A case study of ‘The Good School:’ Examples of the use of Peterson’s strengths-based approach with students

Journal of Positive Psychology

Volumn 10, Issue 1, 2015, Pages 69-76

  White, Mathew A ^a,b   Waters, Lea E ^b  

^a St Peter's College   (Australia)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE   (Australia)

Author keywords

character education moral education; positive psychology; schools; strengths

Indexed keywords

EID: 84911995869     PISSN: 17439760     EISSN: 17439779     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2014.920408     Document Type: Article

References (32)

1. Benninga, J. S., Berkowitz, M. W., Kuehn, P., & Smith, K. (2006). Character and academics: What good schools do. Phi Delta Kappan, 87, 448–452.
2. Berkowitz, M. W., & Bier, M. C. (2004). Research-based character education. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591, 72–85. doi:10.1177/0002716203260082
3. Boniwell, I., & Ryan, L. (2012). Personal well-being lessons for secondary schools: Positive psychology in action for 11 to 14 year olds / by Ilona Boniwell, Lucy Ryan. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
4. Brdar, I., & Kashdan, T. (2010). Character strengths and well-being in Croatia: An empirical investigation of structure and correlates. Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 151–154. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2009.12.001
5. Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16, 939–944. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01641.x
6. Fordyce, M. W. (1977). Development of a program to increase personal happiness. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 24, 511–521.10.1037/0022-0167.24.6.511
7. Fordyce, M. W. (1983). A program to increase happiness: Further studies. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 30, 483–498.10.1037/0022-0167.30.4.483
8. Gillham, J. E., Reivich, K. J., & Jaycox, L. H. (2008). The Penn Resiliency program. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. Unpublished.
9. Green, S., Oades, L., & Robinson, P. (2011, April). Positive education: Creating flourishing students, staff and schools. In R. Croswell (Ed.), InPsych (pp. 16–18). Melbourne: Australian Psychological Society. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.org.au/publications/inpsych/2011/april/green/
10. Lane, A., Thelwell, R., & Devonport, T. (2009). Emotional intelligence and mood states associated with optimal performance. E-Journal of Applied Psychology, 5, 67–73.10.7790/ejap.v5i1.123
11. Leming, J. S. (1997). Whither goes character education? Objectives, pedagogy, and research in education programs. Journal of Education, 179, 522–574. doi:10.1080/713679388
12. Lickona, T. (1993). The return of character education. Educational Leadership, 51, 6–11.
13. Madden, W., Green, L. S., & Grant, A. M. (2011). A pilot study evaluating strengths-based coaching for primary school students: Enhancing engagement and hope. International Coaching Psychology Review, 7, 71–83.
14. McGrath, H. & Noble, T. (2003). BOUNCE BACK! A classroom resiliency program. (Teacher’s hand-book. Teacher’s resource books, Level 1: K-2; Level 2: Yrs 3–4; Level 3: Yrs 5–8). Pearson Education: Sydney
15. Noble, T., McGrath, H., Wyatt, T., Carbines, R., & Robb, L. (2008). Scoping study in approaches to student wellbeing – Final report. Canberra: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
16. Norlander, T., & Archer, T. (2002). Predicting performance in ski and swim championships: Effectiveness of mood, perceived exertion, and dispositional optimism. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 94, 153–164.10.2466/pms.2002.94.1.153
17. Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2008). Positive psychology and character strengths: Application to strengths-based school counseling. Professional School Counseling, 12, 85–92. doi:10.5330/PSC.n.2010-12.85
18. Park, N., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2006). Character strengths in fifty-four nations and the fifty US states. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 118–129. doi:10.1080/17439760600619567
19. Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
20. Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
21. Proctor, C., Tsukayama, E., Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Eades, J. F., & Linley, P. A. (2011). Strengths gym: The impact of a character strengths-based intervention on the life satisfaction and well-being of adolescents. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 377–388. doi:10.1080/17439760.2011.594079F
22. Quinlan, D., Swain, N., & Vella-Brodrick, D. A. (2012). Character strengths interventions: Building on what we know for improved outcomes. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 1145–1163.10.1007/s10902-011-9311-5
23. Rashid, T. F. (2009). Strengths-based assessment in clinical practice. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 488–498. doi:10.1002/jclp.2059510.1002/jclp.v65:5
24. Reivich, K., Seligman, M., Gillham, J., Linkins, M., Peterson, C., Schwartz, B., Steen, T., & Duckworth, A. (2007). Strath haven positive psychology curriculum. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. Unpublished.
25. Ruini, C., & Fava, G. A. (2012). Role of well-being therapy in achieving a balanced and individualized path to optimal functioning. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 19, 291–304. doi:10.1002/cpp.1796
26. Rusk, R., & Waters, L. (2013). Tracing the size, reach, impact, and breadth of positive psychology. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8, 207–221. doi:10.1080/17439760.2013.777766
27. Seligman, M. E. P., Ernst, R. M., Gillham, J., Reivich, K., & Linkins, M. (2009). Positive education: Positive psychology and classroom interventions. Oxford Review of Education, 35, 293–311. doi:10.1080/03054980902934563
28. Seligman, M. E. P., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Thornton, N., & Thornton, K. M. (1990). Explanatory style as a mechanism of disappointing athletic performance. Psychological Science, 1, 143–146. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1990.tb00084.x
29. Seligman, M. E. P., Rashid, T., & Parks, A. C. (2006). Positive psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 61, 774–788. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.61.8.77
30. Toner, E., Haslam, N., Robinson, J., & Williams, P. (2012). Character strengths and wellbeing in adolescence: Structure and correlates of the Values in Action inventory of strengths for children. Personality and Individual Differences, 52, 637–642. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.12.014
31. Waters, L. (2011). A review of school-based positive psychology interventions. The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 28, 75–90. doi:10.1375/aedp.28.2.75
32. Waters, L., & Stokes, H. (2013). A systems approach to Positive Education: Creating positive school change through the master of school leadership. Teaching and Learning Network, 20, 8–9.