Objectives and Perspectives

Our proposal for a panel discussion/round table begins with the premise that a significant body of research on well-being in work settings, both in Europe and elsewhere, is relevant but underutilized in education. We will first develop a framework for examining well-being in schools that draws largely on work conducted outside of education.  We then examine its relevance to studying well-being in schools among both adults and students based on empirical research and applications carried out in Germany, England, the United States and the Netherlands.  A focus of each panel presentation will be on the role that leaders at all levels play in creating flourishing educational settings.  We end with implications for further research in an international context before turning the floor over to attendees.

The field of positive psychology is well established in scholarly and more popular literature, and has had an impact in education (Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, & Linkins, 2009).  This perspective underlies the emphasis in this session on well-being.  In this panel, we approach well-being from an organizational perspective, in which we argue that the well-being of students can only be accomplished if teachers experience well-being, both in their work teams (Pounder, 1999; Van der Vegt, Emans, & Van de Vliert, 2001; Walumbwa, Wang, Lawler, & Shi, 2004), between work teams (Karkkainen, 2000), and in relationship to formal leaders (Bono, Foldes, Vinson, & Muros, 2007; Leithwood & Duke, 1998; Murphy & Louis, forthcoming).  In addition, we further argue that schools in which all adults and students thrive are closely engaged with the communities that they serve (Riley, 2013; Youngblade, et al., 2007).  However, research outside of education, as well as school-focused work, suggests that strong relationships between schools, families and communities will not occur unless the adults and children in the school have developed a sense of mutual ownership (Riley, 2017a; Riley 2017b). In other words, based on a positive psychology framework and studies from multiple countries, we develop the argument that positive adult relationships are a precondition for creating student well-being and that only where the members of the school are thriving are they able to make a positive contribution to the larger society (Louis & Murphy, in press).

Positive psychology’s emphasis on the importance of relationships to human flourishing, both in and out of organizations, is connected to the theme of this year’s conference through research that points to the importance of cultural competence (Leong & Wong, 2003).  Although research is limited, positive organizational leadership is associated with cultural competence and inclusive behavior in health care ((Dauvrin & Lorant, 2015), education (Santamaría & Santamaría, 2013) and business (Przytuła, Rozkwitalska, Chmielecki, Sułkowski, & Basinska, 2014).  The aim of this panel is to extend the discussion about the intersection of positive organizational behavior and inclusion, particularly the inclusion of minority and immigrant children.  Each short presentation draws on empirical research in four different countries.  The presentations are:

Setting the frame andempirical evidence for the impacts of caring behavior in U.S. schools (Louis)

Leadership of place:  Transforming schools into places of belonging (Riley)

Creating transformative experiences in leading and learning:  The German School Prize.  (Schratz, Anderegg, Mauersberg)

Creating an inclusive/adaptive system for immigrant children:  The case of Islamic schools in the Netherlands (van Velzen)

The four presentations are intended to stimulate discussion among attendees. The goal is to develop an informal network of ECER members who are interested in reshaping leadership and organizational change frameworks toward an asset-based rather than managerially directed models.  An additional expected result is to build a community of scholars that also incorporates a developmental focus on action.

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