Positive early childhood education : expanding the reach of positive psychology into early childhood

There are inherent links between early childhood educational theory and practice and the science of positive psychology. Opportunities exist for the implementation of positive psychology interventions and the harnessing of synergies between early childhood services and global pedagogies (such as the Reggio Emilia approach and Nature pedagogy), yet they currently lack articulation, connection and application. Early childhood history, theory and practice recognise child wellbeing as complementary to education and both educator and child wellbeing are critical for the delivery of quality early childhood education services. Globally there exists regulation, pedagogy, standards and learning and development frameworks that mandate a focus on wellbeing but provide the profession with little to no tools, training or interventions in the science of wellbeing. Future directions for research into the rich connectivity of positive psychology and early childhood education are called for. Identification, design and implementation of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) along with training of educators and educational leaders in the science of wellbeing (for themselves and their students) is timely and required.