In vocational education and training, how well does the PERMA model of well-being work?

According to the PERMA Model, happiness and well-being are composed of five core elements. In essence, PERMA stands for Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments.

The PERMA Model was developed by American psychologist Martin Seligman, an educator and psychologist. An important part of Seligman's PERMA Framework is defining what being healthy means. PERMA has been found to be an effective model of well-being in education and training. It helps to promote positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment in students and employees. This makes it a valuable tool for organisations that want to create a positive and productive environment. 

There will be a variety of levels of well-being derived from each of these five building blocks, depending on the individual. One person's good life might not necessarily be the same as another's good life, and vice versa. In order to lead a flourishing life, there are many different routes you can take. Positive Psychology is a descriptive science, not a prescriptive one. Alternatively, we don't tell people what choices they should make or what they should value, but rather research on the factors that enable flourishing can help people make better decisions about how to live a more fulfilling life that is aligned with their values and interests so that they can live a more fulfilling life.

A PERMA model has too many explanations as to how it fits into the life of each individual, but can it fit into the health and well-being of a training organisation? Our experts believe, yes it can. 

P - Positive Emotions

Positive Emotions (feeling good) is the quality that lets us look forward, to taking on challenges with the strength of optimism.  As a cornerstone of the well-being model, positive emotions like hope, compassion, contentment, empathy, gratitude, joy, or love are thought to be the most important parts of getting or staying healthy and happy. If a training organisation takes calculative risks and makes decisions based on evidence-based practices, organisations can create a positive and supportive environment that encourages employees, innovation, and learning to flourish. In order to contribute to positive emotions and feelings, training organizations must: 

1. Ensure the students have a sense of belongingness to their training organisation 
2. Education is free from any biases and racism 
3. Education and training environment is safe and secure 
4. Satisfaction and pride through experiencing and celebrating success 
5. Excitement and enjoyment by participating in fun activities, interactive sessions, or special games 
6. Optimism about the success of the training program and training organisation (McFerran, 2010).

When people are able to boost their positive emotions, they provide themselves with the ability to build up their physical, intellectual, social, and psychological resources, which is conducive to improving their resilience over the long term.

E - Engagement 

Engagement (being totally involved in something in the present) is the opposite of withdrawal. It means being active in our communities, taking positive steps toward shared goals, and working toward common goals. As a training organisation, it is critical for us to engage, interact, and collaborate with the communities, industries, the government, and not-for-profit organisations but at the same time, the students must feel connected, valued and very much part of the training organisation. The training organisation must focus on the individual’s strengths to develop, design, implement and review training programs.  

There is a state known as flow, which is when you are fully focused on something, purely for pleasure, and are not thinking about anything else but what you are doing.

It has been proven that people with high levels of engagement are more creative, productive, interested in what they do, and more content with their lives.

R - Relationships 

Relationships (being authentically connected to others) imply that we are concentrating on collaborating with others, learning from them, as team players, and with mutual respect. 

Relationships are based on the principles of developing and maintaining a positive relationship with others. In the context of education and training, relationships refer to how well your training organisation develops and maintains positive relationships with various stakeholders, especially its students and employers. 

M and P - Meaning and Purpose 

According to Seligman (2011), meaning and purpose are the fourth and fifth elements of well-being that contribute to psychological well-being. The concept of meaning refers to one's sense of purposeful existence in the world, while the concept of purpose refers to one's sense of accomplishment and success in life. A research paper by Noble and McGrath (2008) asserts that pupils in school contexts have a sense of 'meaning' when the things they do have an impact on people other than themselves. As long as they pursue worthwhile goals, they feel a sense of 'purpose'". 

Meaning is that sense of purpose that comes from working towards goals, towards finding value in our activities. 

Accomplishment and Achievement point to acting meaningfully, doing things that have value and contributing to the benefit of others. 

Although each of the elements of the model can be viewed as functioning independently to generate well-being effects, they are often intertwined, causing a number of outcomes that in combination produce a range of well-being effects as a result of their interaction. Accordingly, PERMA offers a range of elements and levels of engagement that, when combined, can produce a sense of well-being as a result of the model. 

Lessons to be learned

It has been proven that, if the PERMA Model is followed, a happy workforce will consequently lead to a productive and happy workplace, which can be easily translated into a happy and productive work environment. It doesn't matter whether an individual uses it to manage their own stress levels or whether a company uses it to foster a positive work environment; what matters most is that each person's contribution is acknowledged and valued.

The greatest accomplishment is not in never failing, but in rising again after your fail ~ Vince Lombardi 

References: 

Altenmüller E., Gruhn W. (2002). Brain mechanisms. In Parncutt P., McPherson E. G. (Eds.), The science and psychology of music performance: Creative strategies for teaching and learning (pp. 63–81). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Altenmüller E., Gruhn W., Parlitz D., Kahrs J. (1997). Music learning produces changes in brain activation patterns: A longitudinal DC-EEG study. International Journal of Arts Medicine, 5(1), 28–33.

Bamford A., Glinkowski P. (2010). “Wow, it’s music next”: Impact evaluation of wider opportunities programme in music at key stage two. Leeds, UK: Federation of Music Services.

Bartleet B-L. (2008). Sound links: Exploring the social, cultural and educational dynamics of musical communities in Australia. International Journal of Community Music, 1(3), 335–356.

Lee, J., Krause, A. E., & Davidson, J. W. (2017). The PERMA well-being model and music facilitation practice: Preliminary documentation for well-being through music provision in Australian schools. Research Studies in Music Education, 39(1), 73–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103x17703131

Seligman M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and wellbeing. New York: NY: Free Press.

McFerran K. (2010). Music for wellbeing in Australian schools. White paper: Executive summary. Melbourne, Australia: The University of Melbourne.