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Is increasing happiness the main goal of secondary and higher education?

17.08.2020
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https://www.brookings.edu/research/development-of-student-and-teacher-measures-of-happiness-curriculum-factors/

With the rise of global issues such as income inequality, poverty, growing intolerance and rising suicide rates among students, there is an increasing focus on ensuring student happiness and well-being. In July 2018, the Delhi government launched the Happiness Curriculum (HC) in 1,030 public schools from kindergarten to grade 8 to focus on the holistic development of all students. This is in line with the vision of India's education system as outlined in the 2019 New National Education Policy, as well as the global sustainable development goal.
The implementation of the curriculum is the first step towards expanding the formal public education system to focus on the holistic development of all students, invest in their well-being and improve the overall quality of education.
The happiness curriculum is imbued with a philosophy that aims to meet the emotional and mental needs of learners, creating a stimulating environment through increased mindfulness, critical thinking, immersion in history, and experiential play.
Despite the positive emotions of the concept itself, the happiness program raises many more questions for the government than it provides ready-made answers: What questions should we ask? What can we expect from the curriculum and can the proposed approach achieve this? How to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum implementation? Are there differences between students who study this program and those who do not participate? Are there any changes in the happiness classes compared to other classes? Does this behavior carry over to other aspects of students' lives? Program participants see it as a long-term project that will take much longer than a year or two to see change. By August 2020, the first results of the project implementation became known https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Development-of-student-and-teacher-measures-of-HC-factors-FINAL.pdf In fact, this is the first educational project declaring a departure from the usual standards of technological and technical efficiency of knowledge as the main criterion for the quality of education.

 
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