Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0102.

3772e3632
2020, v.36, e3632
School and Developmental Psychology

Positive Education: Innovation in Educational Interventions

Based on Positive Psychology*

Cecilia Cesa Schiavon1,** , Livia Padilha Teixeira1 , Léia Gonçalves Gurgel1 ,

Cleidilene Ramos Magalhães1 , & Caroline Tozzi Reppold1 
1
Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil

ABSTRACT – School is configured as a social space that can essentially contribute to cognitive and emotional evolvement.
Furthermore, it emerges as an important resource for Positive Psychology. This review aimed to evaluate studies that present
interventions based on Positive Education. Databases searched were MEDLINE, LILACS, Psycinfo, SciELO, and Scopus,
using the terms “Positive Education” and “Intervention”. The study’s analysis was descriptive, and the characteristics of
the interventions were reported. Fourteen studies that met the proposed eligibility criteria were included. As a result, nine
studies were focused on positive education in the children’s and adolescents, three were directed to college students, and
two exclusively meant for teachers and school leaders. The importance of stimulating the development of strength of
character among students were apparent.
KEYWORDS: Education, Positive Psychology, Intervention, Educational Psychology

Educação Positiva: Inovação em Intervenções Educacionais

Baseadas na Psicologia Positiva

RESUMO – A escola é um ambiente social que essencialmente pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento cognitivo e
emocional dos sujeitos, surgindo como um importante recurso da Psicologia Positiva. A presente revisão objetivou avaliar
estudos que apresentam intervenções baseadas em Eduação Positiva. As bases acessadas foram MEDLINE, LILACS,
Psycinfo, SciELO e Scopus, por meio dos termos “Positive Education” e “Intervention”. Os estudos foram analisados de
forma descritiva e as características das intervenções foram descritas. Quatorze estudos satisfizeram os critérios de inclusão
desta revisão. Como resultado, 9 estudos focalizaram a eduação positiva de crianças e adolescentes, 3 foram direcionados
para estudantes universitários e 2 consideraram exclusivamente professores e líderes escolares. Evidenciou-se a importância
de estimular o desenvolvimento da força de caráter entre os alunos.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Educação, Psicologia Positiva, Intervenção, Psicologia Educacional

The twenty-first-century educational landscape has of young people. In this scenario, innovative strategies in
been facing numerous factors not hitherto present, such education are required to enhance and support students and
as social changes, natural disasters, terrorism, poverty, teacher’s well-being, as well as the school institution as a
and the increasing incidence of psychological disorders in collective space. Meanwhile, Positive Education emerges as
children and adolescents (Waters, 2013), and these may act an important resource developed by Positive Psychology,
as obstacles to the students’ learning process. This issue is and is considered a branch of this new area of psychology
a concern for educational institutions, especially as school (Green, Oades, & Robinson, 2011). Specifically, it is an
is configured as the social space that can substantially approach that promotes not only academic skills, but
contribute to cognitive, social, and emotional development also skills for the increase or development of well-being,

* Support: Capes, CNPq

** E-mail: [email protected]
Submetido: 03/03/2017; Revisado: 12/09/2017; Aceito: 24/02/2018.

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happiness and positive emotions - which are advocated by form the basis of a “new era of prosperity,” a policy that
the authors as promoting learning and academic success values wealth and well-being. In the publication, they
(Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, &Linkins, 2009). discussed the high global prevalence of depression among
According to a chronological perspective on the young people, the small increase in life satisfaction, the
development of Positive Education in the scientific field, synergy between learning and positive emotion, and the
it emphasizes that Positive Education has its origins fact that the skills for happiness could be taught in school
formalized from the criticism made by Seligman et al. (Seligman et al., 2009). In the same year, Snyder and
(2009), of the traditional education model, comparing Lopez (2009) also defended the use of attributes of Positive
what parents wanted for their children and what schools Psychology in education, citing some practical examples.
taught. To this end, the authors conducted a study in which Later, Seligman (2011) pointed out that well-being should
two lists prepared by parents were generated. The first be taught in schools and described positive educational
contained more generic and comprehensive desires, such experiences.
as happiness, balance, goodness, and satisfaction. In the Since then, there has been an increase in studies in the
second, attributes related to the expectation as to what field, and initiatives point to this fact, such as the “Positive
the schools teach, as a discipline, literacy, compliance Education Schools Association” that encourages and
and success, were mentioned. The authors noted that shares schools’ experiences in this area. So, considering
the first list was composed of aspects related to Positive the growth of research in Positive Psychology, and its
Psychology, more specifically to well-being, and the second applicability in education, this review aimed to evaluate
of questions related to education, with no overlap between studies which present interventions in this context, based
the two lists. on the concept of Positive Education. For this purpose,
Also in 2009, Seligman and colleagues addressed the interventions were considered as those actions included
issue of education, in an article entitled “Positive education: in the definition of Syn & Lyubomirsky (2009), which
Positive psychology and classroom interventions”, defining encompasses programs, training, practice, treatment
Positive Education as the education for traditional knowledge methods, or activities whose aim is to cultivate emotions,
and happiness, speculating that Positive Education could positive behavior, and cognition.

METHOD

Research Strategy Data Analysis

The following electronic databases were searched up The titles and abstracts of all articles identified by the
to November 25, 2015: MEDLINE (accessed through search strategy were assessed by the investigators. The
PubMed), LILACS, Psycinfo, SciELO, and Scopus. abstracts that did not provide sufficient information regarding
The search terms used were “Positive Education” and eligibility criteria were selected for evaluation of the full
“Intervention”. Words related to the outcomes of interest text. Two reviewers independently assessed the full articles
were not included in order to increase the sensitivity of this and made their selections in accordance with the eligibility
research. All those studies that dealt with interventions in the criteria. Subsequently, data collection was conducted
context of Positive Education were included. As exclusion regarding methodological characteristics, interventions,
criteria, we considered studies that had, as their purpose, and outcomes of the studies using standardized forms.
psychoeducation only, not presenting an intervention based Disagreements, in all phases of the study, were resolved by
on Positive Education and/or related attributes or which consensus among researchers.
were not articles, in addition to studies conducted outside The analysis of the studies and the results were descriptive,
the educational context (such as the clinical and hospital and the main characteristics of interventions were reported.
contexts). The quality of studies with a randomized design was analyzed
based on the GRADE approach in order to highlight the strong
and weak methodological points of the study.

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 Positive Education

RESULTS

The initial search identified 185 articles. Of these, 162, 185 Potentially relevant citation/quotes identified fro
which presented divergent themes from the objective of the m all databases
study were excluded. Therefore, 14 studies that presented
interventions in positive education and met the proposed
eligibility criteria for this study were included. Figure 1
shows the flowchart of the selection of studies included in 86 Studies excluded for being literature
this review. reviews
All studies included were published in international
journals in English or Spanish. The journals’ impact factor 76 Studies excluded on the basis of othe
ranged from 0.69 to 2.987, although there were also journals r eligibility criteria.
that had no impact factor found, which is probably due to
the absence of an evaluation of this aspect. Table 1 shows 9 Could not be accessed in full.
the main characteristics of the studies included in this
review, such as authors and year of publication, journal and 14 Eligible studies
impact factor, sample characteristics, applied intervention,
intervention objectives and main results found. Figure 1. Flowchart of the studies selection

Table 1
Characteristics of the studies included in this review

Authors Country of
Periodical and IF Sample Intervention Used
(year) Origin
Journal of Moral Four secondary education
Aldenmyr (2012) Sweden “Life competence education (LCE)”
Education; IF= 0.69 teachers
Ten students of 11 to 13 years
Baum et Gifted Child Quarterly;
USA old, with high intellectual skills Process model with multi perspectives
al. (2014) IF= 0.75
and learning disorders.
Niehues Journal of Adventure
Elementary school students,
et al. Australia Education and Outdoor Playing games outdoors.
parents and educators.
(2013) Learning; IF= not included
Rhodes & Spiers International Journal of Australian girls aged between 7 Restorative justice and exercises in student
Australia
(2013) IF= not included and 12 years. leadership.
Psychology students enrolled Student blogs based on the interventions:
Bridges et al. Psychology Learning and
USA in the Positive Psychology “Three Good things”, Signature Strengths” and
(2012) Teaching; IF= not included
module/discipline. “Gratitude Letter”.
International Journal of Intervention based on 4 main components:
Place&Talen
USA Psychiatry in Medicine; 126 medical residency students. concrete resources, positive chats, control and
(2013)
IF= 1.15 curriculum.
Proctor et al. Journal of Positive 319 students in the second year
England Strengths Gym Program
(2011) Psychology; IF= 1.67 of elementary school.
International Coaching
Madden et al. 38 boys (average age of 10 Based on boys’ hope and engagement
Australia Psychology Review; IF=
(2011) years old). attributes.
not included
Duan et al. J Happiness Stud;
China 285 Chinese. Based on strength training
(2014) IF=1.683.
Tomyn Intervention based onthe “Subjective
Australia Soc Indic Res; IF=1.4 4243 participants
(2015) Wellbeing Homeostasis Theory”.
Shoshani e J Happiness Stud; 537 seventh and ninth grade
Israel Intervention based on school psychology.
Steinmetz (2014) IF=1.683 students.
Leventhal et al. Journal of Adolescence; 2308 female students from
India Intervention program based on resilience.
(2015) IF= not included. seventh and eighth grades.
Initiatives from Peterson’s postulates/tenets/
White & Waters Journal of Positive Eighth and eleventh grades
Australia principles about strength of character in the
(2015) Psychology; IF= 2.987 students (“K-12 school”).
school context.
The Australian Educational
Waters & Stokes
Australia and Developmental 27 school leaders Program aimed towards gratitude.
(2015)
Psychologist; IF = 0.0

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With regard to interventions, it was observed that of the 14 Tomyn et al., 2015), two studies presented randomization
articles included, nine were on the study of positive education (Leventhal, 2015; Madden et al., 2011) and a longitudinal
in children’s and adolescent’s school context (Tomyn et al., study (Shoshani & Steinmetz, 2014).
2015; Leventhal et al., 2015; Shoshani & Steinmetz, 2014; Regarding quality analysis, this was undertaken only
Baum et al., 2014; Niehues et al., 2013; Rhodes & Spiers, in the studies by Madden et al. (2011) and Leventhal et al.
2013; Proctor et al., 2011;. Madden et al., 2011; White (2015), as they were randomized clinically controlled, based
& Waters, 2015), including, sometimes, the emphasis on on the GRADE approach recommended by the Cochrane
parents, caregivers, as in the study of Niehues et al. (2013). Collaboration (Guyatt et al., 2008). This aims to measure
Three were directed at college students (Bridges et al., the quality of the evidence found. It was observed that the
2012; Place and Talen, 2013; Duan et al., 2014), only two study by Madden et al. (2011), despite the randomization
exclusively meant for teachers (Aldenmyr et al., 2012.) description, presents inadequacy in aspects of baseline
and school leaders (Waters & Stokes, 2015). In relation comparison, the description of losses and exclusions, and
to the outlines, it was observed that five were case studies the allocation’s blinding and confidentiality.
(Aldenmyr, 2012; Baum et al., 2014; Rhodes & Spiers, For the study of Leventhal et al. (2015), a fair presentation
2013; White & Waters, 2015; Waters & Stokes, 2015), three of randomization and baseline comparability, lack of
presented other qualitative outlines (Bridges et al., 2012; description of blinding, and adequacy in the presentation
Niehues et al., 2013; Place & Talen, 2013), three with quasi- of losses and exclusions were observed. The two studies
experimental outline (Duan et al., 2014; Proctor et al.; 2011, presented low to moderate evidence quality.

DISCUSSION

From this review it was observed that the articles which educators and community volunteers from 9 Catholic
exposed interventions based on the precepts of Positive schools, resulting in a total of 150 individuals. The children
Education were based on the studies of Seligman on the had their social behaviors monitored as part of a program
subject, demonstrating their application in different contexts called “Sydney Playground Project” (SPP). With an outdoor
and specific groups such as schoolchildren, students in game, we tried to change parents’ perceptions of risk,
higher education, parents, caregivers, teachers, and school justified by the fact that risk can be positive and important
leaders. Among the 14 studies that met the inclusion criteria, in the development of children. Outdoor activities were
nine had schoolchildren as subjects. designed to involve adults playing and guiding towards the
In the first study, boys aged 10 and 11 years participated health risks of a game outdoors for children. Participants had
in the pilot study of Madden et al. (2011), which followed the opportunity to experience and challenge their automatic
a coaching program as part of personal development and perceptions of risk, to reflect and tell stories about the
health plan in a private elementary school in Australia. experiences of their own family as a means to reframe their
Participants were selected by the school psychologist using perceptions of risk. The results suggested that educators and
the Beck. parents benefited from this opportunity, therefore seeking to
Youth Inventory (Beck et al., 2005) and received eight achieve common goals for children: health, happiness, and
training sessions over two school periods. The activities resilience (Niehues et al., 2013.).
highlighted the strength of character, so the students were The study by White and Waters reported an applied
trained to identify personally significant goals, persistence case study about two aspects of Peterson’s contributions
on their goals, and new ways to utilize their strong points. to school interventions based on Positive Education.
Students also developed the “Future Charter,” in which they The interventions focused on the aspects of “enabling
described themselves at their best. There was a significant institutions” and “applications of character strengths”. For
increase in self-reported measures of hope (t (37) = 3.39, the study, five character strengths initiatives were applied
p = <0.01) and engagement (t (37) = 3.30, p = <0.001). in different contexts: English literature, strengths-based
The study authors cite Seligman et al. (2009) as defining approach in sports, leadership positions, student counseling,
engagement as one of the three major pillars of happiness: and Positive Education in the curriculum. The results showed
life with engagement, meaningful life, and pleasant life. that the application of these initiatives is a process of
With regard to strengths, evaluated qualitatively, students continuous work which involves the whole school – teacher,
rated each strength as their greatest strength in the following students, and staff. Therefore, it was already observed that
order of frequency: vitality, creativity, love, teamwork, love the implemented interventions had been understood and
of learning and perseverance, humor, curiosity, leadership, employed by them.
bravery, gratitude and kindness (Madden et al., 2011). Interventions with children who needed a special
In a qualitative study, Niehues et al. (2013) also described approach were also found in this review (Baum et al.,
an intervention in children, but seeking to reach parents, 2014; Rhodes & Spiers, 2013). Rhodes and Spiers (2013),

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given the disparity between social, political, and economic of positive psychology theory in the school curriculum is
aspects of indigenous Australians and non-indigenous, they relevant (Proctor et al., 2011).
evaluated the educational involvement of children from The study by Shoshani and Steinmetz (2014) evaluated
indigenous communities in a school. This school used a an intervention designed to improve the mental health of
culturally appropriate example of organizational change to 537 students from seventh to ninth grade of an educational
create an educational model that promotes social equity and center in Israel. The intervention program lasted a year and
equal opportunities. Through changes in school structure, was aimed at strengthening self-esteem, self-efficacy, and
which generated strong resistance from teachers at first, a optimism. The subjects were divided into two groups. The
difference in the support provided to indigenous students intervention group participated in two parallel phases: (1)
compared to other students was identified. Positive effects teachers participated in activities and training workshops
have occurred since the change was implemented, and with psychologists and (2) teachers administered a program
indigenous and non-indigenous students, members of the to students in the classroom, including poems and stories,
same community working toward a common mission, began discussions, video clips, films and activities dealing with the
to develop relationships. subject of gratitude and positive experiences. The control
Also, with respect to children who need a special group followed the regular curriculum. The authors noted
approach, Baum et al. (2014) presented a study with 10 that there were reductions in the scores of anxiety and
children defined as “twice-exceptional (2e)”, a term that depression symptoms, as well as a reduction of symptoms
refers to intellectually gifted children who have a disability of interpersonal sensitivity in the intervention group.
(Beckley, 2012). Using a case study blueprint, the researchers The study by Leventhal et al. (2015) conducted a
analyzed data collected from students and teachers, parents’ resilience based program for 2,308 girls living in a rural
focus groups, school records, and psychological reports. The region in India, average age 12.99 (SD = 1.17), students
goal was to understand the experiences of the first group of 57 governmental schools. The program, called Girls
of students who entered the school when a project focused First Resilience Curriculum (RC), was facilitated by
on developing strengths was put in place, with a targeted women with 10th-grade education. The program focused
approach to students’ talents. To highlight “strengths,” on improving social-emotional strengths, psychological
curricular and pedagogical approaches were used, aligned well-being, social well-being, and emotional resilience
with the students’ cognitive styles, learning preferences and was composed of 9 topics, totaling 23 sessions for the
and intelligence profiles. “Focus on talent” was sought whole program. The themes of the topics, in order, were: (1)
as constant identification and recognition of the student’s Setting group guidelines and listening skills; (2) Character
advanced skills and options to explore and express these strengths; (3) Goals, plans and life stories; (4) Emotional
skills and interests within and outside the curriculum. The consciousness by identifying and expressing feelings; (5)
“talent development” took place in support of talents and Assertive communication, management of emotions and
skills identified (Baum et al., 2014). The results indicated its benefits; (6) Restorative practices for solving conflicts
cognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes in social and identifying opposing violence; (7) Problem solving
domains. The authors concluded that the teams working with focused on forgiveness, apologies, self-esteem and character
children should be encouraged to consider them as a whole, strengths; (8) Developing a concept of peace with a “Peace
through a positive approach, and direct students’ attention to Project” planned by the students; (9) Review, celebration
interests, strengths, and talents (Baum et al., 2014). and gratitude by written appreciations for one another.
In the study by Proctor et al. (2011), the subjects of the The results showed no effects on students with depression,
intervention called “Strengths Gym Program”, were 319 but a small significant difference was found in students
adolescents aged between 12 and 14 years. The objective was with anxiety – though the difference was not clinically
to develop character strengths and life satisfaction, justified significant. Otherwise, the study showed that the RC
by a connection to the well-being and prosperity among improved psychological strengths and well-being for girls
children and young people, reducing psychopathologies in high-poverty rural schools.
and externalized behavioral problems, as well as improving The study by Tomyn (2015) addresses the “Subjective
academic performance. Therefore, the intervention had three Wellbeing Homeostasis Theory”, a sample of 4,243
levels, according to the school year (years 7, 8 and 9) each participants in an Australian program for adolescents at
student was handed a booklet entitled “Distinguish your risk. The Homeostasis Theory proposes that subjective
strengths”, defined as “your best qualities”, and asked “what well-being is maintained by automatic neurological control.
strengths do you think best describe you?” Students were The objective of the proposed program is to improve the
asked to select five strengths from a list of 24 strong points subjects’ education and employment opportunities, as well
from the Inventory of Strengths (Peterson & Seligman, as to help them to make more positive life choices. The type
2004). The authors observed a significant increase in of support depends on the situation of each subject, including
adolescents’ life satisfaction in those who participated in the career counseling, support with family issues, mental health
intervention, supporting the hypothesis that the application and counseling services, education and employment. Group

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activities were also carried out to improve self-esteem, in a qualitative case study, described the effect of two
professional skills, literacy and motivation. It was observed interventions in the development of the positive attribute
that the program increases the subjective well-being of the of gratitude. The sample consisted of 27 school leaders,
subject. aged between 25 and 60, who worked in public and private
Among university students, three studies were found. schools in Australia. Of these, 55% were women. The first
Bridges et al. (2012) described a methodology of intervention intervention, which the authors called “gratitude journal”
among psychology students enrolled in a course in Positive (exercise of three good things), asked the leaders to complete
Psychology. Using a university blog platform as a marketing a diary for a week, reporting at the end of every three days
tool, the authors asked the students to complete three things about their school for which they were grateful.
exercises, known as Three Good Things (at the end of The second intervention, called “gratitude letter”, invited
each day for three weeks, remember three good things that the leaders to write a letter of gratitude to an important
happened); Strengths (using one of the main strengths in a person in their lives, preferably a professional colleague
new and different way every day for one week and leave or someone especially useful, inspiring, or kind to them
a record of these activities on the blog) and the Gratitude in their leadership journey. The letter should be delivered
letter (to write a letter of gratitude to someone who has been and read to the person. As a result, the authors reported that
a positive influence). As a result of the course evaluation the gratitude journal served to promote a balanced view
on a seven-point scale, which is required by the university, of positive and negative events that occurred at school, to
the students gave a significantly higher assessment of the value relationships, and experience positive emotions, like
Positive Psychology course that used the blog, both in the hope, happiness, and optimism. However, it also triggered
quality of the course and the teacher who administered frustration at dealing with the paradox of having to look at
classes, compared with the previous two semesters without things to feel grateful for, when this emphasizes problems.
the use of the blog (Bridges et al., 2012). The letter of gratitude resulted in a desire to invest
The following year, Place and Talen (2013) wrote an in professional relationships, greater gratitude to people
intervention among medical residency students seeking in leadership roles, and generated gratitude by staff and
to develop resilience and well-being for the reduction of students (as reported by school leaders). On the downside,
burnout and depression rates among them. The program the gratitude letter generated feelings of vulnerability and
is entitled Residency Wellness Program and has four main concern for the possible discomfort that the letter could
components: concrete resources, positive conversations, cause to the recipient. In addition, the results of this study
curriculum, and control. The authors report that education demonstrate that while gratitude is largely a positive
in positive psychology is effective against burnout and phenomenon, it can also trigger negative results and that
should be included in training programs, emphasizing the it is the process of reconciliation between the positive and
strengths, resilience, and protective factors among students negative that allows for the emergence of a more engaged
(Place & Talen, 2013). leadership form.
Finally, contemplating the university context, the In the empirical and qualitative study by Aldenmyr
study by Duan et al. (2014) verified the effectiveness of an (2012), entitled “Moral Aspects of Therapeutic Education”,
intervention in 285 Chinese graduate students, in order to risks and potential possibilities were presented regarding
increase their life satisfaction. For evaluation, we used the the moral aspects of therapeutic approaches in education
Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) in order to obtain the from the point of view of secondary school teachers. The
profile of each participant’s personal strength of character. discussion was based on Livskunskap, Life Competence
According to the authors, this is the first study of strength- Education (LCE), which seeks “socio-emotional training”
based intervention. The proposed intervention has been in order to increase well-being, thereby preventing mental
used together with the “Psychology Writing Skills Training” illness, drug abuse, crime, and other social problems. The
program, created as a complement. During the intervention, program included five basic elements: self-awareness,
weeks 1 and 2 consisted of preparing for the intervention control of feelings, empathy, motivation, and social
program, weeks 3-8 were intervention weeks, and weeks skills. The author reports that all the teachers interviewed
9 and 18 consisted of retesting. During the intervention, confirmed LCE as an expression of therapeutic education,
subjects were divided into two groups, one called ‘strength which aims to develop self-esteem in students. The authors
training’ (intervention group) and the other control group. also discussed the student-teacher relationship, mentioning
The activities were aimed at psychological writing skills and that it should be warm and close, in order to promote the
strategies for applying character strengths. On completion, intellectual and moral growth of the subjects, focusing on
all participants increased their satisfaction with life and the work with self-esteem in education (Aldenmyr, 2012).
happiness following the 18-week intervention. Despite the few studies found in this review, we observed
Regarding the studies that were addressed to teachers that the area of Positive Psychology allied with education is
and school leaders, we have the research of Waters and comprehensive, including education at all levels. Regarding
Stokes (2015) and Aldenmyr (2012). Waters and Stokes, the education of school-age children, two of the nine

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interventions suggested were aimed at individuals with specific training, such as that established by the study of
specific educational contexts, such as indigenous pupils Madden et al. (2011). The study by Baum et al. (2014)
(Rhodes & Spiers, 2013) and children with high skills or differs from other interventions, adding the term “talent” and
learning disorders (Baum et al., 2014 ). Despite the diversity focusing on support for previously identified skills. Among
among the samples, interventions were generally related adult subjects, the activities included digital environments
to emphasizing the strengths of the subjects, favoring an such as blogs, raising the level of complexity of the
increase in well-being, and preventing social and behavioral methodological resources used in the intervention (Bridges
problems (Aldenmyr, 2012). et al., 2012). It was also observed that with university
Interventions differ, especially by their method of students, the constructs used were expanded, including
application, including games uniting parents and children gratitude (Bridges et al., 2012) and resilience (Place &
outdoors (Niehues et al., 2013) or more systematic and Talen, 2013).

CONCLUSION

Given the results presented in this review, it was study’s limitation, we can consider the use of a term not
concluded that despite the growth in publications on indexed for the search (“Positive Education”). However,
Positive Psychology (Reppold, Gurgel, & Schiavon, it remains as the most suitable theoretically for the subject
2015), there are, as yet, few studies that aim to assess the of this review. It is suggested, therefore, that more studies
effects of interventions based on this area directed towards are conducted in order to evaluate the effectiveness of
Positive Education, as defined by Seligman (2009). Among interventions in positive education in diverse settings, such
the interventions described in this study, we realized the as primary education and university for both young people
importance of stimulating the development of strength of and adults. In addition, more scientific publications are
character among students, and other specific constructs needed that seek to highlight the importance of motivating
such as life satisfaction, gratitude, and resilience. This students towards a more attractive education, considering
fact results in higher positive psychological attributes and the fact that, as described by Baum et al. (2014), the subjects
positive cognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes, thus build happier lives through the development of strengths,
reflecting in social relationships among students themselves, not remediation of weaknesses. Therefore, it is concluded
teachers, and parents. that Positive Education represents more than a movement
It should be noted that the studies found, for the most derived from Positive Psychology and implies a theoretical
part, show no randomized controlled design, reducing the and methodological approach and a policy of viewing human
quality of the evidence found. These studies remained in beings in a holistic/comprehensive manner, promoting an
the review since they provide the opportunity to discuss education that enables the development of their full potential
the current literature and existing gaps. Regarding the and well-being.

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