Vision

Aviva Education is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the vision to cultivate a mindful and thriving world through education. Aviva Education provides a blended learning experience for teachers and leaders to learn the science, application, and interventions of  Positive Psychology applied to the classroom.

Our Story

Growing frustrated with the focus on high stakes testing and seeing first hand what the stress of performance does to the wellbeing of students and teachers, I went on a quest to find a research based practice that would address these issues. in 2014, my wife enrolled in Tal Ben-Shahar’s, Certificate of Positive Psychology program and shared with me what she was learning.  I was hooked.

Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology is a new paradigm that flips the traditional focus of psychology upside down. Instead of asking what is wrong with the patient, identifying the psychosis, and prescribing the treatment; positive psychology studies what is going right. Why do some people come out of a traumatic experiences (like military combat), and after an initial recovery period, they begin to thrive? What conditions  must be in place for this to happen? Are there specific interventions that can foster a flourishing child? It turns out that Gratitude, Mindfulness, Cultivating Optimism, the Science of Happiness, Character Strengths  development, and Social Emotional Learning all contribute to a flourishing child.

Teacher Certificate of Positive Education

My wife, Dr. Mary Sanders, and I combined our strengths and developed a blended learning teacher training program based on the research of positive psychology and ran 3 trials in schools in Colombia and Vietnam. After each trial we learned what went well and what we could do even better. The final product is the Aviva Education Teacher Certificate of Positive Education. We later developed a train-the-trainer model. There are currently 25 Aviva Certified Trainers and 612 Aviva Certified Teachers around the world that are helping our mission to create a more mindful and thriving world!

Aviva Curriculum

The modules below are available individually or as a package of 9 to earn the Certificate of Positive Education. Please visit www.avivaeducation.com to learn more.