A qualitative study on anxiety level, life satisfaction and students’ mathematics performance in positive education

Positive education, often referred to as the science of happiness, focuses on enhancing the quality of life by fostering happiness, peace, and adherence to human values. This research is a crucial part of initiatives aimed at advancing positive education in schools situated in insecure and challenging communities. The students' experiences related to their anxiety levels, life satisfaction, and mathematics performance were categorized and analyzed. Additionally, the experiences of the teachers who used the researcher-developed positive education module were also examined. Before the intervention, themes such as fear, anxiety, irritation, palpitations, loneliness, feelings of being unloved or unlucky, and low academic performance were identified and coded. These experiences were confirmed through interviews with teachers. After the intervention, new themes emerged, including increased calmness, satisfaction, contentment, motivation, security, and happiness. Students appeared more relaxed, enthusiastic about attending school, and visibly more cheerful. The students also demonstrated a heightened interest in learning mathematics.