Positive school climate and positive education: Impact on students well-being

Pages: 865-866
Vasant Namdeo Borka (Department of Psychology, Nowrosjee Wadia College, Pune, Maharashtra)

School climate has often been described as the “quality and character of school life”, including both social and physical aspects of the school, that can positively promote behavior, school achievement, and the social and emotional development of students. Positive education has been defined as “education for both traditional skills and for happiness” (Seligman et al., 2009). A broader and more useful definition is “applied positive psychology in education”. Positive psychology itself has been defined as an umbrella term encompassing theory and research in relation to what makes life worth living (Noble & McGrath, 2008). Positive psychology is extremely relevant to the school setting to assist in the understanding and development of high levels of psychological wellbeing in students, staff and school. Researchers have found that a positive school climate can help solve a lot of problems. Studies find that it decreases absenteeism, suspensions, and bullying, and increases students’ academic achievement, motivation to learn, and psychological well-being. It can even mitigate the negative effects of self-criticism and socioeconomic status on academic success. In addition, working in this kind of climate lessens teacher burnout while increasing retention. The education policy framers in India need to pay heed to positive education, which is being successfully applied in progressive educational institutions of the world.