You can't seperate learning and wellbeing. Wellbeing is essential for learning.With mindfulness, students are more focused, and more engaged learners.

Benefits for Teachers:

1. Calmer Classrooms

2. Less stress

3. Engaged and focussed students

4. Comprehensive framework and lessons 

5. Practical and easy to implement resources

6. Whole staff and individual support

Benefits for Students:

1. Increased mental wellbeing

2. Greater concentration and focus

3. Improved academic performance

4. Clear strategies for emotional regulation

5. Better relationships

6. Improved Resilience

Positive Education aims to promote flourishing schools, and staff play a vital role in contributing to the wellbeing of school communities. All staff, both teaching and non-teaching, act as role models for students, and contribute to the school’s culture of wellbeing. Hayley Lawrence introduces evidence based positive organisational change's; whereby all members of the school community are coached to Learn it, Live it, Teach it and Embed it. 

 

What can be done to promote staff wellbeing? 

Paige Williams (University of Melbourne, Centre for Positive Psychology) has been investigating this question of how to best promote staff wellbeing as part of her PhD research involving Geelong Grammar School. She was interested in the relationships between three important factors for staff:

  • Work happiness, which is the combination of a staff member’s engagement with the work that they do; satisfaction with their specific job and their feelings of emotional commitment to the organisation as a whole.
  • Psychological capital, which is characterised by a staff member’s levels of hope, efficacy (confidence), resilience and optimism.
  • Perceptions of organisational virtuousness, which comprises a staff member’s evaluation of five specific virtues in the organisation culture: forgiveness, trust, integrity, optimism and compassion.

The results from the study suggest that both individual’s psychological capital and their perceptions of virtues in the organisation culture influence workplace happiness. This means that schools need to use multiple pathways to foster the wellbeing of their staff, by focusing both on individual development (for example, by conducting training for staff), as well as aiming to develop positive school cultures through organisationally-based initiatives such as using strengths-based review processes and positive leadership practices. 

Hayley's positive change approach is around providing research based  'training' to support the wellbeing of all staff.  The courses introduce the research, the wellbeing and health and participants are invited to experience various evidence-based activities to enhance wellbeing.This combination of individual-focused and organisational-focused strategies is likely to be most effective in promoting staff wellbeing and thereby schools as positive institutions.

Contact us to discuss the individual needs of your school. Beginning with measurement, we will outline and begin subtle changes in flow with co-curricular demands to ensure a smooth transition to wellbeing and flourishing for all.