Positive education is being increasingly applied
to improve students’ wellbeing in schools. The main positive
education strategies adopted by schools consist of teaching
wellbeing skills directly to students to increase their resilience,
positive emotion, engagement, and meaning. These
wellbeing skills can be either added to or integrated into the
existing curricula of schools. While school leaders and
teachers have a key role to play as change agents in institutionalizing
positive education and developing ‘happy’
schools, little research exists in the literature on leadership
practices in happy schools. The current article attempts to fill
this knowledge gap by reporting a qualitative case study of
leadership practices for improving students’ wellbeing. The
case study was set in a junior secondary school in Guangzhou,
China, where the wellbeing of secondary school students
is generally low as a result of academic pressure.
Research methods included interviews with school leaders
and teachers, observation of lessons, and document analysis.
The said school implemented an alternative approach
underpinned by positive expectation of student development;
that is, it embraced a student-centered approach in
curriculum adaptation, pedagogical design, staff development
and resource management. This approach aimed to
relieve the academic pressure on students and to better
support their learning and development. Findings show that,
after the school had adopted wellbeing-oriented education
for 3 years, student learning and wellbeing were greatly
improved. This study expands the idea of positive education
practices beyond the direct teaching of wellbeing skills and
enriches our understanding of positive education in China.

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• Making Students Happy with Wellbeing-Oriented Education: Case Study of a Secondary School in China