Helping Families Flourish
Positive Education combines the science of Positive Psychology with Education to increase the wellbeing of students, staff, families and the community. Currently this focus is aimed at school-aged students, from Prep through to Year 12. Considering the key age of development in children is birth to five years, we need to start earlier.
“Opportunities exist for the implementation of positive psychology interventions and the harnessing of synergies between early childhood services and global pedagogies.”1.
This is the vision for Positive Childcare.
Positive Education and the Science of Positive Psychology
Positive education integrates the evidence-based science of positive psychology with education. Research has shown this improves both learning outcomes and student wellbeing. 2 The father of positive psychology, Martin Seligman presents positive psychology as the science of wellbeing, focussing on human flourishing, for both individuals and the planet. Subsequently, when the core principles of positive psychology and education collide, it has the capacity to positively impact the students, parents, teachers and the whole-school community.
Know Your Child is taking the principles of Positive Psychology and embedding them into early childhood education to create “Positive Childcare”.
Evidence suggests that the need for wellbeing in education has the dual benefit of promoting academic learning, and on the flip-side, plays a crucial role in preventing mental health issues. 3 Mental health is a significant concern for families. Infants and preschool children in the first five years of their life, are being identified with symptoms of depression, anxiety, aggression, being withdrawn and acting-out behaviours. 4
Furthermore, the problems with mental health in early childhood have been linked to “poor immediate and future outcomes, including lower school performance” 4 Evidently, a report by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), links school readiness with a child’s performance in preschool years. 5 It indicates that a disparity in achievement when starting school, promotes further social and mental health problems. This suggests a focus on wellbeing in early years education is critical, to support and promote learning and wellness, as well as an intervention to the growing mental health issues in early childhood.
Know Your Child Positive Childcare is about supporting early years educators to help increase the wellbeing of children and their family. Wellbeing is about the child, the parent, and the educator. Each of these roles cannot be separated in their impact of the child. With a whole-child approach, the synergy of each environment is crucial to achieve the overall goal of wellbeing.
References:
1. Baker, L., Green, S., & Falecki, D. (2017). Positive early childhood education: Expanding the reach of positive psychology into early childhood. European Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 1(8) Retrieved from http://www.nationalwellbeingservice.org/volumes/volume-1-2017/volume-1-article-8/
2. Noble, T., & McGrath, H. (2015). PROSPER: A New Framework for Positive Education. Psych Well-Being, 5:2. doi: 10.1186/s13612-015-0030-2
3. Waters, L., Sun, J., Rusk, R., Cotton, A. & Arch, A. (2017). Positive Education. Visible Wellbeing and Positive Functioning in Students. Wellbeing, Recovery and Mental Health, 245-263. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=7YXuDQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA245&dq=visible+wellbeing+and+positive+functioning+in+students&ots=Q3FHCFMco_&sig=Flp0ZsBoiL69NV8IvPLpv5HLlbk#v=onepage&q=visible%20wellbeing%20and%20positive%20functioning%20in%20students&f=false
4. KidsMatter. (2017) A framework for improving children’s mental health and well-being. Retrieved November 1, 2017 from https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au/early-childhood/kidsmatter-early-childhood-practice/framework-improving-childrens-mental-health-and
5. Australian Research Alliance for Children & Youth (ARACY). (2007). School Readiness [Evidence into Action Topical Paper]. Retrieved from https://www.aracy.org.au/publications-resources/command/download_file/id/131/filename/School_Readiness.pdf