Why should we care about Positive Education?

One of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals is Good Health and Wellbeing. It is something most of us would agree is essential. Yet when it comes to wellbeing, we often stop at awareness. We talk about it, but far less about how to build it in a way that is lasting and accessible to many.

How do we actually achieve the wellbeing part? What allows us to create real change, not just for individuals, but at scale? This is where Positive Education comes in.

What is Positive Education?

Positive Education is the application of research and practice from positive psychology within educational settings. In simpler terms, it means taking what decades of studies have taught us about wellbeing, happiness, optimal functioning, and mental health, and introducing it into schools and other environments where young people spend a large part of their lives.

Rather than treating wellbeing as an abstract idea, Positive Education translates science into practical tools that can be used in everyday school life.

What makes Positive Education so important?

The reason is actually quite simple: working through institutions gives us the widest possible reach.

Supporting individuals one by one is valuable, but it is also slow and limited. When we educate young people about wellbeing, equip them with practical tools, and embed these practices into the curriculum, the impact multiplies. We support their optimal development at scale.

But it does not stop there. Children talk to their parents every day about what they learned at school. When they learn how to take care of their mental fitness, they bring those ideas home with them. Parents then adopt these tools, and may share them with their colleagues, their colleagues with their families, their families with their friends. This is how change spreads.

Why do it in schools?

Schools are uniquely positioned to introduce these concepts. To understand why, we need a basic understanding of brain development.

When we are born, the brain develops extremely fast. New neural connections are constantly formed and pruned, depending largely on our environment, a process neuroscientists call neuroplasticity. By around age six, this early phase of rapid growth slows down, and the brain is already about 95% of its adult size.

There is a second crucial period of neuroplasticity between roughly ages 12 and 26. During this time, the brain is highly sensitive to its environment. It is more vulnerable to stress and social pressure, but also especially receptive to positive change. This period is when most mental health difficulties begin, but it is also the most powerful window for prevention.

Everything depends on the environment we create for young people. Because schools are where young people spend most of their time during this critical developmental phase, they are the ideal place to act.

Why do we need to act now?

The data is clear. Mental health challenges among young people are both widespread and increasing. In 2023, approximately one in five children and young people aged 8 to 25 in England had a probable mental health disorder. At the same time, estimates suggest that over 60% of children and adolescents with mental health needs receive no help at all.

These are not future problems. These are current realities. And as the world continues to move faster and become more demanding, doing nothing will only make things worse.

Positive Education in action

Positive education is not just a theoretical idea. Its impact has already been demonstrated in real-world settings.

One of the first schools to implement a whole-school Positive Education programme was Geelong Grammar School in Australia. They partnered with Martin Seligman to design a wellbeing programme tailored to their school. Students began their day by reflecting on what went well, setting a different tone for learning. They learned how to identify their strengths and apply them in everyday life. Teachers' wellbeing improved as well.

At the national level, Bhutan piloted a national wellbeing programme in schools, introducing ten core life skills into the curriculum. After 15 months, students showed significantly higher wellbeing compared to a control group, alongside better physical health, higher academic performance, reduced absenteeism, and lower dropout rates. Since 2015, the programme has been implemented nationally.

These examples show that wellbeing is learnable. When supported systematically, it leads to meaningful improvements not only in mental health, but also in academic outcomes.

What you can do

There is no single correct approach. Schools can introduce focused programmes such as mindfulness or gratitude interventions, or broader ones that target resilience and coping skills.

At Volare Wellbeing, we can help you find the approach that fits your context and your young people best. We will guide you through the process and support implementation, making sure your young people are given the strongest possible foundation for their wellbeing and their future.