ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the challenges and benefits of developing a positive culture and shares strategies from principals working in multiple countries. These school leaders recognise that for children and families with refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds, feeling welcome, supported and safe in their host school community is foundational for their personal and academic success. Principals’ perceptions of the nature of intelligence are discussed in the context of the many attributes these students bring to their new contexts. Additionally, the importance of positive emotion to optimal functioning of the brain is explored and the PERMA model is presented as a positive framework for developing successful relationships.
