Positive Psychology and

Christian Education What Could Positive Psychology Possibly

Teach Us About Christian Education?

Audine Evans Psychologist & School Counsellor

The Illawarra Grammar School

AEC Agora workshop - August 2013

Christianity vs Happiness Mantra

Theory of Positive Psychology

Goals

Flourishing / developing wellbeing

lowering depression

solution-focused not deficit focused

The focus is on growth, hope, enhancing strengths, and

solving problems

gratitude, thankfulness, signature strengths

greater wellbeing enhances all learning and creative

thinking

Christianity and Positive Psychology

P Positive emotion

Joy, love, gratitude, hope, peace, contentment,

All have talents, use them often and grow to be like Christ,

E Engagement/flow

Give up yourself and enjoy the beauty of God and life

R Relationships

With God and others

M Meaning

Serve God, bring God glory and honour, be like Christ

A Achievement/mastery

Refine gifts, evangelize, overcome sin, grow in obedience

The chief end of man…

Children’s Experiences

Adolescent Experiences

Is current education meeting the holistic

needs of children?

Why Add Positive Psychology to

Education?

Well-being needs to be taught in school on three grounds:

as an antidote to depression,

as a vehicle for increasing life satisfaction,

and as an aid to better learning and more creative

thinking.

(Seligman et al, 2009)

Christian Education –

Joins Positive Psychology and Education

Is “enhancing wellbeing”

in the Christian context

just another way of saying

“growing in Christlikeness?”

Positive Christian Education

Consider …

What are your goals for educating children?

What do you value as key elements of education?

Where have these goals and values come from? What

influenced their development?

Where does your theology and faith intersect with your

educational knowledge and goals?

How is your wellbeing, the wellbeing of your staff, and

the wellbeing of the school community?

Christianity

Saved into relationship with God (child of God, sibling of Christ)

Bring glory to God, honour God with our lives

Become more like Christ, maturing/building the good & overcoming the bad

Daily know the love and joy of Trinity (John ?)

Develop, refine and share our God-given gifts

Enhancing church growth/maturity

Witness to world, make disciples

Positive education: positive psychology and

classroom interventions

Martin E. P. Seligman, Randal M. Ernst, Jane Gillham,

Karen Reivich and Mark Linkins.

(Oxford Review of Education Vol. 35, No. 3, June 2009, pp.

293–311)

Positive Psychology Interventions (PPI’s)

1. Identify and nurture character strengths and virtues

6 virtues

24 strengths

(www.authentichappiness.org;

www.viacharacter.org)

(© 2004-2012 VIA® Institute on Character)

PPI’s (cont.)

2. Participate in extra-curricular activities

3. Development of social competence

4. Building optimism

5. Encouraging flow

6. Practicing Gratitude

(Seligman et al, 2009)

Teaching Positive Psychology

Signature Strengths

Positive Emotion

Resilience

Active Constructive Responding (ACR)

(Seligman et al, 2009)

Embedding Positive Psychology

The process of embedding Positive Education into

most academic courses, on the sports field, in pastoral

counselling, in music and in the chapel.

English

Religious Ed

Geography

LOTE

Athletics

Chapel

(Seligman et al, 2009)

Living Positive Psychology

Start with yourself

Gratitude diary

Thankfulness letter

What Went Well (WWW) 3 Good things per day

Meaningful relationship experiences

Refining talent, gift, skill

Know your strengths (VIA strengths assessment tool),

name them and deliberately use them daily.

Get to know others strengths, name them and affirm them

when you see them being shown/used