Contextual Wellbeing: Creating Positive Schools from the Inside Out

Our schools and colleges have never done so much to 'teach' whole school wellbeing, support mental health and engage young people in learning. Yet, young people have never been so disengaged, demotivated or distressed in our schools.

Dr. Helen Street believes that we need to embrace and support Contextual Wellbeing if we are to effectively help young people to flourish; and that means changing our fundamental understanding of what it means to be a 'good school'.

Contextual Wellbeing is a state of health, happiness, and positive engagement [in learning] that arises from membership of an equitable, inclusive, and cohesive [school] environment

If we are to help young people attain a love of learning and flourish at school, then we need to explicitly support their wellbeing. In this book, Helen Street introduces a definition that underpins an alternative way of supporting young people, and an alternative way of delivering education.

All too often we try to help a child who is distressed at school by encouraging them to change or to develop as an individual. We want them to be more confident, more resilient, less anxious. But what if the answer is not about trying to help that individual to change, in whatever capacity? What if the answer is all about creating a healthier environment for that individual?

I believe that wellbeing is an interplay between our best individual self and our best environment. As such, happiness and success are far more than individual pursuits, or even individual responsibilities. Lasting happiness develops from the ongoing creation of healthy connections to others and to the world around us.

Happiness is a positive state of wellbeing resulting from our connection to a social environment that supports and nurtures us to become the best we can be.

Helen is an honorary Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Western Australia. Since gaining her PhD in applied social psychology in 1998 in the UK, Helen has conducted research, presented at conferences and in schools around the world, and has written four books, several book chapters and more than 100 articles and academic papers. Her first book Standing Without Shoes was co-written with George Burns in 2003 and includes a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In 2009, Helen founded the Positive Schools Initiative (PSI) with Neil Porter. The Positive Schools Initiative supports solution focused, evidence-based ideas and strategies to improve youth mental health and wellbeing. The PSI features the highly acclaimed Positive Schools Conferences which are held across Australia and SE Asia each year. The Positive Schools conferences have become known as world premier mental health and wellbeing events for teachers and have resulted in significant development in school-based wellbeing practices at an international level. Helen presents regularly at Positive Schools in addition to creating and chairing every event with Neil. Helen and Neil also established and edit The Positive Times, a free online magazine for teachers which features articles and presentation notes from Positive Schools presenters. In addition, Helen is a consultant with the West Australian Health Department and the West Australian Association of Mental Health, and appears regularly on TV and radio. As a powerful advocate for the creation of positive school communities, she is particularly interested in the development of positive school contexts in which young people can develop intrinsic motivation, self-determination and life-long wellbeing. Helen believes that students will flourish when, and only when, they feel connected to a healthy school context. Her work has been adopted by schools in Europe, Asia and Australia. www.contextualwellbeing.com.au @drhelenstreet www.positiveschools.com.au www.positiveschools.asia www.positivetimes.com.au