Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

25 minutes

Part A: What is the PERMA Model?

30 minutes

Part B: The impact and importance of positive relationships

40 minutes

Part C: Applying this model to our lives

5 minutes

Reflection

Part A: What is the PERMA Model?

Step 1

Before completing this lesson it is essential that you understand what the PERMA model is and how the various stages intertwine. If you would like or need additional reading on the PERMA model you can read through the article located on the Positive Psychology website.

Step 2.

Ask students to take 5 minutes to write down all the things they do to make themselves feel ‘well’ or ‘content’. Write the sentence on the board or interactive board:

What positive strategies do you know of or use to make yourself feel better?

You may wish to prompt their thinking with suggestions such as - talk to a friend, paint, go outside.

Step 3

Invite students to share some of the strategies they wrote down (if they feel comfortable).

Step 4

Introduce the ‘PERMA model’ by showing this video:

PERMA the Wellbeing model of Positive Psychology (youtube.com/watch?v=mnI1ZUgFPlM)

Step 5

Allocate each table group one of the 5 aspects of the PERMA model. Ask them to brainstorm strategies, activities, tools or people that would help them to utilise this aspect of the PERMA model.

Step 6

Once students have discussed aspects of the PERMA model, invite the table groups to present their ideas about the PERMA model.

Ensure you let your students know they will be presenting and ask them to think about who will be the speaker or if they might take turns talking.

Part B: The impact and importance of positive relationships

Step 1

Tell students that today you will be focusing on the ‘Relationships’ and ‘Meaning’ aspects of the PERMA model.

Step 2

Show the clips about BlazeAid from the feature documentary A Fire Inside:

A Fire Inside: Blaze Aid (https://vimeo.com/651800213)

Activity/relationship/ sense of achievement	How it helped the individual

Step 3

Discuss with students what they noticed about the benefits of BlazeAid for all involved.

Ensure students understand how Meaning and Relationships relates to the PERMA model and the BlazeAid volunteers:

Consider the following words and descriptions when writing or discussing the importance of meaning and relationships:

Relationships: We are social beings with a need for meaningful connections and healthy, positive relationships. A support network facilitates these primal needs and provides strong emotional and physical interactions that are vital to our wellbeing. Dr Mitch Printein’s work suggests that our pain centres are activated when we become isolated.

Meaning: Meaning ultimately comes from serving something beyond ourselves and valuing your impact. Pleasure doesn’t provide this, only purpose. The purpose is often associated with working for an organisation that aligns to our values, raising children, volunteering for a worthy cause or religion and faith.

Step 4

Ask students to free-write for 5 minutes: How did being involved in BlazeAid help the wellbeing of everyone involved?

Part C: Applying this model to our lives

Step 1

Ask students to think of ways that their school could incorporate more strategies to support students and teachers, using the PERMA model:

	Strategy to improve this at our school	Why this will have a positive impact
Positive emotions
Engagement
Relationships
Meaning
Achievement

Step 2

Ask students to select a strategy and write a proposal or create a poster that promotes this strategy being used at the school.

Step 3

The poster is an opportunity for students to consider which aspect of the PERMA model is important to them and has worked for them in the past. Ensure students include the following points in their poster.

An explanation of the main idea and why it is important
A clear statement, sentence or phrase
A visual that relates to the PERMA model and why the model is useful.

Show students examples of other health promotion posters and discuss the visual language presented in the poster. Facilitate a brief discussion as to why they might be effective in creating a dialogue about the topic.

Examples include:

2021 Mental Health Month Posters and Postcards from the Look after your mental health website.

AFire Insidemental health day posterhpe lesson

Australian Government department of health website COVID-19 mental health campaign – How’s your head today?

(health.gov.au/news/new-covid-19-mental-health-campaign-hows-your-head-today)

Mental health week posters from the Mental Health Week WA website.

A Fire Inside2021 mental health week poster design

Reflection

Ask students to share:

What is one way that you can improve your, or someone else’s, wellbeing today?

Differentiated Learning

Extension - Students could flesh out their strategy proposal to explain possible costs, benefits and other logistics.
They could write a persuasive letter and proposal to their principal about their strategy and why it would be helpful.
Provisions for Learning Support - Students could work in small groups to have support from their peers.

Teacher reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

A Fire Inside - The PERMA Model and the Importance of Health and Wellbeing

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Summary

Lesson guides and printables

In this lesson