Flourishing communities: re-storying educational leadership using a positive research lens

Abstract

Ideas about human flourishing, once the purview of philosophy, have crossed disciplinary lines and these notions are being taken up in research in the social sciences such as psychology and organizational studies. Schools have long been the domain of those attending to factors allied to children’s flourishing, and educational researchers have endeavoured to associate with efforts to study the conditions for flourishing settings designed for learning. In this conceptual article, the authors argue that the recent generation of positive frameworks for human flourishing provides the language and insights for engaging new questions about how best to develop communities of belonging, connectedness and compassion in schools. They further proffer that these refreshed perspectives and complementary research findings have much to contribute to the development of school improvement research agenda, based on positive principles of learning, positive psychologies and allied theories related to flourishing.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sabre Cherkowski

Dr Sabre Cherkowski, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, EME 3161, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada. Email: [email protected]. She teaches and researches in the areas of leadership in learning communities; professional development and collaboration; mentoring and coaching; and diversity and education. She brings her experiences as a teacher, coach and parent to her passion for exploring flourishing in educational contexts.

Keith Walker

Dr Keith Walker enjoys a joint appointment in the Department of Educational Administration and the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan, 28 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0X1, Canada. Email: [email protected]. His recognized areas of work include educational governance and policy-making, leadership philosophies and practices, community and interpersonal relations, organizational development and capacity-building, and applied and professional ethics. He brings over 35 years of experience as a manager, teacher, minister, leader, scholar and educational administrator in public and social sectors. His formal education has been in the disciplines of physical education, sports administration, theology, education, educational administration and philosophy.