The disengagement of young people from school leads to very high personal and social costs (Henry, Knight and Thornberry, 2012). At 15 Queensland state high schools, Success Coaches are working to identify 12- to 14-year old students at risk of disengagement and to re-engage them in education. This is one of a range of initiatives that the state’s Department of Education is implementing to provide targeted support to students at risk of disengaging.
While the work of the Success Coaches is informed and guided by the principles of Positive Psychology, these principles are not necessarily integral to the current functioning of wider school communities. Success Coaches have found that these principles, and the evidence base that validates them, often clash with predominant interpretations of the functions and forms of Education. The lessons being learned in negotiating these clashes are highly instructive in terms of understanding the challenges inherent in integrating the paradigmatic shift that Positive Psychology presents to Education. The work that the Success Coaches are undertaking to meet these challenges presents a rich field for discussion and debate about how best to get Positive change happening in schools for all students.