Designing a Flourishing School Model Based on Positive Psychology, Meaningful Learning, and Student Participation
Keywords:
Flourishing school, positive psychology, meaningful learning, student participation, thematic analysis, studentsAbstract
This study aimed to design a flourishing school model based on positive psychology components, meaningful learning, and student participation in schools in Tehran. This qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis. The participants included 24 school stakeholders from Tehran, including students, teachers, school counselors, and principals, selected through purposive sampling with maximum variation. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and continued until theoretical saturation was reached. After obtaining informed consent, interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and organized using NVivo software. Data analysis followed the main phases of thematic analysis, including familiarization with the data, initial coding, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and producing the final report. To enhance trustworthiness, member checking, peer debriefing, analytic memo writing, and an audit trail were used. The analysis resulted in five main categories: a strengths-based and positive-emotion school culture, meaningful learning and the connection between knowledge and real life, student agency and active participation, supportive relationships and school belonging, and facilitative school leadership for flourishing. The findings indicated that a flourishing school is not merely defined by academic performance, but by an educational environment in which students experience psychological safety, meaning, voice, competence, belonging, hope, and purposeful engagement with learning. The flourishing school model offers a contextual framework for rethinking the mission of schooling. In this model, academic achievement is integrated with psychological well-being, meaningful learning, student participation, and a supportive school culture. Implementing this model requires teacher professional development, revision of assessment practices, strengthening student voice, and shifting from an outcome-centered school to a growth-centered school.
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