Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Geelong Grammar Positive Psychology Experience

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Social and Emotional Learning in Australia and the Asia-Pacific

Abstract

The emergence of the positive psychology movement has seen a significant redirection of scientific inquiry towards the exploration of optimal human functioning, and interest is now growing in how this knowledge can be applied in real-world settings. Positive Education refers to the application of positive psychology in schools. Social emotional learning (SEL) is a critical component of Positive Education, though Positive Education also incorporates a focus on other factors such as character strengths and the development of meaning and purpose. Geelong Grammar School (GGS) is an independent, Anglican, co-educational, boarding, and day school. It is located across four campuses in Victoria, Australia, with over 1500 students. In 2008, during a 6 month visit by Professor Martin Seligman and with extensive support from his colleagues, GGS began implementing positive psychology as a whole-school approach. Positive Education as implemented at GGS seeks to combine principles of positive psychology with best practice teaching and educational paradigms to promote optimal development and flourishing in the school setting. This chapter discusses (1) the GGS ‘road map’ to implementing Positive Education as a whole-school approach, (2) ongoing research and evaluation efforts to further understand the impact of the programme at the level of staff, students, and the broader school community, (3) key practice issues, and (4) challenges and opportunities for further programme development. Positive Education continues to experience growing momentum both in Australia and internationally, and holds promise as a means of contributing to the well-being of school communities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adelman, H. S., & Taylor, L. (1999). Mental health in schools and system restructuring. Clinical Psychology Review, 19(2), 137–163.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bacigalupe, G. (2001). Is positive psychology only White psychology?.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolier, L., Haverman, M., Westerhof, G. J., Riper, H., Smit, F., & Bohlmeijer, E. (2013). Positive psychology interventions: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. BMC public health, 13(1), 1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bond, L., Glover, S., Godfrey, C., Butler, H., & Patton, G. C. (2001). Building capacity for system-level change in schools: Lessons from the Gatehouse project. Health Education & Behavior, 28(3), 368–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunwasser, S. M., Gillham, J. E., & Kim, E. S. (2009). A meta-analytic review of the Penn Resiliency Program’s effects on depressive symptoms. Journal of Counsulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 1042–1054.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weissberg, R., Goren, P., Domitrovich, C., & Dusenbury, L. (2013). CASEL guide effective social and emotional learning programs: Preschool and elementary school edition. Chicago, IL: CASEL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clancey, E. (2014). Staff experiences of wellbeing in the context of positive education. Deakin University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohn, M. A., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2010). In search of durable positive psychology interventions: Predictors and consequences of long-term positive behavior change. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(5), 355–366.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cooperrider, D. L., & Whitney, D. (2001). A positive revolution in change: Appreciative inquiry. Public Administration and Public Policy, 87, 611–630.

    Google Scholar 

  • Copland, M. A. (2003). Leadership of inquiry: Building and sustaining capacity for school improvement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 25(4), 375–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubroja, K. (2014). Engaging parent in positive education: Results from a pilot program. The University of Melbourne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, B., Hawkins, M., Letcher, P., Little, K., Macdonald, J., Oberklaid, F., et al. (2013). The Australian temperament project: The first 30 years. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elias, M. J., Zins, J. E., Graczyk, P. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2003). Implementation, sustainability, and scaling up of social-emotional and academic innovations in public schools. School Psychology Review, 32(3), 303–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. The American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gable, S. L., & Reis, H. T. (2010). Good news! Capitalizing on positive events in an interpersonal context. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 195–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Govindji, R., & Linley, P. A. (2007). Strengths use, self-concordance and well-being: Implications for strengths coaching and coaching psychologists. International Coaching Psychology Review, 2(2), 143–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Granic, I., & Patterson, G. R. (2006). Toward a comprehensive model of antisocial development: A dynamic systems approach. Psychological Review, 113(1), 101.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Green, S., Oades, L., & Robinson, P. (2011). Positive education: Creating flourishing students, staff and schools. InPsych (April).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hallam, W., Olsson, C., O’Connor, M., Hawkins, M., Toumbourou, J., Bowes, G., et al. (2014). Association between adolescent eudaimonic behaviours and emotional competence in young adulthood. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15(5), 1165–1177. doi:10.1007/s10902-013-9469-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallinger, P., & Heck, R. H. (2002). What do you call people with visions? The role of vision, mission and goals in school leadership and improvement Second international handbook of educational leadership and administration (pp. 9–40): Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, S., & Hamilton, M. (2009). The transition to adulthood: Challenges of poverty and structural lag. In R. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (3rd ed., pp. 492–526). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, A. (2004). Distributed leadership and school improvement leading or misleading? Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 32(1), 11–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, D. M. (2009). Reflecting on social emotional learning: A critical perspective on trends in the United States. Review of educational research, 79(2), 533–556. doi:10.3102/0034654308325184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, D. (2011). Powerful learning: Taking educational reform to scale: Education Policy and Research Division, Office for Policy, Research and Innovation, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 491–525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lendrum, A., & Humphrey, N. (2012). The importance of studying the implementation of interventions in school settings. Oxford Review of Education, 38(5), 635–652. doi:10.1080/03054985.2012.734800

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lendrum, A., Humphrey, N., & Wigelsworth, M. (2013). Social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) for secondary schools: Implementation difficulties and their implications for school-based mental health promotion. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 18(3), 158–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linley, P. A., Nielsen, K. M., Gillett, R., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). Using signature strengths in pursuit of goals: Effects on goal progress, need satisfaction, and well-being, and implications for coaching psychologists. International Coaching Psychology Review, 5(1), 6–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran, J. W., & Brightman, B. K. (2000). Leading organizational change. Journal of Workplace Learning, 12(2), 66–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noble, T., & McGrath, H. (2008). The positive educational practices framework: A tool for facilitating the work of educational psychologists in promoting pupil wellbeing. Educational and Child Psychology, 25(2), 119–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norrish, J., & O’Connor, M. (2015). Research and evaluation. In J. M. Norrish (Ed.), Positive education: The Geelong grammar school journey (pp. 275–288). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Norrish, J. M., Williams, P., O’Connor, M., & Robinson, J. (2013). An applied framework for Positive Education. International Journal of Wellbeing, 3(2), 147–161. doi:10.5502/ijw.v3i2.2

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, M., Sanson, A., Toumbourou, J. W., Norrish, J., & Olsson, C. (in press). Does positive mental health in adolescence longitudinally predict healthy transitions in young adulthood? Journal of Happiness Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2006). Moral competence and character strengths among adolescents: The development and validation of the values in action inventory of strengths for youth. Journal of adolescence, 29(6), 891–909.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2008). Positive psychology and character strengths: Application to strengths-based school counseling. Professional School Counseling, 12(2), 85–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. (2003). Character strengths before and after September 11. Psychological Science, 14(4), 381–384.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rao, M. A., & Donaldson, S. I. (in press). Expanding opportunities for diversity in positive psychology: An examination of gender, race and ethnicity. Canadian Psychology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rashid, T., Anjum, A., Lennox, C., Quinlan, D., Niemiec, R., Mayerson, D., et al. (2013). Assessment of character strengths in children and adolescents In C. Proctor & P. Linley (Eds.), Research, Applications, and Interventions for Children and Adolescents. e-book: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes, J. A., Elias, M. J., Parker, S. J., & Rosenblatt, J. L. (2013). Promoting educational equity in disadvantaged youth: The role of resilience and social-emotional learning. Handbook of Resilience in Children, 9781461436607, 349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. (2011). Flourish. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M., Ernst, R., Gillham, J., Reivich, K., & Linkins, M. (2009). Positive education: Positive psychology and classroom interventions. Oxford Review of Education, 35, 293–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shoshani, A., & Steinmetz, S. (2013). Positive psychology at school: A school-based intervention to promote Adolescents’ mental health and well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1–23. doi:10.1007/s10902-013-9476-1

  • Stevanovic, N. (2015). Use of coping skills acquired through positive education to meet the challenges of the emerging Adulthood period. (Master of Educational Psychology), The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoll, L., Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Wallace, M., & Thomas, S. (2006). Professional learning communities: A review of the literature. Journal of Educational Change, 7(4), 221–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Styhre, A. (2002). Non-linear change in organizations: Organization change management informed by complexity theory. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 23(6), 343–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sugai, G., & Horner, R. R. (2006). A promising approach for expanding and sustaining school-wide positive behavior support. School Psychology Review, 35(2), 245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vella-Brodrick, D., Rickard, N., & Chin, T.-C. (2014). An evaluation of positive education at Geelong grammar school: A snapshot of 2013. Melbourne, Australia: The University Of Melbourne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waters, L., & White, M. (2015). Case study of a school wellbeing initiative: Using appreciative inquiry to support positive change. International Journal of Wellbeing, 5(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, P., Kern, M. L., & Waters, L. (2015). A longitudinal examination of the association between psychological capital, perception of organizational virtues and work happiness in school staff. Psychology of Well-Being, 5(1), 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, A. M., Linley, P. A., Maltby, J., Kashdan, T. B., & Hurling, R. (2011). Using personal and psychological strengths leads to increases in well-being over time: A longitudinal study and the development of the strengths use questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(1), 15–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank all staff, visitors, and academics who have generously contributed their time and expertise to the development of Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School. All named authors are employees of Geelong Grammar School, Victoria, Australia.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geelong Grammar School, Institute of Positive Education, Geelong, Australia

    Meredith O’Connor & Georgiana Cameron

  2. Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Meredith O’Connor

Authors
  1. Meredith O’Connor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Georgiana Cameron
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Meredith O’Connor .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Erica Frydenberg

  2. University of New South Wales, School of Education, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Andrew J. Martin

  3. School of Education, University of New South Wales School of Education, Sydney, Australia

    Rebecca J. Collie

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

O’Connor, M., Cameron, G. (2017). The Geelong Grammar Positive Psychology Experience. In: Frydenberg, E., Martin, A., Collie, R. (eds) Social and Emotional Learning in Australia and the Asia-Pacific. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3394-0_19

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation