Welcome! There has been a welcome increase in high-quality submissions to this Journal and we are particularly enthusiastic about the breadth of professional contexts represented. From the wealth of research articles that we are publishing, it is evident that individuals and organisations are benefiting from coaching, supervision and positive psychology. This editorial is written with an invited co-author, Dr Lindsay Oades. We share a passionate interest in the use of coaching and positive psychology in educational contexts.
Coaching in education
While coaching and mentoring have been used extensively in schools and colleges for many decades, ‘coaching in education’ has been emerging as a sub-discipline since the early 2000s (Campbell, Citation2016). Coaching in education is defined as a ‘one-to-one conversation focused on the enhancement of learning and development through increasing self-awareness and a sense of personal responsibility, where the coach facilitates the self-directed learning of the coachee through questioning, active listening, and appropriate challenge in a supporting and encouraging climate’ (van Nieuwerburgh, Citation2012, p. 17). Most of the writing and research into coaching in education has focused on applications and interventions in schools. More recently, there has been growing interest in the use of coaching in colleges and universities (Iordanou, Lech, & Barnes, Citation2016). One consequence of the development of ‘coaching in education’ as a sub-discipline has been increased academic interest and research into the effectiveness and experience of coaching interventions. This has necessitated a more consistent approach to the use of terminology and broad agreement about the areas of study. In response to this, the Global Framework for Coaching in Education (van Nieuwerburgh & Campbell, Citation2015) identifies four areas where coaching is being used in educational settings: enhancing the success and wellbeing of learners; developing the capacity of educational leaders; supporting the professional practice of teachers and other staff in schools; and developing better relationships with members of the community.
Positive education
‘Positive education’ is a term coined by Martin Seligman (Seligman, Randal, Gilman, Reivich, & Linkins, Citation2009). Its purpose is to use the science of positive psychology and the application of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) to improve the wellbeing of learners and educators. A key focus of positive education is enabling learners to improve their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. Oades and Johnston (Citation2017) have introduced the notion of ‘wellbeing literacy’ as the personal control of the use of language around wellbeing to move beyond thinking solely in terms of PPIs per se, and the emergence of natural discourses enabling young people to learn and use wellbeing related concepts in day-to-day interactions. The key issue remains the most appropriate methodology for the provision or facilitation of positive education. Coaching represents a key medium to assist in improving wellbeing literacy consistent with the goals of positive education.
Integrating coaching and positive psychology
Given that ‘coaching psychologists work with well-functioning clients, using theoretically grounded and scientifically validated techniques to help them to reach goals in their personal and business lives’ (Grant, Citation2006) and positive psychology is referred to as ‘the science of optimal functioning’ (Hefferon & Boniwell, Citation2011), it seems that there is an immediate opportunity to integrate the two fields. Coaching psychology is interested in supporting individuals to flourish, while positive psychology aims to encourage flourishing and wellbeing more generally.
Both fields have a shared focus on unlocking potential, building on people’s strengths, enhancing subjective wellbeing and supporting sustainable optimal functioning. In fact, it seems like an ideal opportunity to bring together the highly applied nature of coaching with the theories and scientific research of positive psychology. One example of this in practice is the merging of the MSc in Coaching Psychology and MSc in Applied Positive Psychology programmes at the University of East London in the UK.
The view by leading scholars in the field that coaching and positive psychology are naturally aligned and complementary (e.g. Biswas-Diener, Citation2010; Boniwell, Citation2006; Kauffman, Citation2006; Kauffman & Scoular, Citation2004; Linley & Harrington, Citation2007; van Nieuwerburgh & Green, Citation2014) has led to broad acceptance of the term ‘positive psychology coaching’ which is defined as ‘coaching approaches that seek to improve the short term wellbeing (i.e. hedonic wellbeing) and sustainable wellbeing (i.e. eudaimonic wellbeing) using evidence-based approaches from positive psychology and the science of wellbeing’ (Oades and Passmore, Citation2014)
Integrating coach and positive psychology in education
It has also been argued that this integration of coaching and positive psychology should be implemented in schools (Green, Oades, & Robinson, Citation2012). It has been proposed that the integration of coaching and positive psychology can support the wellbeing and success of learners and educators while preventing negative impacts on their mental health (Leach & Green, Citation2016). Positive psychology coaching, by definition, aims to improve wellbeing, and hence it fits hand-in-glove with the intention of positive education. We wonder whether we should shift the conversation from ‘using coaching in educational contexts’, to exploring how coaching is, in itself, a form of education. This moves us from reducing coaching to a technique or intervention, to viewing it as a potential theory and practice of adult learning. If this is the case, then positive psychology coaching becomes the theory and practice of adults learning about wellbeing. This logically leads us to the conclusion that positive psychology coaching is a form positive education. Whilst some may not agree with this syllogistic reasoning, at the very least it highlights a fertile combination of positive psychology, adult education, coaching and positive education. So where to from here?
Further research on coaching is needed in general The following meta-research questions relate directly to the interface of coaching, positive psychology and positive education.
Which unique ingredients does positive psychology coaching add to education?
What can positive psychology coaching learn from other education models?
Is wellbeing best conceived of as the product of coaching or the process of coaching?
We see the integration of coaching and positive psychology in educational settings as a promising area for further exploration and experimentation, so we would like to actively encourage submission of research articles on this topic.
Guest author:
Associate Professor Lindsay Oades is the Director of the Centre for Positive Psychology at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne.
References
- Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). Practising positive psychology coaching.Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
- Boniwell, I. (2006). Positive psychology in a Nutshell. London: PWBC.
- Campbell, J. (2016). Coaching in schools. In C. van Nieuwerburgh (Ed.), Coaching in professional contexts (pp. 131–143). London: Sage.
- Grant, A. M. (2006). A personal perspective on professional coaching and the development of coaching psychology. International Coaching Psychology Review, 1(1), 12–22.
- Green, S., Oades, L., & Robinson, P. (2012). Positive education programmes: Integrating coaching and positive psychology in schools. In C. van Nieuwerburgh (Ed.), Coaching in education: Getting better results for students, educators and parents (pp. 115–132). London: Karnac.
- Hefferon, K., & Boniwell, I. (2011). Positive psychology: Theory, research and applications. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
- Iordanou, I., Lech, A. M., & Barnes, V. (2016). Coaching in higher education. In C. van Nieuwerburgh (Ed.), Coaching in professional contexts (pp. 145–157). London: Sage.
- Kauffman, C. (2006). Positive psychology: The science at the heart of coaching. In D. Stober, & A. Grant (Eds.), Evidence-based coaching handbook (pp. 219–254). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
- Kauffman, C., & Scoular, A. (2004). Toward a positive psychology of executive coaching. In P. A. Linley, & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 287–302). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
- Leach, C., & Green, S. (2016). Integrating coaching and positive psychology in education. In C. van Nieuwerburgh (Ed.), Coaching in professional contexts (pp. 169–186). London: Sage.
- Linley, P. A., & Harrington, S. (2007). Integrating positive psychology and coaching psychology: Shared assumptions and aspirations? In S. Palmer, & A. Whybrow (Eds.), The handbook of coaching psychology (pp. 40–56). London: Routledge.
- Oades, L. G., & Johnston, A. L. (2017). Wellbeing literacy. The necessary ingredient in positive education. Psychology and Behavioural Science International Journal, 3(5), 1–2.
- Oades, L. G., & Passmore, J. (2014). Positive psychology coaching. In J. Passmore (Ed.), Mastery in coaching (pp. 15–40). London: Kogan Page.
- Seligman, M., Randal, M. E., Gilman, J., Reivich, K., & Linkins, M. (2009). Positive education: Positive psychology and classroom interactions. Oxford Review of Education, 35, 293–311. doi: 10.1080/03054980902934563
- van Nieuwerburgh, C. (Ed.). (2012). Coaching in education: Getting better results for students, educators and parents. London: Karnac.
- van Nieuwerburgh, C., & Campbell, J. (2015). A global framework for coaching in education. CoachEd: The Teaching Leaders Coaching Journal, 1, 2–5.
- van Nieuwerburgh, C., & Green, S. (2014). Developing mental toughness in young people: Coaching as an applied positive psychology. In D. Strycharczyk, & P. Clough (Eds.), Developing mental toughness in young people for the twenty first century (pp. 81–97). London: Karnac.