Positive education, Aristotelian eudaimonia, and adolescent notions of the ‘good’ life
The Australian Educational Researcher - Trang 1-17 - 2023
Tóm tắt
The educational approach known as positive education emerged from positive psychology and frequently attributes its conception of flourishing to Aristotelian eudaimonia. This is a point of contention between scholars who see positive psychology’s flourishing as an epithet of Aristotelian virtues and others who have identified critical divergences between the philosophical foundations of positive psychology and Aristotle’s normative ethics. Few scholars have examined whether adolescent understandings of flourishing reflect Aristotelian eudaimonia, and whether this is different in positive education students. This paper explores notion of the good life through the writings of 226 adolescents, 93 of whom attend a school that has implemented positive education. These are analysed through an Aristotelian lens, finding more similarities than differences between the groups. Both groups discussed relationships, emotions, and accomplishments, but moral goodness and virtue were not prominent. Conclusions are drawn about the implications of this for ‘positive’ education and the role it plays in nurturing flourishing.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Allen, K., Furlong, M. J., Vella-Brodrick, D., & Suldo, S. M. (2022). Handbook of positive psychology in schools: Supporting process and practice (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Aristotle, (2009). The Nicomachean ethics (W. D. Ross, Trans.; L. Brown, Ed.;). Oxford University Press. (Original work published ca. 350 B.C.E.)
Aristotle. (2013). Eudemian ethics. (R. Woolf, Trans.; B. Inwood, Ed.;) Cambridge University Press. (Original work published ca. 350 B.C.E.)
Becker, D., & Marecek, J. (2008). Dreaming the American dream: Individualism and positive psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(5), 1767–1780. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00139.x
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Bujacz, A., Vittersø, J., Huta, V., & Kaczmarek, L. D. (2014). Measuring hedonia and eudaimonia as motives for activities: Cross-national investigation through traditional and Bayesian structural equation modeling. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 984–984. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00984
Cassidy, C. (2021). Philosophy with children as and for moral education. In D. Mendonça & F. Franken Figueiredo (Eds.), Conceptions of childhood and moral education in philosophy for children. Springer.
Christopher, J. C., & Hickinbottom, S. (2008). Positive psychology, ethnocentrism, and the disguised ideology of individualism. Theory & Psychology, 18(5), 563–589. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354308093396
Coelho, S. D., Holligan, S. D., Mahmud, F. H., Cleverley, K., Birken, C. S., McCrindle, B. W., Pignatiello, T., & Korczak, D. J. (2022). The association between depression and physiological markers of glucose homeostasis among adolescents. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 154, 110738–110738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2022.110738
De Ruyter, D., & Wolbert, L. (2020). Human flourishing as an aim of education. In D. Ruyter & L. Wolbert (Eds.), Oxford research encyclopedia of education. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1418
Dewey, J. (1980). Democracy and education. In J. A. Boydston (Ed.), The middle works of John Dewey (pp. 1899–1929). Southern Illinois University Press.
Diener, E. (2003). What is positive about positive psychology: The curmudgeon and Pollyanna. Psychological Inquiry, 14, 115–120.
Elfrink, T. R., Goldberg, J. M., Schreurs, K. M. G., Bohlmeijer, E. T., & Clarke, A. M. (2017). Positive educative programme: A whole school approach to supporting children’s well-being and creating a positive school climate: A pilot study. Health Education, 117(2), 215–230. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-09-2016-0039
Fowers, B. J., & Anderson, A. R. (2018). Aristotelian philia, contemporary friendship, and some resources for studying close relationships. In T. Harrison & D. I. Walker (Eds.), The theory and practice of virtue education (pp. 184–196). Routledge.
Gunawardena, H., Merlo, S., & Stevens, R. (2020). The preconditions to flourishing: Structural necessities for achieving well-being in schools. British Journal of Educational Studies, 68(4), 425–442. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2020.1711857
Han, H. (2019). The VIA inventory of strengths, positive youth development, and moral education. Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(1), 32–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2018.1528378
Jorgensen, I. S., & Nafstad, H. E. (2004). Positive psychology: Historical, philosophical, and epistemological perspectives. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 15–34). Wiley.
Kristjánsson, K. (2010). Positive psychology, happiness, and virtue: The troublesome conceptual issues. Review of General Psychology, 14(4), 296–310. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020781
Kristjánsson, K. (2012). Positive psychology and positive education: Old wine in new bottles? Educational Psychologist, 47(2), 86–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2011.610678
Kristjánsson, K. (2013). Virtues and vices in positive psychology a philosophical critique. Cambridge University Press.
Kristjánsson, K. (2018). The flourishing–happiness concordance thesis: Some troubling counterexamples. Journal of Positive Psychology, 13(6), 541–552. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2017.1365159
Kristjánsson, K. (2020). Flourishing as the aim of education: A neo-Aristotelian view. Routledge.
Linley, A. P., Joseph, S., Harrington, S., & Wood, A. M. (2006). Positive psychology: Past, present, and (possible) future. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760500372796
Noddings, N. (2002). Educating moral people: A caring alternative to character education. Teachers College Press.
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.
Pawelski, J. O. (2016). Defining the ‘positive’ in positive psychology: Part II. A normative analysis. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(4), 357–365.
Pawelski, J. O. (2021). The positive humanities: Culture and human flourishing. Oxford University Press.
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues. Oxford University Press.
Peterson, C. (2006). A primer in positive psychology. Oxford University Press.
Prinzing, M. M. (2021). Positive psychology is value-laden—It’s time to embrace it. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(3), 289–297.
Rathunde, K. (2001). Toward a psychology of optimal human functioning: What positive psychology can learn from the ‘Experiential Turns’ of James, Dewey, and Maslow. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 41(1), 135–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167801411008
Schwartz, B., & Sharpe, K. E. (2006). Practical wisdom: Aristotle meets positive psychology. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7(3), 377–395. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-005-3651-y
Schwartz, S. (2007). Educating the heart. Educational Leadership, 64, 76–78.
Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Free Press.
Seligman, M. E. P. (2018). PERMA and the building blocks of well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 13(4), 333–335. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2018.1437466
Seligman, M. E. P., & Adler, A. (2009). Positive education. In J. F. Helliwell, R. Layard, & J. Sachs (Eds.), Global happiness report: 2018 (pp. 52–73). Global Happiness Council.
Seligman, M. E. P., Ernst, R., Gillham, J., Reivich, K., & Linkins, M. (2009). Positive education: Positive psychology and classroom interventions. Oxford Review of Education, 35(3), 293–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054980902934563
Simmons, J. (2013). Positive psychology as a scientific movement. The International Journal of Science in Society, 4, 43–52.
Slemp, G. R., Chin, T. C., Kern, M. L., Siokou, C., Loton, D., Oades, L. G., & Waters, L. (2017). Positive education in Australia: Practice, measurement, and future directions. In E. Frydenberg, A. Martin, & R. Collie (Eds.), Social and emotional learning in Australia and the Asia-Pacific: Perspectives, programs and approaches (pp. 101–122). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3394-0_6
Suissa, J. (2008). Lessons from a new science? On teaching happiness in schools. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 42(3–4), 575–590. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9752.2008.00642.x
Suissa, J. (2013). Unhappiness and moral education. Philosophy of education society of Great Britain: Annual conference (pp. 1–11). University of London.
Trask-Kerr, K., Chin, T. C., & Vella-Brodrick, D. A. (2019a). Positive education and the new prosperity: Exploring young peoples’ conceptions of prosperity and success. Australian Journal of Education, 63(2), 190.
Trask-Kerr, K., Quay, J., & Slemp, G. R. (2019b). A Deweyan positive education: Psychology with philosophy. Oxford Review of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2019.1625761
Walker, D. I., Roberts, M. P., & Kristjánsson, K. (2015). Towards a new era of character education in theory and in practice. Educational Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2013.827631
White, M. A. (2022). Strength-based teaching and positive humanities in schools. In M. A. White & F. McCallum (Eds.), Transforming teaching: Wellbeing and professional practice. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4945-6_2
Wong, P. T. P., & Roy, S. (2017). Critique of positive psychology and positive interventions. In N. Brown, T. Lomas, & F. Eiroa-Orosa (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of critical positive psychology. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315659794.ch10