1. Dr. Kate Hefferon, PhD
London Festival of Education
November 17th, 2012

2. “Positive psychology is the scientific study of optimal
human functioning [that] aims to discover and promote
the factors that allow individuals and communities to
thrive.”
(Seligman, 1999)
 Positive psychology focuses on well-being, happiness,
flow, personal strengths, resilience, wisdom,
creativity etc. as well as characteristics of positive
groups and institutions

3.  Unprecedented increase in childhood
and adolescent depression
 2% of children aged 11–15 and 11%
of youth aged 16–24 in the UK suffer
a major depressive disorder
 Childhood and adolescent depression
linked to higher rates of academic
and interpersonal difficulties,
smoking, use of drugs and alcohol
and attempted suicide
(Green, McGinnity, Meltzer, Ford, & Goodman, 2005;
Covey, Glassman, & Stetner, 1998; Garrison,
Jackson, Addy, McKeown, & Waller, 1989).

4.  Subjective well being (Deiner, 2009)
 Psychological well being (Ryff, 2012)
 Positive emotions (Fredrickson, 2003; 2004; 2009)
 Character strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004)
 Resilience and flourishing (Reivich & Shatte,
Seligman, 2011)

5. “In one or two words, what do you most want for your children?
In one or two words, what do schools teach?” (Seligman, 2011)

6. “…aims to develop the skills of well-being, flourishing
and optimal functioning in children, teenagers and
students, as well as parents and educational
institutions”.
 Preventative and enabling developmental approaches
 Underpinned by empirical validation and evidence
based practice

7.  Time limited approaches
(3 months- 1 year)
 Stand alone programmes
 Curriculum embedment
 School ethos
 Primary and secondary
 University (Gokcen, Hefferon & Aitree, 2012)

8.  Penn Resiliency Programme (USA; UK)
(Gillham, Reivich, Seligman & Silver,
1995)
 Bounce Back! (Australia) (McGrath &
Noble, 2003)
 Making Hope Happen (Lopez et al,
2004)
 Wisdom Curriculum (Reznitskaya &
Sternberg, 2004)
 Focus on social competence, emotional
competence, resilience, optimism,
moral and intellectual development

9.  16 years ; 13 RCT’s, 1000’s of
participants (Seligman, 2002, 2007;
Reivich & Shatté, 2002; Reivich et
al, 2007)
 Reductions in depressive
symptoms, anxiety and behavioural
problems
 Reduce the incidence of depression
and anxiety by 50% at the three-
year follow-up period (Gillham,
Reivich & Freres, 2007)
 https://www.education.gov.uk/pub
lications/eOrderingDownload/DCS
F-RR094.pdf

10.  Embed in ethos
 School-wide programmes (involving all staff and
pupils) to promote psychological well-being are more
likely to be effective than class-based interventions
(Wells, Barlow & Stewart-Brown, 2003; Waters, 2011)
 A positive climate in the school as a whole is
associated with teacher and student satisfaction,
lower stress levels, and better academic results
(Sangsue & Vorpe, 2000)

11.  Increased levels of well-being
 Fewer conduct problems and emotional issues
 Enhanced pro-social behaviors
 Higher academic performance
 School personnel best to implement rather than outsider
 Must be well executed and accordingly
 Need more follow up studies (beyond 6 months)
(Durlak et al. 2011)

12.  Relatively new area of psychology
 Costly to schools
 Need to be careful not to ‘prescribe’
 Only use evidence based interventions
 Research further into:
a) Age
b) Culture
c) Special needs

13.  Positive psychology is the science of optimal human
functioning
 Significant amounts of research supporting
importance of SWB, positive emotions and strengths
 Positive psychology is being used in education for
stand alone and/or ongoing interventions
 These are showing positive results in reducing
depression and enhancing well being
 More research needed in areas of secondary school,
university and special needs education

14.  University of East London
http://www.uel.ac.uk/psychology/
 Action for happiness
http://www.actionforhappiness.org/
 The Well-Being Institute
http://www.cambridgewellbeing.org/
 CAPP http://www.cappeu.org/
 The Young
Foundationhttp://www.youngfoundation.org.uk/
 New Economics Foundation
http://www.neweconomics.org
 Centre for Confidence and Well-Being
http://www.centreforconfidence.co.uk

15.  Hefferon, K. & Boniwell, I. (2011). Positive
Psychology: Theory, research and applications.
London: Open University Press.
 Waters, L. (2011). A Review of School-Based
Positive Psychology Interventions. The Australian
Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 28,
2, 75-90.
 Gokcen, N., Hefferon, K., & Attree, E.A. (2012).
University students’ constructions of ‘flourishing’ in
British higher education: an inductive content
analysis. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(1),
1-21.

16. K.hefferon@uel.ac.uk
www.katehefferon.com