PERMA – Positive Education + The Theory of Wellbeing
According to Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, positive psychology is founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work and play.
Yet suicide is still the largest single cause of death in Australian teenagers and over 75% of all mental health conditions start before the age of 25.
Based on the PERMA framework for positive education, flourishing is more than just the absence of illness, it is the deliberate development and enhancement of the traits and elements which act as the building blocks for a positive and flourishing life.
Positive education has at its core the Theory of Wellbeing. The theory explains that we need to address each aspect to create an optimistic and flourishing life. Attending to each aspect of this framework gives us the greatest possible chance to function at our best.
The framework is known as P.E.R.M.A and is explained here:
- Positive emotion
- Engagement
- Relationships
- Meaning
- Accomplishment
You will notice quite a crossover with my 6 Core Needs of Teens Framework which I wrote a report on a little while ago (download report here):
- Certainty, Safety, Calm
- Variety, Adventure
- Connection and Relationships
- Significance
- Growth and Progress
- Contribution and Purpose
By assessing each of the elements of the PERMA framework and being deliberate about how we build them into the classroom at every level, we can be much more proactive about developing and enhancing student wellbeing.
The field of positive education has included research into important topics such as resilience, positive emotion, engagement, character strengths, relationships and meaning.
Research has shown that positive education can lead to outcomes for students such as higher well-being and higher academic achievement. Additionally, learning the skills for well-being at school can have long term effects on career success, job satisfaction and income.
Additionally, longitudinal research with students in grades 7 to 10 found that those students who experienced frequent positive emotions in school were more likely to display higher social support seeking.
Over the following 5 Articles I will be digging deeper into the PERMA Framework, unpacking what each component means and offering a number of practical tools and strategies to implement the PERMA Framework into your work in the classroom or with young people.
