Psychology comes from the Greek language meaning "knowledge of the soul (mind). As a parent, you may wonder what psychology has to do with the education of your child and this is an excellent question. As a prelude to answering this question, it might be helpful to read what the children of Singapore are saying about happiness and fears or psychological traits. The following is a summary of data looking at children in Singapore. 

• UNICEF, in a 2001 report, indicated 2/3 of the children interviewed said they are happy most of the time.

• The Institute of Mental Health, in 2002, found that 16,487 children had received mental health services and 4 out of 10 were suffering from a learning disorder or ADHD.

• The Straits Times stated that 1 in 10 of the children seeking mental health support suffered from an emotional issue (2003). 

• 35% of the children in Singapore said that making good grades made them happy.

• Almost half of the children surveyed said it would make them sad if they did not perform well academically.  

• A survey called “Attitudes and Lifestyle among Primary 4-6 Pupils” (2000) found a greater proportion (36%) of children were more fearful of failing examinations than fearing the death of a parent or guardian (17%).

• Singapore parents feel education is of high importance as the Ministry of Education’s Statistics Digest shows the net enrolment rate for primary students (6-11) was consistently 95% from 1999 to 2003.

Given this information, it is fair to say that approximately 36% of children in Singapore may be at risk for psychological issues surrounding fear of academic failure. It has been documented over and over again in research that there is a level of stress that can enhance performance but, when that level is breached, stress becomes maladaptive and compromises ones capacity to perform optimally.

As parents it is important to balance the amount of emphasis on academic excellence with an understanding of the negative impact stress has on learning.  The administration and faculty of Neumind understands the importance of creating a challenging learning environment yet monitoring for signs of maladaptive stress in students. They accomplish this balancing act by applying the principles of Martin Seligman’s’ model of positive psychology.

 Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D.
Fox Leadership Professor          of Psychology
University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Seligman describes positive psychology as a process of enhancing a person’s basic human strengths such as optimism, courage, honesty, self-understanding, and interpersonal skills.  He has taken the position, and rightly so, that for too long psychology has only focused on "the broken things" and fixing the damage of past traumatic events.

The field of Positive Psychology has created the goals to build a science that facilitates:

• Families and schools knowing how to allow children to flourish
• Workplaces knowing how to foster satisfaction resulting in high productivity
• Communities knowing how to encourage civic engagement
• Therapists knowing how to identify and help clients recognize their strengths

Positive psychology does not recommend, or suggest, that there is not a need for the tools of psychotherapy but, the scientists and practitioners in the field feel when individuals are taught to identify their inner strengths and how to call upon those strengths when they run up against the predictable set backs of life, there will be a decrease in depression  At the same time there will be an increase in “authentic happiness” - a state that contains positive emotions such as ecstasy and comfort as well as positive activities such as being involved in something you like and enjoy.