Sir Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Buckingham until September 2020, is one of Britain’s leading contemporary historians, educationalists, commentators and political authors. He is author or editor of over 40 books on contemporary history, including the inside books on the last five Prime Ministers, Chair of the National Archives Trust, was the co-founder and first director of the Institute for Contemporary British History, is co-founder of Action for Happiness, honorary historical adviser to 10 Downing Street, a member of the Government’s First World War Culture Committee, was Chair of the Comment Awards, is a Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the President of IPEN, (International Positive Education Network), , is patron or on the board of several charities, founder of the Via Sacra Western Front Walk, and was executive producer of the film Journey’s End.  He was a transformative Head for 20 years, first of Brighton College and then Wellington College. He appeared on the Desert Island Discs in 2016.  For the last fifteen years he has given all his money from writing and lecturing to charity.   

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>Presentation Topic: Why Covid and AI make wellbeing in schools more vital than ever

For a hundred years, schools have focused on testing and examinations as their main purpose. Covid and AI give us the opportunity to reset the entire purpose of education. The world over, mental unwellness is rising, teachers are becoming more disillusioned, and employers are shaking their heads at the lack of preparedness for the world of work by our education system.
 
Teachers mostly get this, so too increasingly do parents and students. But politicians and administrators, not so much.
 
Heads, teaching staff and governors have now to take control of the position and devise a radically different curriculum and extra-curricula life for their schools, with well-being and character, and the environment, at the heart.

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>Panel on Wellbeing and Positive Universities with:

• Facilitated by Héctor Escamilla, VP of Development, Tecnológico de Monterrey, México

• Lindsay Oades, Director of the Center for Positive Psychology, at University of Melbourne, in Australia

• Rosalinda Ballesteros, Director of the Wellbeing and Happiness Institute, at Tecmilenio in México

 

Great thinkers in the world like Richard Davidson among others have expressed that Well-being is a skill, as any other skills it can be learned, developed and measured.

Martin Seligman has mentioned that flourishing lives can be attained by learning, and developing positivity, engagement, positive relations, meaning and purpose in life and celebrating achievements.

Some Universities had taken a variety of approaches providing well-being practices, a sense of purpose and meaning in life, creating a new category of Universities that some experts have recognized as Well-being Universities and leaders like Martin Seligman proposed as Positive Universities.

 

In this panel experiences from University of Melbourne,  University of Buckingham and Tecmilenio University will share their journey and progress centering their efforts in introducing courses, research and culture around positive education, wellbeing practices and meaning and Purpose in life.

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