Embedding positive education practices into university teaching -  Prof Deborah Hall
Channel: Heriot-Watt Learning and Teaching Academy
Date: 2021-11-19

This is a keynote session delivered by Professor Debora Hall at the Heriot-Watt University Learning and Teaching Symposium on 1 November 2021.

Contemporary debate proposes that adolescent growth extends to 24 years of age. This in turn extends the window of opportunity for skills development, especially in cooperative activities that require emotional awareness and regulation. Research has shown that enhancing students’ strengths in positive emotion, engagement and meaning in life promotes a growth mindset, facilitates improved learning, increases life satisfaction and counteracts the risk of poor mental health. Therefore, the goal of positive education is to improve students’ well-being and learning. Two-thirds of the world’s population lives in Asia, yet most of the academic literature on positive education is conducted in Western countries. Moreover, while there are numerous examples of positive education in schools, the discipline has had fewer inroads in the higher education setting. This presentation maps out the literature on positive education in university teaching, seen through an Asian lens. Key points will be drawn on illustrative evidence from a compulsory holistic educational course for all year 1 students enrolled at Heriot-Watt University Malaysia. Course design and educator style incorporates the principles of positive psychology by blending development in personal effectiveness skills (such as self-confidence, self-reflection, personal responsibility, leadership, and time management), with an emphasis on developing self-awareness, discovering purpose and creating a plan to mobilise that purpose into positive impact.

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