Abstract
Expanding on Rabbi Sacks’ affinity toward positive psychology, this essay provides a brief overview of the developing field, and reviews the literature on positive emotions, with a particular focus on their impact on the learning process. As is evident from the psychological literature, as well as an analysis of Ethics of the Fathers and its commentaries, positive emotions enhance the learning process by building motivation and expanding cognitive capabilities. Finally, to demonstrate the benefits of positive emotions in the learning process, I provide an analysis of Torah and psychological sources related to the use of humor in the classroom.
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Notes
- 1.
Tamra Wright, “Afterward: A New Musar,” in Radical Responsibility: Celebrating the Thought of Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, eds. Michael J. Harris, Daniel Rynhold, and Tamra Wright (New Milford: Maggid Books, 2012), 247.
- 2.
Martin E. Seligman, Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment (New York: Free Press, 2002), ix.
- 3.
Martin E. Seligman. Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being (New York: Free Press, 2012).
For variations, see Margaret L. Kern, K. A. Allen, M. Furlong, S. Vella-Brodrick, and S. Suldo. “PERMAH: A Useful Model for Focusing on Wellbeing in Schools.” Handbook of Positive Psychology in Schools, Third Edition (New York: Routledge, 2021) and Tal Ben-Shahar, Happier, No Matter What: Cultivating Hope, Resilience, and Purpose in Hard Times (New York: The Experiment, 2021).
- 4.
Nel Noddings, Happiness and Education (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
- 5.
Martin E. Seligman, Randal M. Ernst, Jane Gillham, Karen Reivich, and Mark Linkins. “Positive Education: Positive Psychology and Classroom Interventions,” Oxford Review of Education 35, no. 3 (2009): 293–311.
- 6.
Kelly-Ann Allen, Michael J. Furlong, Dianne Vella-Brodrick, and Shannon M. Suldo, Handbook of Positive Psychology in Schools: Supporting Process and Practice (New York: Routledge, 2022).
- 7.
Barbara L. Fredrickson, “Positive Emotions Broaden and Build,” in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 47, (Cambridge: Academic Press, 2013), 1–53.
- 8.
Jonathan Sacks, “Descartes Error,” accessed June 30, 2022, https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/chukat/descartes-error/.
Jonathan Sacks, “Thinking Fast and Slow,” accessed June 30, 2022, https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/acharei-mot/thinking-fast-and-slow/.
Jonathan Sacks, “Torah as Song,” accessed June 30, 2022, https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/vayelech/torah-as-song/.
- 9.
Lisa Feldman Barrett, Michael Lewis, and Jeannette M. Haviland-Jones, eds. Handbook of emotions (New York: Guilford Publications, 2016).
- 10.
Carlos Valiente, Jodi Swanson, and Nancy Eisenberg. “Linking Students’ Emotions and Academic Achievement: When and Why Emotions Matter,” Child Development Perspectives 6, no. 2 (2012): 129–135.
- 11.
Laura McInerney. “Applying Happiness and Well-being Research to the Teaching and Learning Process,” in Oxford Handbook of Happiness, ed. Susan A. David, Ilona Boniwell, Amanda Conley Ayers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 592–608.
- 12.
Carlos Valiente, Jodi Swanson, and Nancy Eisenberg. “Linking Students’ Emotions And Academic Achievement: When and Why Emotions Matter.” Child Development Perspectives 6, no. 2 (2012): 129–135.
- 13.
Reinhard Pekrun, Thomas Goetz, Wolfram Titz, and Raymond P. Perry, “Positive Emotions in Education,” in Beyond Coping: Meeting Goals, Visions, and Challenges, ed. Erica Frydenberg (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 149–173.
- 14.
Lisa G. Aspinwall, “Rethinking the Role of Positive Affect in Self-Regulation,” Motivation and Emotion 22, no. 1 (1998): 7.
- 15.
Michele M. Tugade, and Barbara L. Fredrickson. “Resilient Individuals Use Positive Emotions to Bounce Back from Negative Emotional Experiences,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 86, no. 2 (2004): 320–333.
- 16.
Iris B. Mauss, Amanda J. Shallcross, Allison S. Troy, Oliver P. John, Emilio Ferrer, Frank H. Wilhelm, and James J. Gross, “Don’t Hide your Happiness! Positive Emotion Dissociation, Social Connectedness, and Psychological Functioning,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 100, no. 4 (2011): 738–48.
- 17.
Barbara L. Fredrickson, and Marcial F. Losada, “Positive Affect and the Complex Dynamics of Human Flourishing,” American Psychologist 60, no. 7 (2005): 678–86.
- 18.
Alice M. Isen, “On the Relationship Between Affect and Creative Problem Solving,” Affect, Creative Experience, and Psychological Adjustment 3, no. 17 (1999): 3–17.
- 19.
Laura McInerney. “Applying Happiness and Well-being Research to the Teaching and Learning Process,” in Oxford Handbook of Happiness, ed. Susan A. David, Ilona Boniwell, and Amanda Conley Ayers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 592–608.
- 20.
Barbara L. Fredrickson, “Positive Emotions Broaden and Build,” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 47 (Cambridge: Academic Press, 2013): 1–53.
- 21.
Anne C. Frenzel, Thomas Goetz, Oliver Lüdtke, Reinhard Pekrun, and Rosemary E. Sutton. “Emotional Transmission in the Classroom: Exploring the Relationship Between Teacher and Student Enjoyment.” Journal of Educational Psychology 101, no. 3 (2009): 705–16.
- 22.
Reinhard Pekrun, Thomas Goetz, Raymond P. Perry, Klaudia Kramer, Michaela Hochstadt, and Stefan Molfenter. “Beyond Test Anxiety: Development and Validation of the Test Emotions Questionnaire (TEQ).” Anxiety, Stress & Coping 17, no. 3 (2004): 287–316.
- 23.
Amy L. Reschly, E. Scott Huebner, James J. Appleton, and Susan Antaramian. “Engagement as Flourishing: The Contribution of Positive Emotions and Coping to Adolescents’ Engagement at School and with learning.” Psychology in the Schools 45, no. 5 (2008): 419–431.
- 24.
Carlos Valiente, Jodi Swanson, and Nancy Eisenberg. “Linking students’ emotions and academic achievement: When and why emotions matter.” Child Development Perspectives 6, no. 2 (2012): 129–135.
- 25.
See Berakhot 63b, Eruvin 54a, Taanit 30a, and Avoda Zara 19a.
- 26.
See Pachad Yitzchak, Chanuka, no. 6, and Pachad Yitzchak Iggerot U-Ketavim, no. 2.
- 27.
For other interesting perspectives, see Rabbi Yosef Nahmias, Rabbi Yitzchak MiToledo, and Maharal.
- 28.
BT Shabbat 30b.
- 29.
Toni Noble and Helen McGrath. The PROSPER school pathways for student wellbeing: Policy and practices (New York: Springer, 2015).
- 30.
Toni Noble and Helen McGrath. The PROSPER school pathways for student wellbeing: Policy and practices (New York: Springer, 2015), 6.
- 31.
Laura McInerney, “Applying Happiness and Well-being Research to the Teaching and Learning Process,” in Oxford Handbook of Happiness, ed. Susan A. David, Ilona Boniwell, Amanda Conley Ayers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013) 592–608.
- 32.
Rod A. Martin & Thomas Ford, The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach (United Kingdom: Elsevier Science, 2018).
- 33.
BT Berakhot 22a.
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Schiffman, M. (2023). Positive Psychology and Jewish Wisdom in the Classroom: A Synergic Effect. In: Brown, E., Weiss, S. (eds) An Ode to Joy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28229-4_42
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