HAPPI psychology is a positive education program for schools.
Positive education is the application of positive psychology within schools.
Research has found that adopting positive psychology in schools, leads to a decrease in bullying, an increase in positive behaviours, an increase in academic achievement, and a more positive outlook on life from our learners.
Seligman et al (2009) define positive education as ‘education for both traditional skills and for happiness.’ Norrish, Williams, O’Connor, & Robinson (2013) conclude “the fundamental goal of positive education is to promote flourishing or positive mental health within the school community.”
What if every school could access and implement a positive education program? Imagine the possibilities!
When people think of the word ‘happy,’ they might associate it with emotions such as joy and elation. But Positive Psychology and the HAPPI approach goes much deeper than that. Positive Psychology and HAPPI are about fostering a deep sense of wellbeing.
HAPPI psychology is based on the work of renowned psychologists including Seligman, Niemiec, Ginsburg, Csikszentmihalyi, Neff, and Fredrickson. All of the approaches, strategies and interventions used in HAPPI Psychology are supported by scientific evidence.
Psychological wellbeing and physical wellbeing are interlinked, and each can be further enhanced by the other, so HAPPI Psychology incorporates evidence from the Positive Health field. Positive health refers to physical actions and behaviours that contribute to overall health and wellbeing.
HAPPI also incorporates aspects of Educational Psychology that complement the Positive Psychology roots of the HAPPI approach.
HAPPI Psychology = positive psychology + positive health + educational psychology.
HAPPI is an acronym for the framework we use to inform all of our courses and resources that will be available via the HAPPI Psychology website:
H – happiness & health
A – achievement, attitude & aspirations
P – purpose, passion & personal powers
P – people & personal values
I – involvement & immersion
HAPPI Psychology will be packed full of easily accessible courses and resources for whole schools, teachers, teaching assistants, heads, senior leaders, Educational Psychologists and Local Authorities. There will be resources for your own wellbeing as an educator/employee, as well as that of the young people you work with. For heads, senior leaders and Local Authorities there will be resources for you to support the wellbeing of your teams.
And that’s not all! I know that sometimes life throws us a lemon or two, but I’m here to help with that. I have developed HAPPI+, which are courses based on Acceptance and Commitment Coaching and approaches to building resilience, so you can build your HAPPI life without any obstacles!
The HAPPI Psychology website will be launched soon, to make sure you don’t miss out on the excitement, just join our mailing list (I hate spam too, so there will be none of that, just helpful stuff).
References
Seligman, M.E.P., Ernest, R.M., Gillham.J., Reivich.K., & Linkins.M. (2009). Positive education: positive psychology and classroom interventions. Oxford Review of Education, 35 (3), 293-311.
Norrish, J.M., Williams,P., O’Connor, M., & Robinson, J. (2013). An applied framework for Positive Education. International Journal of Wellbeing, 3 (2), 147 -161