This truly accessible resource shows secondary school practitioners how to help make every child and young person feel like they really matter when they are in school, so they can develop confidence, resilience, love of learning, a positive sense of self and healthy relationships.
Sue Roffey shows how to create a learning environment where all pupils can thrive and make progress in learning, and where wellbeing for everyone is at the heart of every school. By using the unique evidence-based ASPIRE principles of Agency, Safety, Positivity, Inclusion, Respect and Equity in practice, this insightful book shows teachers how to redress the balance in ways that maximise a love for learning, build a positive sense of self, construct healthy relationships, foster resilience and help young people make good choices. This resource features a chapter for each principle which explores what this means, why it matters and how it can be applied across secondary schools. Although visionary, the book is based on both substantial evidence and good practice, with each chapter supported by case-studies across the world.
The book demonstrates the positive difference each principle makes to children in secondary school settings as well as teachers, parents and the overall community. It is a must-read for secondary school teachers, tutors, school leaders, psychologists, parents and anyone who wants an education system that is inclusive, holistic and effective for all students.
Table of Contents:
0. INTRODUCTION
1. AGENCY
Power with, not power over
2. SAFETY Physical, emotional, social, psychological and digital
3. POSITIVITY Strengths, solutions, smiles and support
4. INCLUSION Everyone welcome, everyone matters, everyone participates
5. RESPECT For individuals, communities and human rights
6. EQUITY Fairness and flexibility
7. ASPIRE IN ACTION ACROSS THE WORLD
About the Author :
Sue Roffey is a teacher, psychologist, academic, author, speaker and social activist. She is also Honorary Associate Professor at University College London, UK, and Director of Growing Great Schools Worldwide She has previously published Creating the World We Want to Live in (Routledge, 2021) The Primary Behaviour Cookbook (Routledge, 2018) and The Secondary Behaviour Cookbook (Routledge, 2018).
Review :
"Sue Roffey has written an essential book for educators across the globe. The ASPIRE principles encompass foundational pillars for the promotion of learning and well-being for all children and youth. This is a user-friendly volume with many practical applications. Teachers and educational administrators around the world will benefit greatly from the wisdom in these pages. I highly recommend it to educators, parents, psychologists, counsellors, and anyone interested in flourishing and the creation of a just and vibrant society."
Isaac Prilleltensky, Professor, PhD, University of Miami
"As Sue Roffey articulates so intelligently, passionately and clearly, wellbeing is both complex and contextual. This book provides a comprehensive and clear framework for considering how best to grow contextual wellbeing across your whole school using her well established ASPIRE principles. A fabulous foundation for whole-school development, and a much-needed voice for wellbeing equity."
Helen Street, Founder of Contextual Wellbeing and Positive Schools, Honorary Fellow, The University of Western Australia
"This excellent book shows how to enable pupils to flourish in school now and how we can help all to thrive in future. The ASPIRE principles build social justice. I highly recommend it."
Anthony Seldon, Co-chair of the Times Education Commission Report: Bringing out the Best
"Wellbeing is not merely a means to an end. It is the end goal we all aspire to, and how ultimately, we measure the success of our lives. Dr Sue Roffey’s ASPIRE books provide a pathway for schools to build wellbeing for all - students, educators, and community. Dr Roffey illustrates how the ASPIRE principles can underpin the values of a school, inform and drive policy, practice and structure, and guide teacher-student relationships. This work is pro-active, comprehensive and universal and aims at nothing less than a revitalisation of education."
Denise Quinlan, Director of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience
"I have no hesitation in recommending this book to all educators - wellbeing and learning must be a focus for us all if we are to build successful schools and more importantly successful families of the future. Sue's ASPIRE framework provides us with a clear structure to frame our thinking."
Maureen McKenna, Former Executive Director of Education, City of Glasgow
"For true educational change we need to know to what we aspire. Drawing from both her rich experience and the best educational science, Roffey points us toward educational contexts in which students want to learn. She points us beyond a narrow focus on cognitive achievement, to the kind of schools where human development, intellectual, social, and emotional, is the goal. Beyond piecemeal reform she describes cultures of education where both students and teachers can flourish. This is a book that can truly lead the way of positive school change."
Richard M. Ryan, Professor, Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney and Distinguished Professor, College of Education, Ewha Womans University, South Korea
"There has been some talk post pandemic of doing things differently in schools and not just returning to default settings in search of a more rewarding and compelling school vision for educators and students. This (Sue’s) inspiring and thoughtful book provides the narrative for this work. It poses the question, does the education system as we know it meet the needs of learners and educators or is there another way? A way which provides the skills that employers want, the happiness that parents seek for their children and a way of teaching and learning which helps to retain and recruit those who work in our schools. Joining the conversation and Sue’s book (IT) covers key aspects of what an education system fit for the 21st century must include.”
Andy Mellor, National Wellbeing Director for Schools Advisory Service, National Association of Head Teachers National President 18/19, Strategic Lead for Carnegie centre of excellence for mental health in schools.
"Sue’s aspirations and vision for a truly inclusive, critical, and hopeful approach to education is one that is sorely needed. Sue’s work guides schools, educators, and psychologists to see wellbeing as something to be actively pursued and cultivated, rather than just the absence of mental ill-health. The realisation of the ASPIRE principles would mark a systems change in how we ‘do’ education."
Dan O’Hare, Educational Psychologist, Senior Lecturer, University of Bristol and founder of edpsy.org.uk “As educators and educational leaders, we continually seek pathways to profoundly impact generations of learners. Dr Roffey's work is a vital contribution to this journey, offering both inspiration and practical strategies for creating educational environments where every child can flourish. This book presents a transformative vision for education, deeply resonating with the Global Citizenship Foundation's mandate to transform education for human and planetary flourishing. I hope this essential resource reaches practitioners and policymakers committed to nurturing inclusive, sustainable, and equitable environments where every child can realize their full potential and flourish.”
Aaryan Salman, Director-General, Global Citizenship Foundation, India
“As we enter a more and more tumultuous century, we and our children will have to master social/political and climate challenges as well as disinformation. Sue Roffey, in her passionately argued and practical book shows us the way. Based on her vast experience in positive education, she describes how children, educators and larger society may achieve greater wellbeing and resilience through a shared learning environment. In her ASPIRE program, she elaborates the basic elements for transforming today’s education systems, and indeed our lives, into one that allows the development of thriving children. An important read!”
Marten W. de Vries, Emeritus Professor, Social Psychiatry and Public Mental Health, Maastricht University, Netherlands; Chair, Mind Venture International Institute; Knighted in the Order of the Dutch Lion“Sue Roffey is a force of nature and this book is everything you would expect: intelligent, insightful and driven by a burning sense of social justice.. The question of what education is for is too often overlooked. The consequences are clear: the wellbeing of educators, as well as children and young people, is not in good shape. Research-informed, humane and practical, the ASPIRE model is the antidote we so badly need. Despite the name, this is not aspirational stuff. It is urgent reading that should rocket to the top of every educator’s reading pile. Grab it with both hands and implement it in your schools. Your colleagues, pupils and their families will thank you for it for many years to come.”James Mannion, Director, Rethinking Education; Co-author, “Fear is the Mind Killer”
"Sue Roffey has written an essential book for educators across the globe. The ASPIRE principles encompass foundational pillars for the promotion of learning and well-being for all children and youth. This is a user-friendly volume with many practical applications. Teachers and educational administrators around the world will benefit greatly from the wisdom in these pages. I highly recommend it to educators, parents, psychologists, counsellors, and anyone interested in flourishing and the creation of a just and vibrant society."Isaac Prilleltensky, Professor, PhD, University of Miami
"As Sue Roffey articulates so intelligently, passionately and clearly, wellbeing is both complex and contextual. This book provides a comprehensive and clear framework for considering how best to grow contextual wellbeing across your whole school using her well established ASPIRE principles. A fabulous foundation for whole-school development, and a much-needed voice for wellbeing equity."
Helen Street, Founder of Contextual Wellbeing and Positive Schools, Honorary Fellow, The University of Western Australia
"This excellent book shows how to enable pupils to flourish in school now and how we can help all to thrive in future. The ASPIRE principles build social justice. I highly recommend it."
Anthony Seldon, Co-chair of the Times Education Commission Report: Bringing out the Best
"Wellbeing is not merely a means to an end. It is the end goal we all aspire to, and how ultimately, we measure the success of our lives. Dr Sue Roffey’s ASPIRE books provide a pathway for schools to build wellbeing for all - students, educators, and community. Dr Roffey illustrates how the ASPIRE principles can underpin the values of a school, inform and drive policy, practice and structure, and guide teacher-student relationships. This work is pro-active, comprehensive and universal and aims at nothing less than a revitalisation of education."
Denise Quinlan, Director of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience
"I have no hesitation in recommending this book to all educators - wellbeing and learning must be a focus for us all if we are to build successful schools and more importantly successful families of the future. Sue's ASPIRE framework provides us with a clear structure to frame our thinking."
Maureen McKenna, Former Executive Director of Education, City of Glasgow
"For true educational change we need to know to what we aspire. Drawing from both her rich experience and the best educational science, Roffey points us toward educational contexts in which students want to learn. She points us beyond a narrow focus on cognitive achievement, to the kind of schools where human development, intellectual, social, and emotional, is the goal. Beyond piecemeal reform she describes cultures of education where both students and teachers can flourish. This is a book that can truly lead the way of positive school change."
Richard M. Ryan, Professor, Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney and Distinguished Professor, College of Education, Ewha Womans University, South Korea
"There has been some talk post pandemic of doing things differently in schools and not just returning to default settings in search of a more rewarding and compelling school vision for educators and students. This (Sue’s) inspiring and thoughtful book provides the narrative for this work. It poses the question, does the education system as we know it meet the needs of learners and educators or is there another way? A way which provides the skills that employers want, the happiness that parents seek for their children and a way of teaching and learning which helps to retain and recruit those who work in our schools. Joining the conversation and Sue’s book (IT) covers key aspects of what an education system fit for the 21st century must include.”
Andy Mellor, National Wellbeing Director for Schools Advisory Service, National Association of Head Teachers National President 18/19, Strategic Lead for Carnegie centre of excellence for mental health in schools."Sue’s aspirations and vision for a truly inclusive, critical, and hopeful approach to education is one that is sorely needed. Sue’s work guides schools, educators, and psychologists to see wellbeing as something to be actively pursued and cultivated, rather than just the absence of mental ill-health. The realisation of the ASPIRE principles would mark a systems change in how we ‘do’ education."
Dan O’Hare, Educational Psychologist, Senior Lecturer, University of Bristol and founder of edpsy.org.uk“As educators and educational leaders, we continually seek pathways to profoundly impact generations of learners. Dr Roffey's work is a vital contribution to this journey, offering both inspiration and practical strategies for creating educational environments where every child can flourish. This book presents a transformative vision for education, deeply resonating with the Global Citizenship Foundation's mandate to transform education for human and planetary flourishing. I hope this essential resource reaches practitioners and policymakers committed to nurturing inclusive, sustainable, and equitable environments where every child can realize their full potential and flourish.”
Aaryan Salman, Director-General, Global Citizenship Foundation, India
“As we enter a more and more tumultuous century, we and our children will have to master social/political and climate challenges as well as disinformation. Sue Roffey, in her passionately argued and practical book shows us the way. Based on her vast experience in positive education, she describes how children, educators and larger society may achieve greater wellbeing and resilience through a shared learning environment. In her ASPIRE program, she elaborates the basic elements for transforming today’s education systems, and indeed our lives, into one that allows the development of thriving children. An important read!”
Marten W. de Vries, Emeritus Professor, Social Psychiatry and Public Mental Health, Maastricht University, Netherlands; Chair, Mind Venture International Institute; Knighted in the Order of the Dutch Lion“Sue Roffey is a force of nature and this book is everything you would expect: intelligent, insightful and driven by a burning sense of social justice.. The question of what education is for is too often overlooked. The consequences are clear: the wellbeing of educators, as well as children and young people, is not in good shape. Research-informed, humane and practical, the ASPIRE model is the antidote we so badly need. Despite the name, this is not aspirational stuff. It is urgent reading that should rocket to the top of every educator’s reading pile. Grab it with both hands and implement it in your schools. Your colleagues, pupils and their families will thank you for it for many years to come.”
James Mannion, Director, Rethinking Education; Co-author, “Fear is the Mind Killer”
