Sunday, May 9, 2010

Positive Psychology Meets Education: Who I'd Like to Meet

I have always been interested in the intersection of psychology and teaching. In fact, I think that our tendency to separate the two into distinct domains lends itself to missing out on insights that could help us empower and motivate our learners.
The names above are all individuals who have made significant contributions to the growing field of positive psychology. What I love about all of them is that the focus of their work is on helping individuals use their strengths to thrive and live more fulfilling lives. The focus of psychology in the education system is still generally stuck in the "medical model" mode of finding out what is "wrong" with kids. I would love to interview each of these wonderful scholars about how to integrate more positive, strengths based psychology into schools!
For more about each one's work and contributions, click on the names below:
Lopez and Snyder
Carol Dweck
Karen Reivich
Tal-Ben Shahar
Jonathan Haidt
Todd Kashdan
Ellen Langer
Barb Fredrickson
 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Dacher Keltner
Chris Peterson
Alex Linley
Martin Seligman
Albert Bandura
Robert Emmons


Who would you like to help solve the issues we have in education? Why? Please comment and join the conversation!

 

2 comments:

JM @ Calgary Psychology said...

Thanks for sharing the list of psychologists who are espouses positive psychology. I would also add to the list Carl Rogers as he emphasizes the importance of unconditional positive regard for a person to self-actualize.

Joan Young (aka Mancini) said...

Thanks so much for the comment. Yes, you are so right about Carl Rogers. I think I may have forgotten a few important contributors. Will update soon!