Interest in positive psychology, and its application in education, health, communities and organisations, has grown exponentially over the last 15 years. The goal of positive psychology is to provide the conditions and processes that contribute to flourishing or optimal functioning of people, groups and institutions.
The PROSPER framework is an organiser for positive psychological interventions that can help people, groups, organisations or communities to achieve this goal. The term ‘to prosper’ is defined as to thrive and succeed in a healthy way; to flourish. Flourishing refers to the experience of life going well and equates with a high level of wellbeing and it epitomises mental health. It is a combination of feeling good and functioning effectively. Use of the term PROSPER reflects the intended purpose of this framework which is as an organiser for the multi-dimensional components that contribute to flourishing. The PROSPER acronym stands for Positivity, Relationships, Outcomes, Strengths, Purpose, Engagement, and Resilience.
PROSPER within a school context incorporates the evidence-informed school practices that have the potential to enhance student wellbeing and achievement and build schools as enabling institutions.
Figure 1 outlines the PROSPER acronym and illustrates each of the seven components with a range of school and classroom practices that contribute to student wellbeing.
The new conceptual PROSPER framework has the potential to be used as an organisational tool for the implementation of the seven identified key components of wellbeing. It can be used as a planning tool as well as an audit tool to help schools to identify both current areas of strength as well as practices that might to be further enhanced. The framework also has the potential to be used within other contexts such as workplaces and other types of organisations and communities.
Source and full study: https://psywb.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13612-015-0030-2
