It's easy for educators, parents, and even students today to think of education solely in terms of metrics, data, measurable results, assessments, and content standards. And it's true that these things do matter in a world where career- and college-readiness are important, and where being well-prepared gives students a competitive job market advantage in the world outside the classroom.Yet education is also about so much more than that. As philosopher and ethicist Nel Nodings states in her 2003 book Happiness and Education, "Happiness and education are, properly, intimately connected. Happiness should be an aim of education, and a good education should contribute significantly to personal and collective happiness."
How can educators help their students better understand and experience the real joy and happiness that can come with exploring new ideas, venturing out into new areas of learning, using knowledge to help others, and making sense of the world in which they live?
Here's a great place to begin: "Exploring the Idea of Happiness as Part of Schoolwork," by journalist Katrina Schwartz. She takes a closer look at New Tech Network's "Global Happiness Project," which aims to help teachers and students explore the many ways that happiness impacts their daily lives and their communities, both in and out of the classroom.
Interested in a more in-depth look? Then check out the article "Happiness and Education: Theory, Practice, and Possibility" by researcher Mark K. Smith, writing for pedagogy website infed.org. He explores what happiness means, and argues that education cannot give students what they really need without a connection to happiness.
