Positive Psychology Goes to School: Conceptualizing Students’ Happiness in 21^st Century Schools While ‘Minding the Mind!’ Are We There Yet? Evidence-Backed, School-Based Positive Psychology Interventions

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine school-based interventions that have been designed and developed to promote students’ happiness, well-being, and academic achievement using a positive psychology approach that focuses on cultivating positive emotions, resilience, and positive character strengths. The current paper outlines the positive psychology movement and reviews evidence from 12 school-based positive psychology interventions that have been systematically evaluated, in response to calls from the 21st century education movement for schools to incorporate students’ happiness and well-being as a focus of learning. The findings of this research shows that positive psychology programs are linked to students’ health, relationships, happiness, and academic success. The article offers recommendations for additional development of positive psychology interventions in schools, and explores those factors and variables that may influence positive psychology interventions to be extended and more systematically integrated into schools for happiness and well-being of students.

Exploring positive psychology intervention and mindfulness-based intervention in nature: impact on well-being of school students in India

“…Both interventions displayed significant improvement in comparison with the control group in all variables, i.e., an increase in well-being, gratitude, nature in self, sense of connectedness, resilience, awareness, positive affect, and a decrease in stress and negative affect levels. This is in line with previous meta-analytic evidence on the effectiveness of MBIs in nature ( 34 ), MBIs in schools ( 28 – 32 ), and PPIs in a school setting ( 36 , 37 ). These findings further add to the studies that we built upon, such as Pirchio et al ( 88 ), who demonstrated positive outcomes of a school intervention focusing on contact with nature (on psycho-physical well-being, connectedness to nature, and prosocial behavior of students) in the intervention group than the control group as well as Choe and Sheffield ( 33 ), offering essential insights on the impact of natural surroundings in improving intervention efficacy.…”

“…Similarly, PPIs conducted in a school setting, focusing on positive emotions and positive behaviors, have also received ample support from the literature ( 36 , 37 ) while having the scope for further investigation in India ( 38 ). This is especially relevant for the Indian context: 39% of the Indian population consists of children and youth, often regarded as the nation’s future ( 39 ).…”

Mini Review on the Importance of Positive Psychology in Education

“…Evidence suggests that a positive scholarly climate is related to students' less aggressive behavior [24]. A systematic review of positive psychology interventions in schools concludes that evidence has demonstrated that positive programs are associated with students' health and academic success [25].…”

Studi Deskriptif Kebahagiaan pada Mahasiswa Baru

“…Rendahnya tingkat kebahagiaan dapat menurunkan prestasi dan motivasi belajar mahasiswa baru (Alam, 2022). Kebahagiaan yang rendah juga akan menurunkan optimisme mahasiswa baru dalam menjalani kehidupan (Demirtas, 2020).…”