year 9). The following quote demonstrates one participant’s
growing confidence with her ability to cope with secondary schooling. She said:
The Pos-Ed has helped me with my wellbeing and strategies because
something in sort of [sic] Grade 8, I just found that I was really getting
really stressed, and I think this year in Pos-Ed I sort of learnt, like I said
earlier, I discovered that writing lists can help you to get things done. I
think sort of taking breaks, I found out this year as well has helped me
get my school work done. So they’re two of the things I’ve learnt this
year that have helped me to sort of keep my stress down… Stress is part
of my wellbeing, like, personally. (unidentified student)
This comment demonstrates that the participant knew what wellbeing is, and what
might stress her and that her stress levels impact on her wellbeing. With this
knowledge and understanding, she was actively taking steps to minimise her stress.
This occurred as a result of the program and should be regarded as a success of the
program.
Three of the five participants commented they found the program in Year 9 more
helpful than the program in Year 8. One participant said, “I found this year’s Pos-Ed
program a lot more helpful than last year’s” (unidentified student). Another
participant said, “I think it’s just been a lot more interesting and easier to sort of
enjoy it” (unidentified student). Participant B stated:
I think it’s better this year than last year, because last year it was just…
It wasn’t really about us; it was, like, moving us into the school, but is
wasn’t really, like, things that, like, this year the units are, like, positive
purpose and how we can feel better about ourselves and, like, with the
positive identity, and so that’s, like, more relevant to us.
7.8 SUMMARY OF FOCUS GROUP 2
The purpose of the second focus group was to gather information from the five
participants about their experiences of the Pos-Ed program in their second year of
secondary school (Year 9). The seven questions used in the focus group were aimed
at developing discussion among participants about their experiences of the second
year of the program.
Overall, the participants reported positive responses about the Pos-Ed program
throughout the discussion. All participants except one shared that the program
assisted in their transition to secondary school. They talked about the program
helping them adjust to secondary school and assisting with their wellbeing. There
was also a feeling, that while the program had helped them settle into secondary
school, the program had moved on in the second year. Three participants felt the
second year of the program was more useful than the first year. This was the same
for wellbeing, where four of the five participants spoke about positive changes to
their wellbeing in the second year of the program. What also emerged alongside
wellbeing was the issue of confidence which was spoken about by three of the five
participants. Their comments suggested that confidence was a result of what they had
learnt in relation to the constructs of strengths, flow, gratitude, and mindfulness.
The construct of flow was discussed in connection with that of strengths. Participants
displayed an accurate understanding of the concept and a mature insight into the
connection between using strengths and achieving flow. They understood that using
one’s strengths in a challenging way could advance them further. Most participants
understood how they could use this knowledge later in school and also beyond
school. While there was limited discussion about the concept of savouring,
participants spoke about ‘rewarding oneself after working hard at something’. While
this is an aspect of savouring, participants did not have a clear understanding of the
concept of savouring.
In conclusion, three constructs featured strongly in the discussion, and these were
gratitude, mindfulness, and strengths. While flow was discussed in connection with
using strengths, there was limited discussion and understanding of savouring. There
were positive responses about the program assisting their wellbeing, confidence, and
their adjustment to secondary school. More than half the participants said they were
using strategies learnt in the program in their school life and said they would use
them beyond school life.
Application of strategies to current and future lives. 7.8.1
One outcome of the Pos-Ed program is that students were encouraged to take the
concepts and strategies they learnt in the program and apply them to their schooling
and wider lives. Teachers recognised that not all students would embrace these
concepts, as students are at different points in their learning journeys. For some
students, teachers recognised that just knowing what these concepts were, may be as
far as students go in embracing these concepts. What emerged throughout the
discussion in this focus group was that three of the five girls stated they were
currently using the constructs of strengths, gratitude, and mindfulness in their lives.
Students demonstrated a good understanding of the constructs of strengths, gratitude,
flow, and mindfulness. While no student spoke specifically about using savouring,
the notion of ‘rewarding oneself’’ after a job completed was discussed. One student
spoke articulately about her understanding related to her stress levels and the impact
on her wellbeing. She outlined the strategies she employed to control her stress and
positively influence her wellbeing. For this student at least, the program afforded her
a language with which to discuss her wellbeing, and the ability to take responsibility
for her choices and behaviours in order to enhance her wellbeing. While students
stated they would use these strategies at school and beyond school in their normal
lives, there was no follow-up about how this would occur.
The Pos-Ed program: Suggestions for changes to the 7.8.2program.
The participants offered suggestions of ways to change the Pos-Ed program at the
end of the focus group when asked for final comments. These suggestions were: 1) to
do more work on savouring; 2) to interconnect the different constructs of the
program and show how they are linked and fit together rather than using them
separately; 3) to complete the strengths test again; 4) to bring back the savouring
activity of writing and posting affirmations; 5) to do group bonding activities; and 6)
to review and reflect on goals more regularly. The researcher considered these
suggestions when the program was reviewed at the end of the year, and after the
analysis of the current data was reported to the school. As these suggestions were
gathered from a small number of students, the researcher will consider asking a
larger number of students for suggestions at the end of the year. This would be
completed in conjunction with asking teachers who teach the program for their
suggestions. The suggestions of both students and teachers would then be examined
and discussed by the researcher in consultation with the teachers in order to arrive at
decisions regarding changes to the program for the following year. The researcher
would also look for opportunities for girls to make more explicit connections about
how, when, where, and why they can use the strategies learnt in Pos-Ed in their own
lives. This would also occur as part of the annual review of the program.
Chapter 8: Discussion and Conclusion
8.1 INTRODUCTION
This final chapter revisits the questions guiding this study, as well as discussing the
findings detailed in Chapters 6 and 7. This chapter also re-examines the positive
education program designed by the researcher offering a proactive, preventative
approach to assist female adolescent wellbeing. Positive education aims to provide
empirically validated programs shown to have an impact on student wellbeing,
providing young people with the skills of resilience before they need it (White &
Murray, 2015). Positive education continues to offer much to the wellbeing area
particularly from a strengths-based approach rather than a deficit one. This final
chapter examines the contributions, limitations, implications for practice,
possibilities for future studies, and final comments related to this study.
8.2 RESEARCH PROGRAM
The seven phases of the study were clear and these separate stages can be seen in
Figure 8.1. When the seven stages of the study were complete, the researcher was
then able to examine both sets of quantitative results together.
Figure 8.1 Phases of the current study
In examining the quantitative and qualitative results together, the results were varied.
The quantitative data over the three time points revealed positive social-emotional
health results for participants at the beginning, and during the transition year to
secondary school in Year 8. While the results for the transition year were stable,
there was a low to moderate dip in social-emotional health in the second year of the
program. Despite this dip, it is still considered to be of low to minor practical
difference. In contrast, information gathered from the two focus groups was largely
positive about the program and how it was contributing to the participants’
wellbeing. Taken together, there was congruency for both the qualitative and
quantitative data in the transition year, but not in the second year.
For Year 9, the focus group results provided positive data on the program, while the
quantitative results showed a dip in social-emotional health. The rich narratives
provided by the two focus groups allowed the researcher a more substantial
understanding of what the participants were actually experiencing in the program.
This information was largely positive with participants stating they viewed the
second year of the program more effective than the first year. Emerging from both
focus groups were comments that support the conclusion that the Pos-Ed program
was providing skills and strategies to assist the wellbeing of the participants. While
the research supports the view that the program was assisting the wellbeing of the
participants, it cannot be determined from the data whether the participants would
continue to use the strategies learnt in Pos-Ed.
The survey and focus group results may have varied for a number of reasons. These
reasons could include that the participants in the focus groups appeared to have a
positive approach to the program, and therefore shared comments and views that
affirmed the Pos-Ed program. The participants in the focus groups were also able to
provide specific comments on various aspects of the program, and this form of
sharing of comments was not available in the surveys. All the comments gathered in
the focus groups related specifically to the participants’ experiences of the Pos-Ed
program, whereas the responses gathered in the surveys were more aligned to the
social and emotional health of the participants.
The findings from both focus groups support the view that the participants were
operating from a constructivist framework, as they acquired new knowledge, then set
about internalising it, and therefore created new learning (Franklin & Nurius, 1998).
This was evidenced by the majority of the participants who reported in the second
focus group that they were utilising or would use the Pos-Ed strategies beyond
school and in their normal life. This concurs with Tavernier and Willoughby (2012)
who asserted that when adolescents engage in a more intimate exploration of their
life experiences, positive consequences for lifelong learning can emerge at a personal
level. However, one limitation was the small sample in each focus group.
Despite the varied results, there is evidence that this group of participants
transitioned successfully to secondary school and the Pos-Ed program gave them
strategies to assist their wellbeing during this time. While this was not the case for
the second year, the qualitative results in Year 9 showed that the program did assist
the wellbeing of the participants in this group, and in fact they found it more useful
than the first year of the program.
8.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND FINDINGS
As stated in Chapter 1, there were three questions that guided this study. Each will
now be addressed in turn.
1. What are the short-term and long-term changes in levels of wellbeing that
adolescent girls experience in the Pos-Ed program?
The SEHS-S survey used at three different time points measured the social and
emotional wellbeing of the participants. The first time point was on entry to
secondary school where participants did not have any previous exposure to positive
psychology. For this group of female students transitioning to secondary school with
no previous exposure to positive psychology, the results of the first survey revealed
high scores of wellbeing on entry to secondary school. The fact that they enjoyed
high levels of covitality on entry indicated little scope for achieving higher covitality
scores. What emerged when the second survey was taken at the end of the transition
year and after one year of the program was that their wellbeing remained stable
during the transition year, with a small upward movement in covitality.
Consequently, the short term changes can be regarded as minimal, as the data
showed that for this group they transitioned successfully to secondary school with
very little change to their levels of wellbeing.
In contrast to the short-term changes in the transition year, between Times 2 and 3,
the end of the second year of secondary school, there was a slight downward trend in
scores. This indicates a minor change occurring for this group in the second year.
The researcher discussed this change in Chapter 6. Despite these results, this
downward trend was still within a range which indicated that wellbeing was
reasonably high and stable for this group. The longer-term changes in wellbeing over
a two-year period indicated a slight downward change in the second year. Given that
this group entered secondary school with existing high levels of wellbeing, it can be
argued that high levels of wellbeing were relatively sustained over a two-year period
apart from a slight downward trend in the second year.
2. What are the experiences of adolescent girls in the Pos-Ed program at the
end of the first and second year of the program?
The experiences of the adolescent girls at the end of both years were positive. In
relation to the first focus group at the end of the first year of the program, the
participants spoke about the strategies in Pos-Ed helping them to feel happier, more
relaxed, and balanced in their lives. They shared their experiences of being stressed
because of homework, focus, and time management issues, and that strategies learnt
in Pos-Ed such as writing in their gratitude journals, learning about and practising
mindfulness, and learning about their individual strengths by completing the VIA
Strengths test all contributed to them feeling better about themselves and happier
overall. Researchers suggest that the daily stress and coping difficulties can represent
dimensions of internalised stress that affect some female adolescents (Roeser, et al.,
2008). Additionally, participants spoke about the constructs of gratitude, strengths,
savouring, and mindfulness helping them feel less stressed and able to cope with the
transition process. They enjoyed writing in their gratitude journals, learning about
strengths, practising mindfulness, and savouring when they completed tasks.
Comments to support this are provided in Chapter 7. Five of the six participants in
this group stated they noticed positive changes in their wellbeing. Clearly, these
experiences showed that, overall, there were benefits at the end of the first year of the
program.
In the second focus group, one year later, the experiences of the participants were
similar to those of the first focus group. Rather than the transition, which was no
longer a concern, they spoke about Pos-Ed helping them adjust to secondary school.
Four of the five participants in this group spoke about positive changes to their
wellbeing during the year. Additionally, confidence was spoken about as a result of
what they had learnt in Pos-Ed. This confidence emerged as a result of the strategies
they were learning in Pos-Ed in knowing how to take care of their wellbeing and
manage themselves. One participant remarked, “I’ve become calmer and less
stressed.” She identified as confidence what she described as “being grateful and
recognising that you are always going to get your things done” (Chapter 7). They
also talked about the variety of activities, and how useful what they were learning in
Pos-Ed was for them and gave examples of this. They spoke about their gratitude
diaries making them feel happy about themselves and the world. In terms of
mindfulness, they spoke about taking breaths, stopping, and taking time out for
themselves. As four of the five girls in the second focus group were the same girls
who had participated in the first focus group, it appears that their positive experience
of the program across both years was retained. While most girls spoke about using
the strategies learnt in Pos-Ed in their lives, it is impossible to state with any
certainty whether the girls will continue to use these approaches over time. However,
their exposure to them, via the Pos-Ed program, means that they now have an
awareness of such strategies and the opportunity to use these in their lives. In a
similar way to the first focus group, these experiences overall indicate positive
benefits at the end of the second year of the program.
3. Have any observed changes been consistent, or strengthened, over the two
years of the program (Years 8 and 9)?
For the first year of the program the SEHS-S results indicated that the high levels of
wellbeing with which the participants entered secondary school were maintained.
There was even a slight increase in covitality scores between the start and end of the
transition year to secondary school. Indeed, for the transition year, the results for
wellbeing were consistent as this group of participants maintained high levels of
wellbeing. However, the high levels of the transition year were not consistent for the
second year of the program. Examining the two years together, the SEHS-S results
indicated relatively stable levels of wellbeing for this group of participants, even
though there was a slight downward trend in the second year.
As presented in Chapter 2, there is substantial research documenting the challenges
females face in early adolescence. Girls search for a sense of wellbeing, they are
sensitive to what they meet in everyday life, they struggle with dubious emotions,
they need to handle and respond to all this, and, in the ups and downs, they need
peace to feel content with life (Larsson, et al., 2013). While the qualitative results
revealed relatively high levels of wellbeing for the two-year period, the quantitative
results revealed that what was being taught in the Pos-Ed program was helping the
participants maintain these high levels of wellbeing. What emerged from both focus
groups was that the participants were using at least three of the five constructs in a
consistent manner over the two years. This suggests that what they were learning was
being internalised and assisting them with their wellbeing.
8.4 IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
While Seligman, Peterson, and Csikszentmihalyi were courageous in initiating
positive psychology to shift the focus from a deficit approach to wellbeing to
studying what goes well in people’s lives from birth to death and everything in
between, the application in institutions can be challenging. In the United States, most
applications of positive psychology have to date been clinical, followed by an
interest from organisations, in particular the workplace (Sheldon, et al., 2011). Only
very recently has education begun to receive attention. In Australia, there is
increasing interest in positive psychology and positive education. How this translates
into action in schools is varied.
There are those like Seligman who promote whole school programs. A whole school
approach can arguably be explained as whole school implementation encompassing
all aspects of school life, and includes training in positive psychology for all groups:
parents, staff, students, and parents. Waters (2011) suggests that a whole-school
approach can be thought of as a general way of life at the school, where positive
education frameworks target all domains, including organisational structures,
policies, curriculum, co-curriculum, and the playground. The researcher argues there
is more than one form of whole school approach and the school where the researcher
works is an example of a whole school approach applied only in the wellbeing area.
This form of whole school approach still has a wide ranging reach with the majority
of staff familiar with positive psychology. Teaching staff and students are trained in
positive psychology, wellbeing is included in school documents and policies, and the
language of positive psychology is familiar to all teaching staff and students.
However, administration staff and parents have not been trained, and positive
psychology has not been applied to the academic area. One of the main reasons these
groups have not been trained is limited capital resources. Yet the researcher argues
that, from a systemic view, this can still be regarded as a whole school approach. The
implication here is that there are different models of a whole school approach that
schools may consider.
Interestingly, the schools which have implemented whole school programs in
Australia are wealthy independent schools such as Geelong Grammar School
Melbourne, St Peter’s Adelaide, and Knox Grammar Sydney. These schools have
implemented Seligman’s PERMA model and consequently have received
endorsements by Seligman and other notable researchers in this area. For schools
with limited resources, it may be more practical to apply aspects of positive
psychology in various pockets throughout the school, rather than as an overarching,
all embedded framework. In addition, while the wealthy private schools listed above
have chosen to implement positive psychology using Seligman’s PERMA model, not
all schools need to do this. There is a range of wellbeing frameworks that can be
applied. All schools can seek to add layers to their positive psychology programs
over time, and in doing so can work their way toward greater integration of positive
psychology across all school systems and the curriculum.
For positive psychology to have the most impact on wellbeing, the optimum situation
is to involve the entire school community. Schools can be considered one of the few
institutions with funding, staff resources, and direct access to students, families and
communities (White & Murray, 2015). As such, schools have the capacity to
introduce and sustain whole-school initiatives. Additionally, opportunities can also
be created for staff and students to practise integration of positive psychology skills
and information. A drawback of this approach is that there are competing interests in
schools such as strategic priorities, and not all schools view wellbeing as a strategic
priority. White (2016) argues that there are a number of obstacles which hinder
progress in positive psychology; these include financial; wellbeing considered a
marginal topic; a shortage of reliable expert training providers; and the perception it
will be a silver bullet to fix all the challenges in education (White, 2016). These are
valid obstacles and should be considered by schools adopting positive psychology.
Regardless of these obstacles, if schools view wellbeing as a priority, there are
adaptations they can make if they are interested in implementing positive
psychology. At a recent conference attended by the researcher, there was a session
entitled, “Positive Psychology on a Budget.” Implicit here is the perception that
positive psychology will be costly to implement. However, a school may consider
moving slowly and incrementally with modest financial outlays.
However, the reality of achieving this is difficult as school finances compete for
varying projects to be funded and not all schools receive the same funding. Private
independent schools are better positioned to be able to allocate funds to this area.
Training for staff, parents, and students is a huge cost to a school. Obviously, schools
should train teaching staff first if they are implementing a positive psychology
program. Even this will be a significant cost as usually outside experts are utilised to
train teachers. Allowing teachers to practise the skills gained in positive psychology
training in their personal lives as well as in their lives as educators would equip them
to pass on their knowledge directly and indirectly to their students through role
modelling as well as direct teaching (Shoshani & Steinmetz, 2014).
Furthermore, there is the question of when and if the school wants to extend the
training to all staff and also to parents, and how this training would be delivered.
Another challenge that arises for schools is how to induct new staff into positive
psychology as they enter schools. Staff changes vary from year to year, but a plan for
staff induction into positive psychology should be considered.
To date, there is very limited research on evaluating the training and implementation
of positive psychology with staff. St Peter’s Adelaide has undertaken to collect data
from both staff and students in response to embracing the PERMA model at a whole
school level. This is one of the few schools engaging in data collection from staff.
They claim this aligns with the school culture in being strong in the scientific
tradition and this was supported by staff. As no validated measures of PERMA
existed at the time of the data collection, they utilised two measures that are under
development. Reliability was weaker for the staff PERMA items, and convergent
validity was unclear. Subsequent assessment will benefit from the more reliable
items that are now available (Butler & Kern, 2015). What is not clear here is whether
most schools could engage in this process of data collection, as this is an expensive
process that requires expertise in data collection and analysis. While St Peter’s
Adelaide is committed to documenting and assessing the impact of their efforts, it is
unclear how widely what they are doing could be applied to other schools.
One of the greatest challenges for schools interested in adopting positive psychology
is determining the content of the program. In Australia, there is increasing interest in
the creation and implementation of large-scale, customised positive education
programs (Green, 2014). However, it is obvious that schools will want to tailor
programs to suit their needs. As noted earlier, Clonan et al. (2004) suggest that no
two school systems will implement positive psychology in the same way. Thus,
schools have choices to make in relation to content.
One of the early decisions school face is whether to adopt the PERMA or a similar
wellbeing model as a whole school approach, in which case there are a number of
case studies available, such as those from Geelong Grammar School and St Peter’s
Adelaide. Even with this decision made, the school still has to decide how to teach
the various elements of the model. This could result in a combination of subprograms
to address specific elements. For instance, ‘Bounce Back’ is a resilience program that
integrates core principles of positive psychology, while another resilience program is
the Strath Haven Program. Other similar programs, such as PEPS, AEIOU, and RAP,
which use a proactive, preventative approach, were discussed in Chapter 3.
Another approach schools could adopt would be to implement a program using
positive psychology constructs or using a positive psychology intervention (PPI) as
discussed in Chapter 3. The current study is a program based on multiple constructs.
In addition, schools could consider combining positive psychology and coaching
psychology elements which are complementary. For example, coaching psychology
promotes a strengths approach which is also promoted in positive psychology, both
of which have, as Van Nieuwerburgh (2012) suggests, much to offer schools.
Finally, an important consideration is strategic planning over a certain period of time,
such as a five-year implementation plan. Any significant change requires careful
planning and Australian schools such as Geelong Grammar School and Knox
Grammar are willing to share their knowledge and experiences. This can be done
through dissemination of research findings and engaging in conversations to consider
options either by visiting or by skype (Green, 2014). Alongside planning, schools
should investigate suitable methods of gathering empirical evidence on the programs
they implement. Schools may consider partnering with other schools and universities
to explore options for evaluating programs. It is by measuring wellbeing programs
that school leaders can make a difference and can help to form clear policy decisions
(White & Murray, 2015), allowing them to implement quality programs. As well as
evaluation, sustainability is also important, and this should be factored into the
evaluation process. Schools adopting positive psychology will be at different points
from those starting to those who are more developed, and consequently both will
have different needs. Moreover, there is a pressing need for further research on
positive psychology programs and a need for expert external consultants and
educators to work collaboratively with schools to develop and evaluate
individualised programs (Van Nieuwerburgh, 2012).
8.5 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE STUDY
The current study makes a number of contributions to the field of positive
psychology. This section presents these contributions both practically, theoretically,
and methodologically. The practical and theoretical contributions are discussed
below, while the methodological contributions are discussed in the subsequent
section.
From a practical viewpoint, this study makes a contribution to the body of research
on evidence-based positive psychology programs currently available for adolescents
to assist with their wellbeing. As previously stated, the Pos-Ed program is based on
five evidence-based constructs: character strengths, gratitude, mindfulness, flow, and
savouring. Each construct was chosen on the basis that it was supported by a
substantial amount of research. Rather than adopting just one construct, this study
explored how the five evidenced-based constructs worked alongside each other as
well as together. There are researchers now encouraging schools to consider a broad
approach in designing wellbeing program. Focusing on one construct alone may not
be enough to strengthen the overall social-emotional health and wellbeing of
adolescents; rather, a “broad range of constructs such as those that underpin
covitality should be considered” (Pennell, et al., 2015). Additionally, these constructs
offer skills and strategies from a proactive and preventative approach, which aligns
with the current research that, over the last 10 years in both community and school
practices, there has been a shift away from the deficit approach of supporting young
people in distress towards the concept of promoting wellbeing and resilience
(Roffey, 2012). This is posited in the move by educational and other psychologists
who have begun to develop school-based programs that adopt a positive proactive
approach to enhance wellbeing through utilising existing strengths (Peterson, 2006).
As such, the Pos-Ed program has made a valuable contribution to the research
available on wellbeing in an all girls’ secondary school.
Another contribution from a practical viewpoint was the longitudinal approach of
this study. This makes it unique in offering data over three points in time, as most
studies currently available have a one-year or less, time frame. As discussed in
Chapter 6, Geelong Grammar School is undertaking a three-year study, due to
conclude at the end of 2015. Only preliminary findings from the first year (2013)
have been released. A recent synthesis of 12 school-based positive psychology
programs drawn from international studies, across different school systems, in
co-educational and single-gender schools using age ranges from five to 19 years,
with students of various ethnicity, revealed significant, robust, and encouraging
results (Waters, 2011). However, many of these studies were evaluated in the pilot
stage; hence, further evaluation of these programs beyond the pilot stage is needed.
The current study offers data beyond a pilot stage, thereby providing a resource for
all who are working in this area and thinking of implementing adolescent wellbeing
programs.
Positive education programs continue to emerge, as well as a considerable amount of
non-quantitative evidence to show this is a growing area (Rusk & Waters, 2013).
From a theoretical viewpoint, this study offered useful data on a positive education
program, and this could be considered by other schools as they embrace positive
psychology and implement wellbeing programs. As the increasing focus on
wellbeing continues to attract schools to positive psychology, the rigour and
evidence behind what they choose to implement is important. The current study
offers such a program where schools, should they choose this path, could benefit
from a program based on mixed-methods longitudinal research. This is increasingly
important as critics assert that positive psychology is not only a theory, but a
movement, and many people seem to be heading in the direction of positive
education. Another challenge is that the different emerging programs have rarely
been used or assessed either alone or as part of a whole-school approach
(Kristjansson, 2012). While the program was not embedded in all aspects of school
life, the current study offers a positive education program that adds to the literature
available on programs using multiple constructs. This could be viewed as a strength
of the program, as schools realise they do not have to incur the expense of
incorporating a whole school program to experience positive effects in the wellbeing
area.
Additionally, from a theoretical viewpoint, the current study made a substantial
contribution to the literature on positive psychology and adolescents. Since its
emergency in 1998, positive psychology remains is a relatively new science with
research still in its formative stages. However, much of the interest in positive
psychology has been disproportionately focused on adults (Chafouleas & Bray, 2004;
Gilman, et al., 2009; Norrish & Vella-Broderick, 2009; Seligman, et al., 2009). This
study contributes by providing more information about adolescents and positive
psychology and, in particular, female adolescents.
Another theoretical contribution of this research is in the area of adolescent
development. In the face of rising rates of anxiety and depression for female
adolescents as revealed in the Report on the Second Australian Child and Adolescent
Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (2015), the Pos-Ed program provided skills
and strategies to assist female adolescents in their wellbeing. The relatively stable
quantitative results over time, combined with the largely positive results from the
focus groups provide information to suggest that the program is assisting the
wellbeing of adolescent girls. This study also provided further empirical evidence to
support the research showing that, for some girls, there is a disturbance in
self-esteem, with a peak at the end of primary school or the beginning of secondary
school, between the ages 10 to 12, then a drop in early adolescence, ages 13 to 14.
While not expected, the quantitative data revealed a disturbance for this group of
participants definitely occurred in Year 9. Had this study only lasted for one year,
this data would not have emerged. The results from this study provide valuable
information to educators planning for female students to transition to secondary
school.
8.6 PROACTIVE POSITIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Increasingly schools are embracing the call for education to develop the whole
student through social, emotional, moral and intellectual development (Cain &
Carnellor, 2008). The literature offers several reasons for schools to adopt a positive
education approach to promote wellbeing. As the current study examines the impact
of the Pos-Ed program on wellbeing, it can be argued that this study is a positive
contribution in providing an evidence-based wellbeing program. This program
addressed female adolescent wellbeing from a positive and proactive model and
explicitly taught resilience skills based on evidence-based constructs aligned with
Seligman’s latest research, character strengths and virtues, gratitude, mindfulness,
savouring and flow (Seligman, 2011). This is in contrast to many programs that are
based on a deficit approach.
Even though positive psychology is a new science, there is a growing body of
research emerging in this area, although most of the studies are based on adult
samples (Gilman, et al., 2009). In the last twenty years however, efforts have been
made to examine wellbeing in children and adolescents. There is research that shows
positive education provides an antidote to youth depression, acts as a pathway
leading to a flourishing life, promotes learning and creativity, and enhances social
cohesion and a sense of civic responsibility (Seligman, et al., 2009; Waters, 2011).
While the research points to providing an antidote to youth depression, these
researchers are not claiming it will prevent or cure depression. This aligns with the
notion of this century being one that is more focused on prevention. Positive
education is a preventative approach and introduces and normalises self-inquiry and
self-management of one’s mental health from a young age, which may lead to lasting
benefits as adolescents move into adulthood with greater awareness and emotional
intelligence (Waters, et al., 2014).
8.7 METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
The current study has also made a number of methodological contributions to the
literature. The design of the study was a methodological strength as it used a
mixed-methods design (incorporating quantitative and qualitative data), which
allowed for an in-depth exploration of the Pos-Ed program that may not occurred
through just one method. Further, the use of focus groups provided qualitative data to
provide a more detailed understanding of the effects of the program on the students.
While the quantitative measure provided a more general picture of the social and
emotional health of the participants, the qualitative data enabled student voices on
the impact of the program to be heard. Additionally, the students contributed
valuable information on the five positive psychology constructs and the impact on
their wellbeing.
A notable methodological contribution arising from this study was that the five
constructs that formed the Pos-Ed program are all evidence-informed. This study
methodologically offers material that has been tested both quantitatively and
qualitatively. Researchers continue to call for more work to be carried out in terms of
applied scientific studies on the development of positive psychology programs, as
well as age-appropriate, psychometrically sound measures of positive psychology
constructs for youth and the impact of whole-school programs (Gilman, et al., 2009;
Green, et al., 2011; Kern, Waters, Adler, & White, 2014; Norrish & Vella-Broderick,
2009). Additionally, this study adds to the material available on covitality and its
relationship to wellbeing in adolescents.
The extent of researcher involvement in the current study provided further
methodological strength. As the study was undertaken in one secondary school, the
researcher had control over the process of data generation to ensure its integrity. The
researcher did not teach any of the students nor did it have any influence on their
academic results. In working closely with the students, particularly in the focus
groups, the students felt comfortable sharing their personal experiences of the
program due to an already developed sense of trust and respect. This led to richer
more insightful research (Patton, 1999).
8.8 LIMITATIONS
The current study faced a number of limitations. The sample was limited to one
school. The researcher realised from the outset the limitation of the sample as, while
the principal in consultation with the college board approved the study to occur in the
school, neither was in favour of bringing on board other schools as non-control
groups. The researcher searched for a way to organise a control group situation for
this study but, after exploring and discussing a number of options with the principal
as well as the researcher’s supervisors, the use of a control group was determined not
to be feasible. The researcher was cognisant of the difficulties in finding schools
willing to agree to participate in the research study, although the school where the
researcher worked was willing to participate. Moreover, the concept of having a
wait-list for half of the Year 8 and Year 9 students at the school over a six-month
period was not viable because the principal would not approve this and, logistically,
in the school situation, this would have presented difficulties with timetabling and
staffing. Ultimately, the principal gave permission for the study to occur and there
were conditions connected to this permission. The researcher was constricted by
these limitations and had to work within certain parameters in relation to approval,
even though the ‘purest’ form of experimental design is the randomised controlled
trial which requires a control group and one or more experimental groups (Greig,
Taylor, & MacKay, 2013).
Furthermore, the researcher also faced the dilemma of being the moderator for both
focus groups. The researcher, as deputy principal, was in a position of authority in
the school and regarded as an insider as discussed in Chapter 5. While there are
advantages of having an insider conduct the study, there are also challenges. In
addition to being an insider, the researcher was also the author of the program, and
this is why a concurrent, explanatory mixed-methods design was chosen to minimise
the issue of researcher bias. The issue of bias also arose with the focus groups. The
researcher chose to be the moderator of the focus groups to avoid a conflict of
interest arising. Had the researcher asked one of the teachers teaching the program or
the college psychologist, there could have been a conflict of interest as both the
teachers and the college psychologist were involved in delivering lessons in the
program, while the researcher (and the author of the program) was not involved in
delivering these lessons. Another consideration is that the teachers teaching the
program and the college psychologist would have direct contact either in the lessons
or, for the psychologist, through clinical appointments with some of the students
involved in the study. In contrast, the researcher did not have any type of working
relationship with any of the students involved in the study.
An additional limitation was that the student sample consisted of all female students
comprised of predominantly white, middle-class adolescents. This school was also an
independent school, with the majority of students well-adjusted behaviourally.
Consequently, it is not surprising that the data from the first SEHS survey revealed
that this group of students entered secondary school with high levels of wellbeing,
and maintained high levels of wellbeing throughout their transition year. That is, an
extrapolation from this to other populations is not possible. As such, these results are
not generalizable to populations other than adolescent, middle-class females. The
results from the focus groups also reflect viewpoints from predominantly white,
middle-class participants but nevertheless provide support for the impact of the
Pos-Ed program. Further multi-method studies using the SEHS-S combined with
focus groups are required to determine whether the program can be used more
widely.
The longitudinal nature of the study, while desirable, was also a limitation of the
study. Unlike many studies of positive psychology and adolescents which have
occurred in the pilot stage or over one year, this study contributed by gathering data
over a two-year period. However, the unexpected results of the Time 3 quantitative
survey showing a slight downward trend for each of the four constructs as well as
covitality, which raised questions that could have been answered had the study’s
duration been more than two years. A longer study would have been able to reveal
was whether the dip in self-esteem that occurred at the end of Year 9 returned to
pre-adolescent levels after the students turned 14 years of age. This pattern of
disturbance for some adolescent females has been confirmed in a number of studies
(Galambos, et al., 2004; Roeser, et al., 2008). The gap in information raised
questions for the researcher to ponder in terms of female adolescent development in
Year 9. The researcher addressed these questions in the discussion in Chapter 6.
Finally, there was the limitation of not knowing whether the skills and strategies
learnt in the program are able to be sustained over longer periods of time. While the
three constructs of strengths, gratitude, and mindfulness featured strongly in both
focus groups and more than half the participants were using strategies related to these
constructs in their school life (and said they would use them beyond school life),
there was no capacity for following these participants over a longer period of time.
This longitudinal tracking would be useful as equipping students with strategies to
enhance their wellbeing and develop the capacities to live well and enable social
cohesion is increasingly important (Wyn, 2007).
8.9 FUTURE STUDIES
Positive psychology as a relatively new science is still in its formative stages; in
particular, studies with adolescents are limited. Studies examining different samples,
co-educational, and single gender schools are also limited. This study contributed to
the literature available on positive psychology in an all girls’ school, and is one of
only a few studies examining female adolescents. Greater benefit would be gained if
more empirical studies about different groups were available, as this would assist
educators contemplating using positive psychology as a basis of a wellbeing
program. Future research should continue to explore the potential benefits of positive
psychology programs in schools (McCabe, et al., 2011).
As the research studies suggest, using positive psychology programs to increase
wellbeing is promising, but further research is needed in relation to their application
with adolescent populations. It is important with the bourgeoning interest in
wellbeing that empirical research and the scientific evidence it provides remains the
cornerstone that supports the application of positive psychology (Norrish & Vella-
Broderick, 2009). The Handbook of Positive Psychology in Schools provides many
examples of scientifically evaluated positive psychology programs that schools may
utilise in wellbeing programs (Gilman, et al., 2009). However, many of these
examples are single programs (for example, on gratitude), whereas Sin and
Lyubomirsky (2009) in a meta-analysis found that a ‘shotgun’ approach in which
individuals practise multiple positive psychology activities might be more effective
than engaging in only one activity. Such studies are scant, and while the current
study is one such study, using a positive psychology program with multiple
constructs, further research on programs using multiple rather than single constructs
will ensure that the most advanced programs are being adopted (Van Nieuwerburgh,
2012).
Some schools such as Geelong Grammar School and Knox Grammar School in
Australia and Wellington College in the United Kingdom have committed to a
whole-school community approach to positive psychology, while other schools are
examining smaller scale positive psychology programs. Clonan et al. (2004) suggest
that no two school systems would implement positive psychology programs in the
same way, as they would tailor the program to meet the particular needs of the
school. Whatever approach schools adopt, there is a need for further research to
support such initiatives and increase student wellbeing, and these initiatives should
be empirically tested.
In addition to schools implementing programs to suit their particular needs, broader
ecological influences could also be examined which could be achieved by schools
engaging other groups such as parents, students, teachers, and school staff to share
their perceptions of the program. This broader group could offer valuable insights
which could add to the critical discussion and contribute to future directions for the
program. Teacher perspectives could be particularly beneficial especially where
teachers have been engaged with the program for a number of years.
Finally, future studies would benefit from taking a longitudinal approach to
examining positive psychology programs. As stated in Chapter 6, with the studies
currently available on positive psychology and adolescents, many were evaluated in
their pilot stages, used small samples, and often were evaluated over a period of less
than one year. While it may present challenges, longitudinal research on the effects
of programs on adolescents for more than three years, with additional follow up
study at later points in time could prove beneficial and strengthen this field of
research.
8.10 A FINAL WORD
During the 20th century, psychology focused on treating illness, whereas the focus in
the 21st century is prevention. In 21st century education there is a call to educate the
whole student, which aligns with Seligman’s (2009) assertion that increases in
wellbeing are likely to produce increases in learning. Recent evidence points to
mindfulness programs, strengths-based programs, coaching programs, affect-based
programs (that is, writing about positive emotions), and gratitude programs as
promising ways to increase wellbeing and decrease depression in young people
(Donaldson, et al., 2015). Three of these—mindfulness, strengths, and gratitude—are
central to the current study. The researcher was motivated to improve the wellbeing
of female adolescents by developing and empirically testing the Pos-Ed program
using a proactive and preventative approach based on five evidence-based constructs.
This motivation emerged from the researcher observing increasing numbers of
female adolescents struggling with anxiety and depression. As previously
highlighted, the Report on the Second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey on
Mental Health and Wellbeing released in 2015 revealed that one fifth (19.9%) of
adolescents had very high or high levels of psychological distress, and this was
almost twice as high for females (25.9%) compared with males (14.8%) (Lawrence,
et al., 2015). The results of the current study revealed the Pos-Ed program to be a
positive psychology program that equipped girls with skills and strategies to assist in
their wellbeing. The researcher is hopeful that the students will use the strategies
they have learnt in their lives beyond school, and the data from the two focus groups
indicates this is already happening. With recent evidence showing that happiness and
wellbeing are not static entities, but rather iterative processes that are constantly in
flux (Jongbloed & Andres, 2015), positive psychology programs provide an avenue
for teaching adolescents skills to lead flourishing lives.
The researcher was buoyed by the positive way students in the focus groups talked
about the Pos-Ed program. At the end of the second focus group students offered
suggestions to improve the program. The researcher will use these suggestions to
enhance the program in the future and is committed to interviewing larger numbers
of students to further improve the program as it continues to be rolled out. With
unanswered questions arising from the dip in self-esteem of the students in Year 9,
the researcher will undertake to survey this same group in subsequent years (10, 11,
and 12) outside of this study, and subsequently collate these results to further
improve the program and understand how self-esteem is changing in these female
adolescents over the course of their entire secondary school journey. In conclusion,
the current longitudinal study found that the positive psychology program called the
Pos-Ed program using five evidence-based constructs did assist the wellbeing of
adolescent girls in their first two years of secondary school.
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Appendices
Appendix A: Notes of visits to schools 8.10.1
POSITIVE EDUCATION Geelong Grammar School Geelong
PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY Genazzano Catholic Girls’ College Kew
EXPLORATION FOR MSM
• GGS attracted because PP is based on scientific findings
• PP science only 12 years old • PP has the notion of ‘flourishing’
attached to it in terms of its main purpose
• Positive Psychology • ‘Positive Psychology is a branch of
psychology founded by Martin Seligman on the belief that people want more than just an antidote to depression. Positive Psychology focuses on cultivating positive emotion, character traits and institutions’
• School philosophy is that curriculum and welfare are intrinsically linked and both are important
• Up until Gen Star program didn’t have any PP
• Adopted direct teaching of principles of Performance Psychology
• Performance Psychology based on science
• They liaised with GGS for ideas from PP
• Positive Psychology- increase emotions and how to deal with them
• 2009 1st year of PP • 2007, 2008 planning and preparation • 2008- huge investment –Martin
Seligman lived on campus for 6 months-worked with staff/trained staff (huge cost)
• 2008-9 day training course for staff in holidays
• 2009-6 day training course for staff in holidays
• 2010-3 day training course for staff in holidays
• 1 day resilience • I day character strengths • 1 day creative aspects • 2010-achieve all teaching staff trained
in PP
Performance Psychology- increase mental skills to increase achievement/same skills as Sports Psychology Performance Psychology Skills:
• Goal setting • Positive thinking • Relaxation • Reflection • Mental Rehearsal • Personal Strengths • Preparation & Rehearsal • Overcoming Setbacks • Teamwork & Assertiveness • Sleep • Focus & Flow • Personal Wellbeing
Universities are slowly becoming interested
1. 2 day course University of Sydney $650 with Dr Suzie Green
2. Melbourne University-in talks to set up a PP
Performance Psychology: 1. Psychological factors 2. Many people are held back by
MENTAL BLOCKERS 3. The Right Mindset is Critical for
SUCCESS 4. Performance= Preparation +
Psychological Readiness
GGS- 3 ways of embedding PP: 1. Staff experience PP-training
course 2. Expectation that staff will live PP
Time: 50 minutes a cycle/10 day cycle 2008:
1. trialled new program in Year 10 only
POSITIVE EDUCATION Geelong Grammar School Geelong
PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY Genazzano Catholic Girls’ College Kew
EXPLORATION FOR MSM
3. Staff teach PP skills explicitly to students
• HODs in curriculum • Year Cos in pastoral care
So that PP is part of daily life- e.g. start lesson with a ‘mindfulness activity’
• Embedded in policies • Embedded in diary
2. 8 sessions per term 3. Evaluation tool end of 2008 (pre
and post program survey tool) 4. Used text written by their
Counsellor ‘Thinking Skills for Peak Performance’
5. Students had to purchase text 6. Home room teachers delivered
program using Coaches book also written by Counsellor
7. Feedback at end of 2008 was very positive
8. Home room teachers trained by Counsellors- staff training sessions lunch and after school
9. Also used “Best of Coping’ published by ACER
10. Guest speakers organised at some points in the program
GGS PP Program
1. Explicitly taught in Years 7 and 10 (our Year 8 and 11 )
2. Penn Resilience Program & Strath Haven Program- both copyrighted to Penn University
3. Year 7- Penn Resilience Program where they teach the 7 skills of Resilience using various resources
• 60 min lessons every 2 weeks
4. Year 10- Strath Haven Program • 90 minutes (2 periods) every
week • Term 1- Introduce science of
PP and skills of ‘Savouring’ • Term 2- Resilience-going
deeper • Term 3-Character Strengths
(family tree) • Term 4-Creativity/different
experiences-mindfulness, yoga, dance, other new experiences
5. Year 11- have Focus Days 6. Year 11 & 12 –optional Co-
Curricular Positive Education Experiences 4.00-5.00 pm
Gen Star Program Middle Years (8 sessions) Years 5-8:
1. My Strengths 2. Inspirational People 3. My Dreams 4. Teamwork/Relationships 5. Relaxation Skills
Later Years (9-12): Year 9: Mind, Body, Spirit Wellness
1. Year 10: Thinking Skills for Peak Performance (use text book)
2. Years 11 & 12: goals and relaxation, motivation, stress regulation, self-talk
GGS- 6 pillars of Positive Education: 1. Positive Emotions 2. Positive Engagement 3. Positive Relationships 4. Positive Accomplishment 5. Positive Purpose 6. Positive Health
Gen Star = PEP program P-12 • Strategy • Thinking • Action • Review
Martin Seligman- 3 Life Pathways 1. Pleasant/Good life 2. Engaged Life- using character
Creating a whole school program: 1. 2007- new building launched
called ‘Performance Psychology
POSITIVE EDUCATION Geelong Grammar School Geelong
PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY Genazzano Catholic Girls’ College Kew
EXPLORATION FOR MSM
strengths- in ‘flow’- extending yourself
3. Meaningful Life- having meaning and purpose in your life- contributing to society by ‘giving back’
Centre’- where the counsellors/psychologists work
2. 2008 Year 10 trial using the text ‘Unleash your potential’
3. 2009 whole school launch of the GenStar program P-12 • PP presentation to parents
Special launch with students with promotional material- bag with GenStar logo printed on it, pen, post card.
Martin Seligman- currently writing new book- Some changes in his thinking: • Connections and relationships in life
are significant • Positive Relationships also added as
being significant
Performance Psychology • A branch of psychology to assist
people and communities to deliver peak performances
• A set of cognitive skill that enable people to perform at THEIR BEST in any pursuit
PP Resources: 1. Positive Psychology by
Christopher Peterson (a copy was purchased for all staff)
2. The Resilience Factor by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte (this was used in the training days)- Karen is Martin Seligman’s key trainer in PP
3. The How of Happiness by Sonya Lyubomirsky
4. Celebrating Strengths by J. Eades
Gen Star Resources: 1. Thinking Skills for Peak
Performance Student Book by Catherine Brandon and Clare Ivens
2. Thinking Skills for Peak Performance Coach’s Book by Catherine Brandon and Clare Ivens
Role of Psychologists/Counsellors: • Not intention to reduce the no of
students accessing the counsellors • Never the intention to measure this • Idea to promote counsellors being
accessed for support for students in practising PP
• Counsellors supplement PP approach in their individual sessions with students
Role of Psychologists/Counsellors: • Absolutely crucial to whole program • Catherine Brandon one of the
psychologists wrote the text book and student manual ‘Unleash your Potential’
• She also in-serviced staff at lunch time and after school- for those teaching with her text
• She wrote the whole Gen Star Program for P-12 with some flexibility with her time and role
• Psychologists pivotal to this program
GGS- looking at tools to measure PP and how students are ‘flourishing’-
Genazzano had an pre- and post-survey they used with the trial Year 10 group and were happy with results
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Appendix B: Years 8 to 9 Overview of Positive 8.10.2Education Program 2013, 2014
TERM 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 4 YEAR 8
Positive Identity (Transitional Focus) • Orientation
Activities (introduce the vision of the MSM graduate- women of 5C’s & introduce Positive education program)
• Positive approach to Study Skills and Habits (including Diary usage)
• Adolescent Brain Development – link to Learning Conference
• Habits of Mind – orientation and development
• Performance Psychology Inventory
• Peak Performance and Personal Strengths
• VIA Personal Strengths Test (Child Version)
• Goal Setting and Cultivating Inspiration
• Gratitude Journal • Successful
Mindsets – focussing on positive self-talk, successful time management and seeds of success
• Mindfulness
YEAR 8 Positive Health & Wellbeing • Developing
positive routines • Increasing
relaxation and reducing stress
• Mental Rehearsal • Wellness activities • Goal Reflections • Continuing
Gratitude Journal • Semester
Reflection and Review
YEAR 8 Positive Relationships • Healthy/ Positive
Relationships – strengths in self and relationship to others – to family/ friends/ sporting teams etc.
• Positive Affirmations – individual and others
• Continuing Gratitude Journal
• Team Harmony and Conflict Resolution
• Social Stories and Role-plays
• Mindfulness
YEAR 8 Positive Purpose • The Achievement
Zone – Developing Focus and Flow
• Community Action Focus
• International/ National Community Investigation
• Fundraising Organisation – Background research and investigation/ Guest Speakers
• Fundraising events e.g., Movie Night
• Staying on track – Dealing with setbacks
• Booster Shots – Review of Peak Performance Workbook
• Continuing Gratitude Journal
• Performance Psychology Inventory Review
• Savouring • Links to Year 9
TERM 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 4 YEAR 9
Positive Relationships & Transition (10 sessions) • Expectations of Year
9- timetables/lockers • Revisit Pos-Ed • Refresher at start of
year- goals, study habits, time management (SLI)
• Help Seeker Booklet –Home room activity
• Positive psychology Text- Session 7 Team Harmony and friendship dynamics
• Camp preparation • Gratitude Diary • Mindfulness
Activities
YEAR 9 Positive Identity
• Positive psychology Text- Session 6 Ultimate Rehearsal /Peak Condition
• Intro to Character Strengths- Positive psychology
• Choices Program (sex/relationships education)
• Positive Identity- Formation of Identity PowerPoint
• Motivational Speaker- Positive Identity and Self-Esteem (Damon Joseph from Character Builders)
• Photo Wall Project • Flow
YEAR 9 Positive Purpose • Positive psychology
Text Sessions 1-3 Discover the Champion Within Create Your Own Future Success is a Mindset
• More information on Flow and Savouring
• Empathetic Learning PowerPoint
• Researching organisations who exhibit purpose
• Operation Smile + Promotion of markets
• Volunteer Card • Smile video • Future
Planning- subject selection (SLI)
• Gratitude Diary • Savouring
YEAR 9 Positive Health • Gratitude Diary • Protective
Behaviours- personal and social safety (KJA)
• Melanie Boyd Case Study
• Cyber Safety (Brett Lee)
• Self Defence (Master Charles Birch + team)
• Sexting (ACMA) • Personal Safety (Sgt
Jose) • Mindfulness
Exercises
Appendix C: Term Planner Year 8 8.10.3
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Date Activities 29 January WHOLE SCHOOL ASSEMBLY/ HOME ROOM INTRODUCTION 4 February • Procedure Expectations (complete from last week)
• Letters from Year 9 • Introduction to key Personnel – Deputy Curriculum/Pastoral/ College
Psychologist • Positive Impressions of MSM – students to write about their experiences from
the first week of high school • Diary Use – How to use your Diary – Clearly go through the elements of the
diary and how to effectively sue it as a study tool. • Also students can complete the Homework and Study Plan for this week in
their diaries (at the back)
5 February (1+)
Role Description of Class Captain Roles – vote and decide A3 poster – ‘What makes you, you? Photo montage about their identity (these can be positioned in each home room) – this can be completed for homework
13 February
Habits of Mind Power Point – 16 Habits of Mind – orientation and development Wordle Creation – each home room is given 2 Habits of Mind and a creation of a Wordle is completed with similar words – this will be referred to in the Learning Conference
19 February (1+)
Gratitude Activity: Introduction to Gratitude Journal Introduction to Pos-Ed program – link to music/ environment Expectations and Responsibilities in the program
21 February
Year 8 Learning Conference Periods 13
1 March Pos-Ed Pre-Test Survey – 40 minutes Homework Activity – Learning Conference Reflection – Positives/ Negatives and Improvements – feedback given to Sissi
12 March (1+)
Study Skills Session – Positive Approach to Study and Skills Habits
19 March (1+)
Gratitude Journal – Opening Page and 1st Activity – Grateful Moments – Goals and Dreams
20 March VIA Strengths Test – Applicability of strengths to areas/ subjects at school/community Strengths Wall Creation
26 March (1+)
Performance Psychology – Session One – Discover the Champion Within Gratitude Journal – complete Grateful Moments
Year: 2013 Term One Year Level: 8 POSITIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM
Appendix D: Term Planner Year 9 2014 Term 1 8.10.4
Theme
Activities Location Resources
Positive Relationships & Stepping up Together in Year 9
Tuesday 4 February Day 5 8.35 am – 9.20 am
Establishing a Positive Relationship within the home room
• Ice Breaker sheets and handouts
• Mindfulness exercises
Home Room Handouts: Ice Breaker sheets
Thursday 6 February Day 6 8.50 am – 9.40 am
Swimming Carnival Presentations (Home Room)
Introduction to Gratitude Journal Prayer 9A
Auditorium PowerPoint – Gratitude Journal A5 Visual Art Diary (Booklist item)
Friday 14 February Day 6
Opening Eucharist
Further Engagement with the Gratitude Journal
• Mindfulness exercises
Home Rooms A5 Visual Art Diary/Gratitude Journal
Tuesday 18 February Day 2 8.35 am – 9.20 am
Relationships Goal Setting Workshop – Session 1
• Goal Setting Work Booklet
• Introduction to a Year 9 Group Theme
Sophia Centre PowerPoint – Goal Setting Handout – Goal Setting Work Booklet
Monday 24 February Day 6 8.35 am – 9.40 am
Relationships Goal Setting Workshop – Session 2
• Goal Setting Work Booklet
Auditorium PowerPoint – Goal Setting Handout – Goal Setting Work Booklet
Tuesday 4 March Day 6 8.35 am – 10.05 am
Shrove Tuesday
Motivational speaker on Team Dynamics • Damon Joseph from Character Builders • characterbuilders.com.au Prayer 9P Thank you 9R Group Strengths in Home
Auditorium Home Room
All requirements provided by Character Builders KJA to provide
Room Gratitude Journal
materials Students must bring their Year 8 Gratitude diaries
Thursday 13 March Day 6 8.35 am – 9.40 am
Conflict Resolution & Team Harmony
• KJA to present Prayer 9X
Auditorium PowerPoint – 9 conflict resolution scenarios
Tuesday 18 March Day 3 8.35 am – 9.20 am
Practical Team Building Activities
• Opportunity to focus on group theme & group strengths
• Flow and engagement
• Reflection – add names to strengths poster
• Gratitude Journal
Sophia Centre Team Building Booklet
Friday 21 March Day 6 8.35 am – 9.40 am
Practical Team Building Activities
• Opportunity to focus on group theme & group strengths
• Flow and engagement
• Reflection – add names to strengths poster
• Gratitude Journal
Home Rooms (must clear space)
Team Building Booklet Gratitude Journal
Tuesday 25 March Day 2 8.35 am – 9.20 am
Team Harmony – Fox Process Drama
• Flow and engagement
• Gratitude Journal Prayer 9L
Sophia Centre MKE to provide resources FOX – Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks
Tuesday 1 April Day 3 8.35 am – 9.20 am
Team Harmony – Fox Process Drama
• Flow and engagement
• Gratitude Journal Prayer 9P
Sophia Centre MKE to provide resources FOX – Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks Gratitude Journal
Friday 4 April
Pos-Ed program
Positive Relationships & Stepping Up Together in
Library SLI to provide materials
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Day 0
P1&2 Easter Liturgy 11 am
Year 9 8.35 am – 8.45 am Prayer Gratitude Journal
Appendix E: Year 8 Strengths Lesson 8.10.5
Introducing the 24 Character Strengths
Posted on 28. Aug, 2008 by Julia Barnard in Articles, positive psychology, strengths Positive psychologists Chris Peterson and Martin Seligman have identified 24 strengths which can be seen as character traits. All of these strengths can be developed. A great deal of research has gone into looking into these strengths and how they can benefit happiness and wellbeing. Seligman suggests that we identify our signature strengths (our top strengths) and use these regularly in our lives. You can do this by visiting the Authentic Happiness website and completing the VIA Signature Strengths questionnaire. Using your signature strengths will feel effortless as they are part of who you are. Carrying out tasks and activities that provide you with opportunities to exercise your strengths are sure to make you feel good and give you more flow experiences. Consciously using these strengths will move you away from engaging in passive activities so frequently (e.g. watching television). The 24 strengths have been divided into groups of six distinct virtues: Wisdom and knowledge Courage Humanity Justice Temperance Transcendence
(http://makethechange.com.au/introducing-the-24-character-strengths/)
VIA Strengths Test
Your character strengths are already within you, but isolating and identifying those strengths can be complicated, confusing and incredibly time-consuming. The VIA Strengths Test is designed to help you easily discover the strengths you already have and gain deeper insight into what makes you who you are. You will need to go to the following link and enter your username (email address) and password.
This survey will take approximately 30 - 40 minutes to complete.
http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Entry.aspx?rurl=http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/testcenter.aspx
Appendix F: Lesson- Year 8 Strengths Revisited 8.10.6
Last semester in Pos-Ed, you undertook an analysis to identify your character strengths. In
this session you will re-visit these strengths.
Year 8 Pos-Ed Character Strengths Revisited
Why is it important to re-visit my strengths?
The reason for this is that at our very core, we each have our own set of strengths. These strengths play an important role in our daily lives. Usually, we feel energized and satisfied when we use our strengths. In fact, research shows that our greatest successes are the result of our using our unique strengths.
Opening Activity
What is one thing that went well for you last night?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Why do you think it is important to share what went well?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Key Task 1
What Are Your Top 5 Character Strengths?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Key Task 2
In the space below, brainstorm all of the activities you undertake across a typical week in your life. Consider the differing roles that you play and activities you are involved in. List these in the space below. You might consider, for example, performance at school, study habits at home, participation in home room, membership in a community action network group, participation in a peer group, commitment to a sporting team, contribution to the chores at home etc.
Appendix G: Lesson- Year 9 Strengths 8.10.7
Year 9 Pos-Ed Lesson: “Strengths in Teams” Materials –
• H/R Teachers to have a complete set of laminated ‘24 Character Strengths’ A4 Posters and have these posted up in their Home Room.
• Post-its for laminated posters • Rough work paper (student’s own)
*Student to bring their already completed Character Strengths printout.
Children’s VIA Strengths Test done in Year 8 Pos-Ed.
(It may be wise to remind your cohort by email prior to this session. They will not be able to participate in the activity without it. *If girls have lost / not kept their Strengths Summary, they should be able to print it from their “Authentic Happiness” a/c. They can re-do it if needed prior to this session).
Activity 1 – Girls will work from their individual Character Strengths summary (Year 8 Pos-Ed).
5 girls at a time to write their name on each of the “Character Strength” posters that represent their ‘top 5 strengths’. At the end of this activity, each girl should have their name written on 5 posters. Teachers can also join in, if they are willing to share!
Once this activity is complete, H/R teacher to give a very brief summary of which are the standout strengths in the cohort. *Please keep these in your Home Rooms as a visual reminder of student’s strengths and as a prompt for recognising when students are using their strengths. Activity 2 – Girls to write a statement of intention about 2 of their Top 5 strengths, and how these might play out in school life.
Brainstorm possible scenarios of where their strengths may apply at school e.g., co-curricular, in class, in Pos-Ed Team Building activities (e.g., could use their strength in a particular activity, to lead the group, to help keep group spirits up, to have a go at something new, to encourage the efforts of others etc.).
Which strength will you be using? How might you use this strength? Share this within the group. Students may like to add this to Goal Setting booklet Pos-ed Homework: Using your Gratitude Journal, complete an entry acknowledging how your top 5 strengths are a blessing in your life.
Appendix H: Activity Year 8 Gratitude Activity 8.10.8
Appendix I: Year 9 Gratitude Activity 8.10.9
Year 9 Pos-Ed Term 1 14/2/14
Mindfulness Script
Take a few moments to be still. This is the end of the day, but perhaps it is the first time you’ve really sat down and stopped for a few minutes. There’s no need to judge or analyse anything, just be present in the moment and for the next few minutes, focus on this exercise. Let go of where you’ve been and what has been on your mind today.
Let’s begin by closing your eyes and shifting your attention to your breathing. Breathe normally and place your hand gently on your belly. Breathing in and knowing that you’re breathing in. Breathing out and knowing that you’re breathing out. Breathe in and out as you normally would. There is no need to force it. Your lungs will fill naturally after they empty without you having to do anything.
At times the mind may wander away from awareness of breathing. This is natural. When you recognise that your mind is wandering, simply acknowledge where you went and come back to breathing in and out with awareness.
PAUSE: 20 secs
And now, take your attention away from your breathing and shift your focus to your body. Notice any sensations of warmth, coolness, tightness, tenseness, tingling, itchiness, discomfort and neutrality. Notice how your feet feel where they come into contact with the floor. Pay attention to your toes, the bottoms of your feet and your heels. Move your awareness up your legs, feeling into your shin, calves and where your legs connect into your knees. Move upwards over your upper legs and into your hips. Notice any sensations there. Notice how your bottom and back feel against the chair that you are sitting on.
Now lift your awareness up into your abdomen and tummy, and moving around, pay attention to the lower, middle and upper parts of your back. Feel any sensations that are there to be felt. Allow any tightness to soften and any tightness that’s not softening, to simply be.
Let the awareness shift now to the chest, into your heart and lungs. Feeling into the ribcage as your chest rises and falls. Notice your heart beating steadily away.
Moving along now, notice your fingertips, fingers and palms of your hand. Travel up your forearms and into your elbow joints. Move to your upper arms, feeling any sensations. Let the awareness move past your arms and into your shoulders, armpits and up along your neck. This is an area for many of us that we store tension.
Move still further into your head. Feel into your cheeks, mouth, teeth and tongue. Notice your eye sockets and ears. Being present.
Now expand your awareness to your body as a whole unit. Notice any thoughts you are having and any emotions you are feeling.
PAUSE: 10 secs
Expand your awareness further into this room. Open your eyes slowly. Notice what you can hear, see, smell, taste and feel. Congratulate yourself for sticking to this and having a go at focussing your attention fully for a few minutes. You will now use the remaining time to focus on your gratitude diary.
Gratitude Journal – Term 1 By now, your Gratitude Journal’s front and back cover should be decorated and you should have completed the first 3 entries. In today’s session, we would like you to complete the following 3 pages:
1. Strengths- Write one thing you think you are good at. It can be ANYTHING. Why do you think this strength is a gratitude for you?
2. Gratitude- Design a page in your Journal with the Year 12 theme “Ignite your light.”
On this page also explain how you think you might be able to embrace this theme this year. Identify 2 people that you feel you are grateful for at this point in time and why.
3. Goals- Last year, you studied key concepts and ideas about Positive Psychology
from your Textbook – Thinking Skills for Peak Performance. Write down two ways in which you think you could incorporate aspects of Positive Psychology into your life in 2014.
Some of those key terms included positive self-talk, flow, peak performance, team harmony and successful preparation etc.
Make sure you decorate all your pages and use inspirational quotes or images.
Year 9 Pos-Ed Term 1 14/2/14
Mindfulness Script
Take a few moments to be still. This is the end of the day, but perhaps it is the first time you’ve really sat down and stopped for a few minutes. There’s no need to judge or analyse anything, just be present in the moment and for the next few minutes, focus on this exercise. Let go of where you’ve been and what has been on your mind today.
Let’s begin by closing your eyes and shifting your attention to your breathing. Breathe normally and place your hand gently on your belly. Breathing in and knowing that you’re breathing in. Breathing out and knowing that you’re breathing out. Breathe in and out as you normally would. There is no need to force it. Your lungs will fill naturally after they empty without you having to do anything.
At times the mind may wander away from awareness of breathing. This is natural. When you recognise that your mind is wandering, simply acknowledge where you went and come back to breathing in and out with awareness.
PAUSE: 20 secs
And now, take your attention away from your breathing and shift your focus to your body. Notice any sensations of warmth, coolness, tightness, tenseness, tingling, itchiness, discomfort and neutrality. Notice how your feet feel where they come into contact with the floor. Pay attention to your toes, the bottoms of your feet and your heels. Move your awareness up your legs, feeling into your shin, calves and where your legs connect into your knees. Move upwards over your upper legs and into your hips. Notice any sensations there. Notice how your bottom and back feel against the chair that you are sitting on.
Now lift your awareness up into your abdomen and tummy, and moving around, pay attention to the lower, middle and upper parts of your back. Feel any sensations that are there to be felt. Allow any tightness to soften and any tightness that’s not softening, to simply be.
Let the awareness shift now to the chest, into your heart and lungs. Feeling into the ribcage as your chest rises and falls. Notice your heart beating steadily away.
Moving along now, notice your fingertips, fingers and palms of your hand. Travel up your forearms and into your elbow joints. Move to your upper arms, feeling any sensations. Let the awareness move past your arms and into your shoulders, armpits and up along your neck. This is an area for many of us that we store tension.
Move still further into your head. Feel into your cheeks, mouth, teeth and tongue. Notice your eye sockets and ears. Being present.
Now expand your awareness to your body as a whole unit. Notice any thoughts you are having and any emotions you are feeling.
Pause: 10 secs
Appendix J: Quantitative Survey 8.10.10
Michael's Well Being 2014 Welcome. This survey asks about your behaviour, experiences, and attitudes related to health, wellbeing, and schooling. You do not have to answer these questions, but your answers will be very helpful in improving school and health programs. You will be able to answer whether or not you have done or experienced any of these things.
Select only one answer or each question unless told to “Mark All That Apply.”
This survey asks about things you may have done during different periods of time, such as during the past 30 days. Please pay careful attention to these time periods. Thank you for helping!
Study Title: Examining psychological wellbeing constructs in relation to student life challenges.
Investigators: Mrs Madonna Ahern Dr. Peter Boman, Prof. Mike Furlong, Ms. Rachael Dawes, Ms. Claire Pennell, Ms. Allison Stalling, Kyra Greisbach. You are invited to participate in research being conducted by Masters students at the Queensland University of Technology. The overall aim of this research is to gain an understanding of how positive traits/ ways of viewing life effect the challenges of high school. This project has been approved by the Queensland University of Technology Ethics Board, as well as the Brisbane Catholic Education Ethics Board.
What will I be asked to do? You will be asked to do the following:
1. Read this form and then sign to say that you understand what this study is about and that you agree to take part.
2. Fill in basic information about yourself at the beginning of the online/hardcopy questionnaire.
3. Complete the 30-40 minute survey, which asks you a range of questions about you and your life at school.
Who is being asked to participate? We are inviting adolescents like you, from different high schools around Queensland to participate in this study and answer questions on this survey.
What if I have concerns about completing this questionnaire? If you have concerns regarding this questionnaire, please contact one of the primary researchers using the details below. Your participation in this study is voluntary.
If for some reason you feel uncomfortable or distressed while completing this survey, please tell your teacher and you will not need to complete the survey. In this case your survey results will be destroyed and your answers will not be used.
If completing this survey causes you any distress and you need someone to talk to please seek support. Counselling can be accessed through QUT Psychology clinic which can be contacted on 3138 0999 (please mention to the receptionist that you are a research participant).
Alternatively, Lifeline can be contacted on 3250 1900 (Brisbane), 3823 9400 (Capalaba), 3624 2400 (Chermside), 3442 1500 (Logan) or their 24 hour Support Line on 13 11 14. This information is also available at the end of the survey.
What about privacy? Any information we collect from you is confidential. We do not attach any of your personal detail (such as your name) to the information you complete on this questionnaire. Individual participants will not be identifiable.
Research project supervisor: Dr. Boman: [email protected], 3138 3934
Doctoral student: Madonna Ahern [email protected]
Psychology masters students: Ms. Dawes: [email protected] Ms. Pennell: [email protected] Ms. Stalling: [email protected] Ms. Kyra Greisbach: [email protected]
Page 2 St Michael's Well Being 2014 1. What are the FIRST TWO LETTERS of your mother's FIRST name? (e.g.: Mary = "Ma"; Flora = "Fl") 2. What is the DAY of your birth? (e.g.: 25 July = "25"; 10 November = "10") 3. What is the LAST LETTER of YOUR LAST name? (e.g.: Smith = "H"; Obama = "A") 4. What is your gender? 5. How old are you? 6. What grade are you in? 7. What is your postcode? * * * * * * * Male Female 12 13 14 15 16 17 Other, please specify 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th Page 3 St Michael's Well Being 2014 8. What is your favourite subject at school? Please Read Carefully Bullying happens when someone hurts or scares another person on purpose and the person being bullied has a hard time defending himself or herself. Usually, bullying happens over and over. • Punching, shoving and other acts that hurt people physically • Spreading bad rumours about people • Keeping certain people out of a “group” • Teasing people in a mean way or • Getting certain people to “gang up” on other
9. Have you been bullied this month at school? 10. How often have you been bullied? (Check one) 11. Do you like reading? 12. Do you have a social network account (Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc.)? * * * * * Maths English History Geography PE/HPE Computers Art Legal studies Business Other, please specify No Yes Once in the past month 2 or 3 times in the past month About once a week Several times a week No Yes No Yes Page 4 St Michael's Well Being 2014 13. What ethnicity do you primarily identify with? 14. What is your relationship status? 15. How many people live in your household including yourself? 16. Do you have a job? 17. How many hours a week do you work? 18. Do you consider yourself a spiritual person? 19. Which faith do you identify with? * * * * * * * Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Asian Maori South Sea Islander Other, please specify Single In a relationship 1 2 3
4 5 6 More than 6 No Yes No Yes Page 5 St Michael's Well Being 2014 20. School is a waste of time How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement about your school? 21. (A11) I feel close to people at this school. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement about your school? 22. (A12) I am happy to be at this school. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement about your school? 23. (A13) I feel like I am part of this school. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement about your school? * * * * Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Disagree nor Agree Agree Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Disagree nor Agree Agree Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Disagree nor Agree Agree Strongly Agree Page 6 St Michael's Well Being 2014 24. (A14) The teachers at this school treat students fairly. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement about your school? 25. (A15) I feel safe in my school. At my school, there is a teacher or some other adult… 26. (A16) who really cares about me. At my school, there is a teacher or some other adult… 27. (A17) who tells me when I do a good job. At my school, there is a teacher or some other adult… 28. (A18) who notices when I’m not there. At my school, there is a teacher or some other adult… * * * * * Strongly Disagree Disagree
Neither Disagree nor Agree Agree Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Disagree nor Agree Agree Strongly Agree Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Page 7 St Michael's Well Being 2014 29. (A19) who always wants me to do my best. At my school, there is a teacher or some other adult… 30. (A20) who listens to me when I have something to say. At my school, there is a teacher or some other adult… 31. (A21) who believes that I will be a success. At school… 32. (A22) I do interesting activities. At school… 33. (A23) I help decide things like class activities or rules. At school… * * * * * Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Page 8 St Michael's Well Being 2014 34. (A24) I do things that make a difference.
In the community… 35. (A 31) I am part of clubs, sports teams, church/temple, or other group activities. In the community… 36. (A32) I am involved in music, art, literature, sports, or a hobby. In the community… 37. (A33) I help other people. * * * * Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Page 9 St Michael's Well Being 2014 38. (A125) During the past 12 months, how would you describe the grades you mostly received in school? How much do you disagree or agree with this statement? 39. (H1) My family members really help and support one another. How much do you disagree or agree with this statement? 40. (H2) There is a feeling of togetherness in my family. How much do you disagree or agree with this statement? 41. (H3) My family really gets along well with each other. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. * * * * Mostly A's A's and B's Mostly B's B's and C's Mostly C's C's and D's Mostly D's Mostly F's Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Disagree
Agree Strongly Agree Page 10 St Michael's Well Being 2014 42. (H4) I have a friend my age who really cares about me. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 43. (H5) I have a friend my age who talks with me about my problems. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 44. (H6) I have a friend my age who helps me when I’m having a hard time. Select the answer that best describes how much you feel that this statement is like you personally. 45. (H7) I feel bad when someone gets their feelings hurt. Select the answer that best describes how much you feel that this statement is like you personally. 46. (H8) I try to understand what other people go through. Select the answer that best describes how much you feel that this statement is like you personally. * * * * * Not at all True A Little True Petty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Petty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Petty Much True Very Much True Not at all Like Me Not Very Much Like Me Like Me Very Much Like Me Not at all Like Me Not Very Much Like Me Like Me Very Much Like Me Page 11 St Michael's Well Being 2014 47. (H9) I try to understand how other people feel and think. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 48. (H10) I can calm myself down when I’m really excited. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 49. (H11) I can wait for my turn to talk. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 50. (H12) I can wait for what I want. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 51. (H13) I don’t bother others when they are busy. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. * * * * * Not at all Like Me Not Very Much Like Me Like Me Very Much Like Me
Really Untrue Sort of Untrue Sort of True Really True Really Untrue Sort of Untrue Sort of True Really True Really Untrue Sort of Untrue Sort of True Really True Really Untrue Sort of Untrue Sort of True Really True Page 12 St Michael's Well Being 2014 52. (H14) I think before I act. Select the answer that best describes how much you have experienced this feeling “since yesterday” 53. (H15) Grateful Select the answer that best describes how much you have experienced this feeling “since yesterday” 54. (H16) Thankful Select the answer that best describes how much you have experienced this feeling “since yesterday” 55. (H50) Appreciative These words describe feelings people have. Please read each one carefully. How much do you have this feeling right now? * * * * Really Untrue Sort of Untrue Sort of True Really True Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Page 13 St Michael's Well Being 2014 56. (H17) Energetic These words describe feelings people have. Please read each one carefully. How much do you have this feeling right now? 57. (H18) Active These words describe feelings people have. Please read each one carefully. How much do you have this feeling right now? 58. (H51) Lively
These words describe feelings people have. Please read each one carefully. How much do you have this feeling right now? 59. (H52) Alert Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. * * * * Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Page 14 St Michael's Well Being 2014 60. (H19) When I am uncertain what will happen next, I usually expect it to be something good. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 61. (H20) I am a lucky person. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 62. (H21) Each day I look forward to having a lot of fun. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 63. (H53) I usually expect to have a good day. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 64. (H54) Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than bad things. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. * * * * * Really Untrue Sort of Untrue Sort of True Really True Really Untrue Sort of Untrue Sort of True Really True Really Untrue Sort of Untrue Sort of True Really True Really Untrue Sort of Untrue
Sort of True Really True Really Untrue Sort of Untrue Sort of True Really True Page 15 St Michael's Well Being 2014 65. (H55) When things are bad, I expect them to get better. How much do you disagree or agree with this statement? 66. (H22) My life is going well. How much do you disagree or agree with this statement? 67. (H23) I would like to change many things in my life. How much do you disagree or agree with this statement? 68. (H24) I wish I had a different kind of life. How much do you disagree or agree with this statement? * * * * Really Untrue Sort of Untrue Sort of True Really True Strongly Disagree Moderately Disagree Mildly Disagree Mildly Agree Moderately Agree Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Moderately Disagree Mildly Disagree Mildly Agree Moderately Agree Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Moderately Disagree Mildly Disagree Mildly Agree Moderately Agree Strongly Agree Page 16 St Michael's Well Being 2014 69. (H25) I have a good life. How much do you disagree or agree with this statement? 70. (H56) I have what I want in life. Please rate how often you feel this emotion on a regular day. 71. (H26) Scared Please rate how often you feel this emotion on a regular day. 72. (H27) Cheerful Please rate how often you feel this emotion on a regular day. * * * * Strongly Disagree Moderately Disagree Mildly Disagree Mildly Agree
Moderately Agree Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Moderately Disagree Mildly Disagree Mildly Agree Moderately Agree Strongly Agree Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Page 17 St Michael's Well Being 2014 73. (H28) Lonely Please rate how often you feel this emotion on a regular day. 74. (H30) Gloomy Please rate how often you feel this emotion on a regular day. 75. (H31) Nervous Please rate how often you feel this emotion on a regular day. 76. (H33) Happy Please rate how often you feel this emotion on a regular day. * * * * Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Page 18 St Michael's Well Being 2014 77. (H57) Upset Please rate how often you feel this emotion on a regular day. 78. (H58) Sad Please rate how often you feel this emotion on a regular day. 79. Delighted Please rate how often you feel this emotion on a regular day.
80. Joyful Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. * * * * Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Not at All A Little Moderately Quite a Bit Extremely Page 19 St Michael's Well Being 2014 81. (H34) I can work out my problems. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 82. (H35) I can do most things if I try. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 83. (H36) There are many things that I do well. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 84. (H37) There is a purpose to my life. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 85. (H38) I understand my moods and feelings. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. * * * * * Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True
A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Page 20 St Michael's Well Being 2014 86. (H39) I understand why I do what I do. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 87. (H40) When I read a book, I do not like to take breaks until I finish it. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 88. (H41) When I read a book, I do not skip any pages. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 89. (H42) When I am doing homework I like to take breaks. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 90. (H43) I often stay up late to study. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. * * * * * Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Page 21 St Michael's Well Being 2014 91. (H44) When I do not understand something, I ask the teacher again and again until I understand. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 92. (H45) I try to answer all the questions asked in class. Select the answer that best describes how true you feel that this statement is about you personally. 93. (H46) When I try to solve a math problem, I will not stop until I find a final solution. The following section has 12 statements about how a person might feel about their school. Beside each statement there is a scale of 1 to 5. Please read each statement. If the statement is not at all true for you, select 1. If the statement is somewhat true for you, select 2. If the statement is as often as not true for you, select 3. If the statement is almost always true for you, select 4. If the statement is completely true for you, select 5. 94. People here notice when I’m good at something. * * *
* Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all True A Little True Pretty Much True Very Much True Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true Page 22 St Michael's Well Being 2014 95. It is hard for people like me to be accepted here. 96. Other students in this school take my opinions seriously. 97. Most teachers at this school are interested in me. 98. Sometimes I don’t feel as if I belong here. 99. There’s at least one teacher or other adult in this school I can talk to if I have a problem. * * * * * Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true Page 23 St Michael's Well Being 2014 100. Teachers here are not interested in people like me. 101. I am included in lots of activities at this school.
102. I can really be myself at this school. 103. The teachers here respect me. 104. I wish I were in a different school. * * * * * Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true Page 24 St Michael's Well Being 2014 105. Other students here like me the way I am. The next section of questions list of some ways that you might have felt or behaved. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 106. I was bothered by things that usually don’t bother me. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 107. I did not feel like eating; my appetite was poor. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 108. I felt that I could not shake off the blues, even with help from my family or friends. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 109. I felt I was just as good as other people. * * * * * Not at all true Somewhat true As often as not true Almost always true Completely true
Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Page 25 St Michael's Well Being 2014 Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 110. I had trouble keeping my mind on what I was doing. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 111. I felt depressed. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 112. I felt that everything I did was an effort. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 113. I felt hopeful about the future. 114. I thought my life had been a failure. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. * * * * * Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Page 26 St Michael's Well Being 2014 115. I felt fearful.
Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 116. My sleep was restless. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 117. I was happy. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 118. I talked less than usual. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 119. I felt lonely. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. * * * * * Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Page 27 St Michael's Well Being 2014 120. People were unfriendly. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 121. I enjoyed life. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 122. I had crying spells. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 123. I felt sad. Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. 124. I felt that people disliked me Mark how often you have felt this way during the past week. * * * * * Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days)
Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Page 28 St Michael's Well Being 2014 125. I could not get “going.” The questions in this scale ask you about your feelings and thoughts during the last month. In each case, you will be asked to indicate by circling how often you felt or thought a certain way. 126. In the last month, how often have you been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly? 127. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life? 128. In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and “stressed” * * * * Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day) Some or a little of the time (1-2 days) Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days) Most or all of the time (5-7 days) Never Almost Never Sometimes Fairly Often Very Often Never Almost Never Sometimes Fairly Often Very Often Never Almost Never Sometimes Fairly Often Very Often Page 29 St Michael's Well Being 2014 129. In the last month, how often have you felt confident about your ability to handle your personal problems? 130. In the last month, how often have you felt that things were going your way? 131. In the last month, how often have you found that you could not cope with all the things that you had to do? 132. In the last month, how often have you been able to control irritations in your life? 133. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things? * * * * *
Never Almost Never Sometimes Fairly Often Very Often Never Almost Never Sometimes Fairly Often Very Often Never Almost Never Sometimes Fairly Often Very Often Never Almost Never Sometimes Fairly Often Very Often Never Almost Never Sometimes Fairly Often Very Often Page 30 St Michael's Well Being 2014 134. In the last month, how often have you been angered because of things that were outside of your control? 135. In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them? 136. I accept responsibility for my actions. 137. When I make a mistake I admit it. 138. I can deal with being told no. For the following six questions, spirituality is defined as one’s relationship to God, or whatever you perceive to be Ultimate Transcendence. * * * * * Never Almost Never Sometimes Fairly Often Very Often Never Almost Never Sometimes Fairly Often Very Often Not at all Like Me Not Very Much Like Me Like Me Very Much Like Me Not at all Like Me Not Very Much Like Me Like Me Very Much Like Me Not at all Like Me
Not Very Much Like Me Like Me Very Much Like Me Page 31 St Michael's Well Being 2014 139. In terms of the questions I have about life, my spirituality answers. 140. Growing spiritually is: * * 0 = No Questions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 = Absolutely all my questions 0 = Not important to me 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 = More important than anything else Page 32 St Michael's Well Being 2014 141. When I am faced with an important decision, my spirituality… 142. Spirituality is… * * 0 = Plays absolutely no role 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 = Is always the overriding consideration 0 = Not part of my life 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 = The master motive of my life, directing every other aspect of my life
Page 33 St Michael's Well Being 2014 143. When I think of the things that help me to grow and mature as a person, my spirituality… 144. My spiritual beliefs affect… * * 0 = Has no effect on my personal growth 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 = Is absolutely the most important factor in my personal growth 0 = No aspect of my life 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 = Absolutely every aspect of my life
Appendix K: Consent Form 8.10.11
THIS FORM MUST BE RETURNED TO THE HOME ROOM TEACHER ONCE COMPLETED ***
PARENT AND STUDENT – CONSENT FORM FOR QUT RESEARCH PROJECT
“The relationship between positive psychological wellbeing and adolescent mental health.”
QUT Ethics Approval Number 1100001523
RESEARCH TEAM CONTACTS
Madonna Ahern School of Cultural & Professional Learning [email protected] 3858422
Claire Pennell School of Psychology and Counselling [email protected]
Allison Stalling School of Psychology and Counselling [email protected]
Kyra Greisbach School of Psychology and Counselling [email protected]
Dr Amanda Mergler
School of Cultural & Professional Learning [email protected] 3138 3308
Dr Peter Boman School of Cultural & Professional Learning [email protected] 3138 3934
STATEMENT OF PARENT CONSENT By signing below, you are indicating that you:
• Have read and understood the information document regarding this project. • Have had any questions answered to your satisfaction. • Understand that if you have any additional questions you can contact the research team.
• Understand that your child is free to withdraw at any time, without comment or penalty. • Understand that you can contact the Research Ethics Unit on 3138 5123 or email
[email protected] if you have concerns about the ethical conduct of the project.
• Understand that non-identifiable data collected in this project may be used as comparative data in future projects.
• Agree for my child to participate in the project. Parent’s Name
Parent’s Signature Date
STATEMENT OF STUDENT CONSENT Your parent or guardian has given their permission for you to be involved in this research project. This form is to seek your consent to participate in the research. By signing below, you are indicating that you:
• Have read and understood the information about this project. • Have discussed the project with your parent/guardian. • Have had any questions answered to your satisfaction. • Understand that if you have any additional questions you can contact the research team.
• Understand that you are free to withdraw at any time, without comment or penalty. • Understand that you can contact the Research Ethics Unit on 3138 5123 or email
[email protected] if you have concerns about the ethical conduct of the project.
• Agree to participate in the project. Student’s Name
Student’s Signature Date
Appendix L: Principal’s Approval 8.10.12
12 February 2012 Mrs M Ahern
Dear Donna I am happy to confirm my approval for you to conduct a study evaluating the Positive Psychology program of adolescent female students at the College. This study involves students at the College in 2013 and 2014. As you are aware the transition of students to secondary school is a very important aspect of the commencement of our school year, and the students’ continued wellbeing is also of the highest importance. Donna, I would like to wish you success for your project and I look forward to discussing the findings of your research. Sincerely
Alison Terrey Principal
Appendix M: Focus Group 1- Information and 8.10.13Consent Form
RESEARCH TEAM DESCRIPTION This project is being undertaken as part of an Educational Doctorate project by Madonna Ahern who is examining the relationship between positive psychological well-being and adolescent mental health. The first part of the project was a survey in which most Year 8 students have already participated. The second part of the project will involve focus group interviews that will provide in-depth qualitative data. The generation of this data is part of a seven phase study over 2.5 years. The purpose of this project is to be able to combine the findings of the focus groups with the quantitative survey data to examine the impact of the Positive Psychology program in the transition and following year of secondary school We would value your child’s input into this valuable project, which in the long term aims to influence future work with Australian adolescents. The information that you can provide will enable us to develop a greater level of insight into the relationship between positive psychological wellbeing and the ability to cope with the challenges of secondary school studies. If you and your child’s consent are gained, your child will participate in the focus groups over two years. Your child will only be asked to participate in one of the two focus groups over this time. The results of the focus groups combined with the results from the surveys will enable the researcher to measure the effectiveness of the school’s Positive Education Well-being Program known as Pos-Ed. PARTICIPATION Your child’s involvement will consist of participation in an audio recorded 50 minute Focus Group which will occur in school time. Your child will be asked to answer questions and be involved in discussion about the Pos-Ed program. Questions will include:
1. What parts of the Pos-Ed program do you think have helped you in relation to your wellbeing?
2. What parts of the Pos-Ed program do you think are the least useful to you in relation to your wellbeing?
3. How has the Pos-Ed program helped or not helped you- personally? Please note that if your child arrives late it may not be possible for them to participate. In addition to gaining permission for your child to participate in the Focus Group, both you and your child will be asked to sign a consent form before the Focus Group occurs. In order for your child to participate in the Focus Group, the consent form needs to be signed and
PARTICIPANT INFORMATION FOR QUT RESEARCH PROJECT
– Focus group –
“The relationship between positive psychological wellbeing and adolescent mental health.” QUT Ethics Approval Number 1100001523
Principal Researcher: Madonna Ahern–Student–Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Associate Researchers:
Dr Peter Boman and Dr Amanda–School of Cultural Professional Learning–Faculty of Education–QUT
returned by Friday 25 October 2013. If you agree for your child to participate they do not have to participate if they become uncomfortable during the Focus Group discussion. Your child’s participation in this project is entirely voluntary. If you do agree for your child to participate you can withdraw from the project without comment or penalty. If you withdraw, on request any identifiable information already obtained from you will be destroyed. Your decision for your child to participate or not participate will in no way impact upon your current or future relationship with the school (for example your grades) or QUT. EXPECTED BENEFITS It is expected that this project will not benefit you or your child directly. However, it may benefit future students at the school by enabling the development of a deeper understanding of the concept of positive psychological wellbeing. The examination of the above psychological relationships will also enable Mt St Michael’s Positive Education Wellness Program to be assessed for its effectiveness in building positive psychological strengths and enable the program to be revised accordingly. RISKS There are minimal risks associated with participation in this project. These include the possibility that your child may become concerned or distressed by the discussion in the Focus Group. As your child’s participation is voluntary they are under no obligation to answer all questions or be involved in the entire discussion. Your child may withdraw from the Focus Group at any time. Should your child become upset during the Focus Group it is recommended that they seek counselling. In the first instance counselling should be sought from school counselling services. PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY All comments and responses will be treated confidentially unless required by law. The names of individual persons are not required in any of the responses. The Focus Group will be audio recorded. The audio recordings will not be used for any other purpose and will be destroyed at the end of the project in 2014. The researcher and the person involved in the transcribing will be the only 2 people who will have access to the audio recording. CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE Submission of the completed parent consent form will be taken as permission for your child to participate in this research. In addition your child will be asked to give their consent to participate in the Focus Group prior to the day the Focus Group will occur. QUESTIONS / FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROJECT If have any questions or require further information please contact one of the research team members below. Dr Peter Boman Dr Amanda Mergler 3138 3934 [email protected] 3138 3308 [email protected] CONCERNS / COMPLAINTS REGARDING THE CONDUCT OF THE PROJECT QUT is committed to research integrity and the ethical conduct of research projects. However, if you do have any concerns or complaints about the ethical conduct of the project you may contact the QUT Research Ethics Unit on 3138 5123 or email [email protected]. The QUT Research Ethics Unit is not connected with the research project and can facilitate a resolution to your concern in an impartial manner.
Thank you for helping with this research project. Please keep this sheet for your information.
RESEARCH TEAM CONTACTS
STATEMENT OF PARENT CONSENT By signing below, you are indicating that you:
• Have read and understood the information document regarding this project. • Have had any questions answered to your satisfaction. • Understand that if you have any additional questions you can contact the research team. • Understand that you are free to withdraw at any time, without comment or penalty. • Understand that you can contact the Research Ethics Unit on 3138 5123 or email
[email protected] if you have concerns about the ethical conduct of the project. • Have discussed the project with your child and what is required of them if participating. • Understand that the project will include an audio recording. • Agree for your child to participate in the project.
Parent’s Name
Signature
Date
STATEMENT OF STUDENT CONSENT Your parent or guardian has given their permission for you to be involved in this research project. This form is to seek your consent to participate in the research. By signing below, you are indicating that you:
• Have read and understood the information about this project. • Have discussed the project with your parent/guardian. Have had any questions answered to your
satisfaction. • Understand that if you have any additional questions you can contact the research team. • Understand that you are free to withdraw at any time, without comment or penalty. • Understand that you can contact the Research Ethics Unit on 3138 5123 or email
[email protected] if you have concerns about the ethical conduct of the project. • Understand that the project will include an audio recording. • Agree to participate in the project.
Name
Signature
Date
CONSENT FORM FOR QUT RESEARCH PROJECT – Focus group –
“The relationship between positive psychological wellbeing and adolescent mental health.”
QUT Ethics Approval Number 1100001523
Madonna Ahern School of Cultural and Professional Learning [email protected] 3858 4222 Dr Peter Boman School of Cultural and Professional Learning [email protected] 3138 3934 Dr Amanda Mergler School of Cultural and Professional Learning [email protected] 3138 3308
Appendix N: Focus Group 2- Information and 8.10.14Consent Form
RESEARCH TEAM DESCRIPTION This project is being undertaken by Madonna Ahern as part of a Doctor of Education degree at QUT, under the supervision of Dr Peter Boman and Dr Amanda Merger. Madonna Ahern is examining the relationship between positive psychological wellbeing and adolescent mental health in relation to their involvement in the school’s Positive education program known as the Pos-Ed. The first part of the project was a survey in which most Year 8 students have already participated. The second part of the project will involve focus group interviews that will provide in-depth qualitative data. It is hoped that the project will be useful to the school as it improves the Pos-Ed program. The purpose of this project is to be able to combine the findings of the focus groups with the survey data to examine the effectiveness of the Pos-Ed program in Year 8 and 9. We would value your child’s input into this valuable project, which in the long term aims to influence future work with adolescents to enhance their wellbeing. The information that you can provide will enable us to develop a greater level of insight into the relationship between positive psychological wellbeing and the ability to cope with the challenges of secondary school studies. If you and your child’s consent are gained, your child will participate in the focus groups either at the beginning or end of Year 9. Your child will only be asked to participate in one of the two focus groups at either of these times. The results of the focus groups combined with the results from the surveys will enable the researcher to measure the effectiveness of the school’s Pos-Ed program. The results will also contribute to improving the Pos-Ed program in the school. PARTICIPATION Your child’s involvement will consist of participation in an audio recorded 50 minute Focus Group which will occur in normal Pos-Ed class time. Your child will be asked to answer questions and be involved in discussion about the Pos-Ed program. Questions will include:
4. What parts of the Pos-Ed program do you think have helped you in relation to your wellbeing?
5. What parts of the Pos-Ed program do you think are the least useful to you in relation to your wellbeing?
6. How has the Pos-Ed program helped or not helped you personally?
PARTICIPANT INFORMATION FOR QUT RESEARCH PROJECT
– Focus group –
“The relationship between positive psychological wellbeing and adolescent mental health” QUT Ethics Approval Number 1100001523
Principal Researcher:
Madonna Ahern–Student–Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Associate Researchers:
Dr Peter Boman and Dr Amanda Mergler–School of Cultural Professional Learning–Faculty of Education–QUT
Please note that if your child arrives late it may not be possible for them to participate. If you give permission for your child to participate in the Focus Group, both you and your child will be asked to sign the attached consent form before the Focus Group occurs. In order for your child to participate in the Focus Group, the consent form needs to be signed and returned by Monday 10 February 2014. If you agree for your child to participate they do not have to participate if they become uncomfortable during the Focus Group discussion. Your child’s participation in this project is entirely voluntary. If you do agree for your child to participate you can withdraw from the project without comment or penalty. Your decision for your child to participate or not participate will in no way impact upon your current or future relationship with the school (for example your grades) or QUT. EXPECTED BENEFITS It is expected that this project will not benefit you or your child directly although their involvement in the program is expected to benefit their personal development and wellness. However, it may benefit future students at the school by enabling further development of the Pos-Ed program. That is, the Pos-Ed program can be assessed for its effectiveness in building positive psychological strengths and enable the program to be revised accordingly. To compensate your daughter for her willingness to be involved in the project, she will receive a movie voucher to the value of $15. RISKS There are minimal risks associated with participation in this project. These include the possibility that your child may become concerned or distressed by the discussion in the Focus Group. As your child’s participation is voluntary they are under no obligation to answer all questions or be involved in the entire discussion. Your child may withdraw from the Focus Group at any time. Should your child become upset during the Focus Group it is recommended that they seek counselling. It is unlikely that your daughter will become concerned or anxious during the focus groups as there will be no discussion of sensitive material. If however your daughter does become distressed the researcher will offer counselling from the College psychologist. PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY All comments and responses will be treated confidentially unless required by law. The names of individual persons are not required in any of the responses. The Focus Group will be audio recorded. The audio recordings will not be used for any other purpose and will be destroyed at the end of the project in 2014. The researcher and the person involved in the transcribing will be the only two people who will have access to the audio recording. CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE Submission of the completed parent consent form will be taken as permission for your child to participate in this research. In addition your child will be asked to give their consent to participate in the Focus Group prior to the day the Focus Group will occur. Should you give permission for your daughter to participate then withdraw this consent, this will need to be in writing to the researcher.
QUESTIONS / FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROJECT If have any questions or require further information please contact one of the research team members below. Dr Peter Boman Dr Amanda Mergler 3138 3934 [email protected] 3138 3308 [email protected] Madonna Ahern 38584222 [email protected] CONCERNS / COMPLAINTS REGARDING THE CONDUCT OF THE PROJECT QUT is committed to research integrity and the ethical conduct of research projects. However, if you do have any concerns or complaints about the ethical conduct of the project you may contact the QUT Research Ethics Unit on 3138-5123 or email [email protected]. The QUT Research Ethics Unit is not connected with the research project and can facilitate a resolution to your concern in an impartial manner.
Thank you for helping with this research project. Please keep this sheet for your information.
CONSENT FORM FOR QUT RESEARCH PROJECT – Focus group –
“The relationship between positive psychological wellbeing and adolescent mental health.”
QUT Ethics Approval Number 1100001523
RESEARCH TEAM CONTACTS Madonna Ahern School of Cultural and Professional Learning [email protected] 3858 4222 Dr Peter Boman School of Cultural and Professional Learning [email protected] 3138 3934 Dr Amanda Mergler School of Cultural and Professional Learning [email protected] 3138 3308
STATEMENT OF PARENT CONSENT By signing below, you are indicating that you:
• Have read and understood the information document regarding this project. • Have had any questions answered to your satisfaction. • Understand that if you have any additional questions you can contact the research team. • Understand that you are free to withdraw at any time, without comment or penalty. • Understand that you can contact the Research Ethics Unit on 3138 5123 or email
[email protected] if you have concerns about the ethical conduct of the project. • Have discussed the project with your child and what is required of them if participating. • Understand that the project will include an audio recording. • Agree for your child to participate in the project.
Parent’s Name
Signature
Date
STATEMENT OF STUDENT CONSENT Your parent or guardian has given their permission for you to be involved in this research project. This form is to seek your consent to participate in the research. By signing below, you are indicating that you:
• Have read and understood the information about this project. • Have discussed the project with your parent/guardian. Have had any questions answered to your
satisfaction. • Understand that if you have any additional questions you can contact the research team. • Understand that you are free to withdraw at any time, without comment or penalty. • Understand that you can contact the Research Ethics Unit on 3138 5123 or email
[email protected] if you have concerns about the ethical conduct of the project. • Understand that the project will include an audio recording. • Agree to participate in the project.
Name
Signature
Date
Appendix O: Parent Letter- Focus Group 1 8.10.15
30 January 2014
Dear Parent/Guardian
We are asking for permission for your daughter to participate in a focus group interview that is an extension of the original survey that they completed for the assessment of the [xxxx] Positive Education (Pos-Ed) Wellness Program. This research has been approved by the Principal.
A focus group interview can be defined as a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members. The focus group interview with your daughter will comprise a small group of 6 students and they will be invited to share their perceptions and views about the Pos-Ed program that they have been involved in. The questions asked will be general questions designed to generate discussion among the students. There will be 2 focus groups: one in February 2014 and one in November 2014.
I will be the moderator of the focus group and I do not teach any of the girls in the focus group interview and do not have anything to do with their academic results. Participation is voluntary and your daughter will not be disadvantaged in any way if they choose not to participate. Should students choose to participate and become uncomfortable at any time during the focus group, they will be free to leave. The focus group session will take place in the conference room in the Mary Aikenhead Centre. This is a quiet area away from mainstream classrooms where students will feel comfortable to share their views of the Pos-Ed program that they experienced in Year 8. The focus group interview will take one lesson only and will occur in Pos-Ed time, and will in no way disadvantage students in regard to their classes for the day.
The purpose of the focus group interview will be to gather information from the students’ perspectives to assist the moderator and the school to improve the program. It is anticipated that future students will benefit from the evaluation and subsequent enhancement of the Pos-Ed program.
Students who agree to volunteer for the focus group interview will be rewarded with a movie voucher.
An Information & Consent Form is attached for you to complete and return. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me on 3858422.
Regards
Madonna Ahern
Deputy Principal
Appendix P: Parent Letter Focus Group 2 8.10.16
7 November 2014
Dear Parent/Guardian
Your daughter was involved in a focus group interview early this year and I are asking for permission for your daughter to participate in a second focus group interview In November this year. My supervisor has suggested that using the same participants in the second focus group would be more beneficial than asking six different students. This research has been approved by the Principal and is part of the evaluation of our Pos-Ed program.
A focus group interview can be defined as a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members. The focus group interview with your daughter will comprise a small group of six students and they will be invited to share their perceptions and views about the Pos-Ed program that they have been involved in. The questions asked will be general questions designed to generate discussion among the students.
I will be the moderator of the focus group and I do not teach any of the girls in the focus group interview and do not have anything to do with their academic results. Participation is voluntary and your daughter will not be disadvantaged in any way if they choose not to participate. Should students choose to participate and become uncomfortable at any time during the focus group, they will be free to leave. The focus group session will take place in the conference room in the [xxxx] Centre. This is a quiet area away from mainstream classrooms where students will feel comfortable to share their views of the Pos-Ed program that they experienced in Year 8. The focus group interview will take one lesson only and will occur in Pos-Ed time (Tuesday 18 November), and will in no way disadvantage students in regard to their classes for the day.
The purpose of the focus group interview will be to gather information from the students’ perspectives to assist the moderator and the school to improve the program. It is anticipated that future students will benefit from the evaluation and subsequent enhancement of the Pos-Ed program.
Students who agree to volunteer for the focus group interview will be rewarded with a movie voucher.
An Information & Consent Form is attached for you to complete and return. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me on 3858422.
Regards
Madonna Ahern
Deputy Principal