The Mutual Effect of the Students' and Teachers' Well-being on the Teaching and Learning Process

During the challenging times of the pandemic in 2020, I found myself deeply reflecting on the well-being of both teachers and students. How could we support each other to not just survive but thrive in an educational environment that had suddenly gone virtual?

To the best of my knowledge, the context of schools is considered one of the most important areas for improving young people's mental and physical health. As a teacher, I believe schools are good contexts to implement and promote well-being within their communities to help develop, support, and encourage good outcomes. Hence, to facilitate the well-being of both students and teachers, considering the effect they have on one another, the application of positive education becomes highly crucial.

Both good teaching practices and positive education help create developmental and emotional contexts. Having positive emotions in one of the most important phases of one's life—either as a student or teacher—leads to satisfaction, confidence, and commitment. Thus, a sense of belonging and engagement grows and enhances the culture of positive emotions, effective learning, and social responsibility. Seligman (2011) defines positive education as traditional education focused on academic skill development, complemented by approaches that nurture well-being and promote good mental health. (Wenjie Duan, Zheng Chen and Samuel M. Y. Ho, 2020)

Similarly, "Positive Education is a recently developed paradigm that, broadly speaking, refers to the application of positive psychology in educational contexts" (Lisa Suzanne Green, Lindsay Gregory Oades, Paula Lesley Robinson, 2012). Understanding positive education's role in enhancing teachers' and students' academic and social performance is vital. Schools should implement the five elements of positive education: Positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and purpose, and achievement/accomplishment.

W. Duan et all clarify that the PERMA model of flourishing was introduced by Seligman (2011), who classified psychological well-being into five domains, namely: (W. Duan et all clarify that the PERMA model of flourishing was introduced by Seligman (2011), who classified psychological well-being into five domains, namely: (P) Positive Emotions, (E) Engagement, (R) Relationships, (M) Meaning, and (A) Accomplishment. (Wenjie Duan, Zheng Chen and Samuel M. Y. Ho, 2020)P) Positive Emotions, (E) Engagement, (R) Relationships, (M) Meaning, and (A) Accomplishment. (Wenjie Duan, Zheng Chen and Samuel M. Y. Ho, 2020)

Most school leaders seek teachers who are passionate about learning and teaching, as this drive inspires students to be intrinsically motivated. Educators have a profound impact on how students feel about their studies and school life. To reach this result, we have to consider the barriers that may hinder teachers' positive role toward their students. That is why I do believe that the effective interaction of PERMA would help create a comfort zone for all the members of the school community. Both students and teachers need to improve their positive psychology as it would beneficially affect their professional and personal lives.

School administrations should eliminate the barriers that prevent teachers' pure roles and help them build students' intrinsic motivation and sustain effort and creativity. This way, a sense of motivation, engagement, and ownership would become not only the school's vision but also something that students and teachers could embrace as a life perspective. However, throwing the charge on educators’ shoulders would take all to failure. Schools should consider training them to use positive education in their lives in general and teach them how it would affect their well-being and performance first inside their classroom. For me, I see that school management is the?primary driver in creating an extrinsic motivating learning platform.

My concern about the mutual effect of teachers’ and students’ well-being on the teaching and learning process began in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article emerged from that challenging period, where I explored how positive education elements could complement regular teaching methods. I aimed to design a framework to implement these elements in classrooms and observe their impact on students. Understanding positive psychology and its application to education, along with the importance of students' and teachers' well-being, paved the way for setting this framework. These steps would easily follow after understanding the concept of Positive Psychology & Positive education, in particular, students’ and teachers’ well-being, parents’ willingness to be involved in the process, and schools’ readiness to integrate this approach.

No one can deny the role of parents in accomplishing satisfactory outcomes. Like teachers, parents should realize the importance of positive education in their children’s academic and emotional development. I believe that home is as influential as the?school in constructing the well-being of the young generation. During the pandemic, students, teachers, and parents worldwide experienced distance learning and virtual classes. This period emphasized the idea of a "success pyramid," where students, teachers, and parents each played a role in completing the educational process. Each one of them encouraged the other to complete the schooling and education process. Parents were required to act as educators and create a supportive, positive atmosphere akin to what schools aim to provide. Engaging parents in the implementation of positive education is significant because they continue the upbringing nurtured by teachers.

Duan et al. analyzed data from 19,487 Chinese junior school students (2013-2014 Chinese Educational Panel Survey), revealing that parental involvement activities are highly beneficial for academic achievement. (Wenjie Duan, Zheng Chen and Samuel M. Y. Ho, 2020)

To conclude, positive education is a process to be considered in all school platforms for all the elements of the teaching-learning coexistence. As mentioned earlier, the interconnectedness of the teachers’ and students’ well-being shouldn’t be ignored as they positively affect one another. This topic was and is very important in the field of education simply because it is the first stage where young learners are?taught how to care about their mental health and others’ mental health. They learn how caring about themselves and others can lead to peace, tolerance, and success. Let’s spread the notion of well-being among our students, colleagues, MLT, and SLT as all these groups pour into each other's glasses.

Key Takeaways

• Positive education is a process for all school platforms. Its five elements (PERMA) contribute to the teaching-learning coexistence.
• The interconnectedness of teachers’ and students’ well-being matters. They influence each other, impacting the broader educational environment.
• Well-being should be nurtured both at school and at home. Schools and parents share the responsibility of fostering positive emotions, motivation, and engagement.
• Positive education promotes mental health awareness. By teaching young learners to care for their own and others' mental health, we build a foundation for peace, tolerance, and success.

Finally, I would love to hear your thoughts! How do you see the role of well-being in shaping positive learning experiences for both students and educators?

References

Lisa Suzanne Green, Lindsay Gregory Oades, Paula Lesley Robinson. (2012). Positive education programmes: integrating coaching and positive psychology in schools. In C. v. Niewerburgh, Coaching in Education: Getting Better Results for Students, Educators, and Parents (p. 256). London: Routledge.

Wenjie Duan, Zheng Chen and Samuel M. Y. Ho. (2020). Editorial: Positive Education: Theory, Practice, and Evidence. Frontiers.