ABSTRACT
Since the publication of Building Happiness, Resilience and Motivation in Adolescents: A Positive Psychology Curriculum for Well-Being (MacConville and Rae 2012), there has been an increasing demand for practical resources which enable practitioners to use the findings of positive psychology in their dayto-day practise. This has, in part, been due to the wealth of recent research that highlights the inextricable link between an individual’s well-being and their capacity to achieve. Over the past few years dedicated researchers have explored the patterns of thinking, feeling and relating that create human success. It is now recognised that well-being is not a stand-alone feature of individuals; rather it is inextricably linked to that individual’s ability to flourish and achieve. The connection between education and happiness is now firmly established as being mutually reinforcing; education helps individuals to be happy and happy people gain more from education. A powerful body of research by positive psychologist Barbara Frederikson (2009) confirms what educators have long known that happy students typically learn and perform better in the classroom than unhappy students. They are more energetic, persistent, focused, creative and better able to get on with their peers and staff. Human flourishing enhances learning the traditional goal of education.
