Positive Psychology in Education
August 3, 2007
What happens when positive psychology principles are truly applied in an educational setting? Answering this question invites at least two tactics: 1st, identifying which principles are in question; and 2nd, considering schools which may not identify with the label “positive psychology”.
Let’s consider that the underlying principle of positive psychology as applied to education is simply focusing on what’s right with individual students while recognizing their learning difficulties and challenges. A school that successfully applies that method is Landmark School (http://www.landmarkschool.org), a school for elementary, middle- and high-school students with verbal learning disabilities. Practically speaking, this means that students who are not able to perform at their grade level in reading, writing, or arithmetic are not penalized for what they are not achieving. Instead, they are rewarded (generally with praise or encouragement) for every accomplishment, whether academic or social behavior, and regardless of its scope. Each step forward, no matter how small, is celebrated.
What happens when students begin to receive this new sort of response after years of low test grades, frequent reprimands, and continuous failure for their efforts? After a few months, they begin to respond differently, to take risks in class by volunteering for board work or asking a question. Put another way, the students begin to feel hope. The challenge to the teacher is to design the tasks to be small enough for student success, yet large enough to maintain student interest.
Landmark School includes micro-structure of tasks as one of their basic teaching principles, yet does not self-identify as a school based on positive psychology. It is my opinion that Landmark exemplifies positive psychology in education.
Please share your perspective! If you have experience of principles of positive psychology applied in another educational setting, let us know.