Program
Special Education M.A.
Year Approved
2017
First Advisor
Strand, Charles
Abstract
Twenty-first century schools are not like the schools of last century. The student population brings with it an entirely new set of parameters that the standard teacher-student model of education can no longer accommodate. Special education students along with the general education population enter school with more trauma than students of the past have. This means that new ways of helping these students need to be learned and implemented so students can have successful careers and teachers will stay in the field. Positive Psychology (PP) is an avenue that may provide some of the answers to today’s classroom. Positive Psychology interventions (PPI) such as professional learning communities (PLCs), social emotional learning (SEL), and mindfulness are presented as ways for schools to have an environment of well-being, with productive and empathetic students and teachers. Parents number one desire for their children is to be happy and Positive Psychology demonstrates to be the avenue to achieve this. Finally, this researcher investigated various aspects of PP which helped broaden her knowledge and understanding on the impacts PP can have. Many long-time researchers who are now considered experts in the field of PP, have been included to help with this process.
Degree Name
Special Education M.A.
Document Type
Masterʼs thesis
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Oseko, J. M. (2017). Incorporating Positive Psychology and Happiness in the Special Education Classroom - the Effects on Academics and Self-esteem [Masterʼs thesis, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/491