GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Positive education is said to have transformed the way Geelong Grammar approaches education. It’s a whole-school approach to student and staff wellbeing, bringing together the science of positive psychology with best-practice teaching, and encouraging and supporting individuals and communities to flourish. The school’s Institute of Positive Education employs 15 staff and has trained over 10,000 educators from more than 600 schools and organisations across the globe.
All new staff joining Geelong Grammar (both teaching and non-teaching) complete a four-day introductory course in positive education before commencing employment (existing staff receive the equivalent of one day of training per year). Positive education classes are taught to students from Years 5 to 10 and are devoted to cultivating wellbeing, providing students with time to reflect meaningfully on the relevance of concepts to their lives. Wellbeing concepts have also been infused into pre-existing subject areas so that academic objectives are approached in ways that also support flourishing. Parents of Geelong Grammar students are also offered regular opportunities to learn about positive psychology and, like staff, are encouraged to model appropriate behaviours in their interactions with each other and with students.
