Wellbeing Post16 - Positive Further Education

Positive education aims to promote flourishing by marrying up best-practice teaching with research on the science of wellbeing. The benefits include increases in student attainment, behaviour, and mental health. It is widely recognised that to successfully build flourishing school communities, an embedded approach throughout a school is required. This is something that I have been working towards in my teaching for the past few years, encouraging a shift in classroom culture, to create a balance between teaching skills for good wellbeing and high academic achievement. I am a strong believer that positive education should be a vital part of student’s experiences - it is not rocket science after all, that happy students learn better, and happy teachers stay in the profession for longer.

My passion for positive education has led me to recently qualify as a positive education consultant. This has given me the opportunity to deliver training to staff and students and see first-hand, the varied and amazing work being done by dedicated educators, to improve the wellbeing of their pupils. With a predicted increase of student mental health issues on the horizon (accelerated by the pandemic), this is essential work in further education which helps to prepare students for the ups and downs of university life or world of work. The 16–18-year-old age group are not only facing the pressures of rigorous study and testing but are also developing their own self-identity and making important life decisions about their future. They are, therefore, at an optimal age for learning about how to protect and improve their own wellbeing, as they transition from childhood to young adulthood. The recent government guidance to appoint a senior mental health role in education establishments (and its associated training fund) provides a much-needed opportunity to create a positive education culture in colleges country wide, and in my experience as a teacher, it can be done with ease and relatively little effort.

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How to develop Positive Education in Further Education

I am pleased to say my approach to bringing positive education to the classroom is now being trailed in my college. I thought I would share what I have learned on my journey so far, and offer some insights to other further education teachers who might be starting out. 

Tailor your support for the biggest impact.

‍I started by developing a series of short positive education workshops which I delivered to students twice a half term during my lessons. The sessions are short (20-30 min) workshops and involve psychoeducation, paired with practical strategies which encourage academic and emotional resilience. They cover a range of topics from stress management, to understanding emotions and revision advice. Initially I taught these workshops to all students and wrote them into my scheme of work. However, forcing the students to listen to wellbeing advice that is not currently relevant to them (however well-meaning) can fall on deaf ears.

Disinterested students soon switch off or start to roll their eyes. I learnt the hard way and to avoid my mistake I advise you to tailor your wellbeing sessions to suit the students current experience and feelings, by checking in regularly with them and listening carefully to their responses. Now I dip in and out of the toolkit of workshops when the opportune moment arises. For example, if the students are telling me they feel overwhelmed, I will deliver a workshop which helps the students to cope with emotions and stress, or I use the goal setting workshop to help them break down goals, plan revision and stick to their targets. Some classes need it, and some don’t so I am careful to listen to their needs. By tailoring your support, the students feel listened to and valued, which in turn builds effective and trusting classroom relationships. ‍

Think carefully about the language you use.

I found that the students and staff in my college were sick of the word “wellbeing” and over the last two years had been swamped with information about what was good and bad for their emotional health, to make matters worse not all the advice was accurate or relevant. This created some resistance and a was a barrier to my college wide strategy. So, I rebranded, and promoted the workshops as a “positive education toolkit” emphasising the new skills and competencies they would be developing. This use of language seemed to resonate with the teenagers I was teaching and was more favourably received compared to using the term “wellbeing”. Since I started using the toolkit, it has been lovely to receive feedback about how useful students have found a particular workshop after it has been delivered. In my view, using the toolkit sessions has brought the language of positive education and wellbeing into my classroom and normalised it. The students accept that this is part of their class experience, despite it not being part of their academic syllabus, and I really enjoy teaching it. 

If you are thinking of developing your own wellbeing sessions or curriculum, what language will you use to promote it, and does it suit the needs and ethos of your college? There are several different terms you can use, wellbeing curriculum, emotional health, resilience toolkit etc. The label doesn’t really matter provided the students and staff at your institution relate and respond well to it. ‍

It doesn’t have to add a lot of time to your workload.

‍Along side explicit taught workshops, positive education can be brought into the classroom simply by tuning in and turning up the visibility of wellbeing topics when they arise in classroom discussions.  Each teacher will possess unique skills and perspectives which can guide what this looks like in their day-to-day teaching. For example, a chemistry teacher may discuss the chemical reactions of the stress response and use this to facilitate a discussion about positive coping; a biology teacher can explore the physiological response to emotions and develop emotional literacy in students; a health and social care teacher may find opportune moments to talk about self-compassion, compassion fatigue and the importance of self-care. I encourage teachers to find their own ways of normalising wellbeing related topics in their classrooms, turning up the visibility through using their own experiences and styles of teaching. Important wellbeing lessons can be delivered implicitly, simply through class discussion, which is good news for timed starved and overworked teachers.

Finding your own unique pathway to bringing positive education to your classroom is essential and often small steps have a big impact. Over time, the classroom discussions that occur regularly across a whole college create micro-communities of good practise, which filter their way through the establishment leading to a cultural shift towards a positive education pedagogy in colleges.‍

Find your tribe.

‍It is not an easy task to change the wellbeing culture of a school or college, and it can be daunting for anyone who is working towards it. Seek support from other like-minded wellbeing advocates and enthusiasts and know that you are not alone in your quest. Often you can share, support, and collaborate with others and improve your own wellbeing as a result. Having a positive education ally in senior management allowed me to deliver college wide training, using the SEARCH framework as a guide for the content of the training. Teachers are busy, and want practical solutions that don’t take hours of planning, so this is what I offered; a few simple and practical strategies to test out in the classroom. This led to facilitating and consulting with staff teams to create unique department positive education strategies. It was at this point that the strategies I was using, become a college wide focus and teachers creatively began thinking about and developing their own pathway to using positive education in their teaching.

Make a start 

If you are at the start of your positive education journey and are interested in bringing the science of wellbeing into your everyday teaching life, simply make a start. It doesn’t have to be big, or involve lots of effort or planning, but the difference it makes to you and your students may surprise you. As a result of using positive psychology over the past few years in my teaching (and personal life), I am a happier, less stressed-out teacher. The students that I teach respond well to the approach, feel supported, and are achieving well. My hope for the future is that my efforts to raise the profile and application of positive education within my college will mean that by simply attending, the students and the staff will be improving their wellbeing. I am not there yet but the challenge has been set!

If you would like to find out more about using a positive education approach in your school or college, then access our FREE Introductory workshop on developing a whole school or college approach.

Thanks to Hannah Dunn from Scarborough 6th Form College who is a Wellbeing Club Member and leading wellbeing in her college. You can watch a review of her experience of Wellbeing Club by clicking here or watching the video below.

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