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This edited collection challenges the common preoccupation with knowledge acquisition and academic achievement by comparing the aims and cultural beliefs which drive education in different countries throughout the world.
Through case studies from countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Europe, the authors present how education can be approached holistically to foster student happiness and well-being. The book illustrates wide-ranging interpretations of what it means to provide a "good education," and how student-centered, holistic approaches to learning can be effective in promoting creativity, tolerance, student well-being, and an appreciation of environmental and societal responsibilities. Based on rigorous mixed-method empirical research, it highlights how the integration of happiness in education can not only enhance academic excellence but can also have a positive impact on the students' overall well-being.
This cutting-edge book focuses on the holistic development and well-being of students and will be a relevant reading for educators, researchers, and students in such diverse fields as psychology, the sociology and philosophy of education, intercultural education, education policy and politics, leadership/management, mental health, and international and comparative education.
List of contents
1. Happiness Education: Rationale, Aims, Methods, and the Evolution of the Study of Happiness 2. The Correlates of Happiness: Cross-National Data Analyses 3. Connecting to Community in Tanzania: Aims Talk, Holistic Education, and Happiness 4. Happy Students in Bhutan: The Land of Gross National Happiness and Paradoxes 5. Notable Success in Moral Education and Student Engagement, but Are Japanese Students Happy? 6. Paradoxical Korea: A Tale of Two Cities 7. The Correlates of Student Happiness in Thailand: Paradoxes and Potential 8. Vietnam, a Land of Paradoxes: Happiness in an Educational Outlier 9. Finland: Satisfied Students, Less Schoolwork, and High Learning Outcomes Can It Be Real? 10. Well-Being and Happiness among University Students: A Case Study of Ethnic Diversity in the New Multicultural Netherlands 11. Costa Rica: Happy Student in a Land without a Military 12. Mexico, an Educational Paradox Of Latin America: A Mayan Perspective 13. Sumaq Kawsay and Indigenous Educational Dignity in the Peruvian Highlands 14. Conclusion and Synthesis: What Have We Learned about Happiness Education?
About the author
Gerald W. Fry is Distinguished International Professor of Intercultural Education in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota, United States.
Haelim Chun is Senior Research Associate in the Research Institute for Education and Future at Sungkyunkwan University, Korea.
Summary
This edited collection challenges the common preoccupation with knowledge acquisition and academic achievement by comparing the aims and cultural beliefs which drive education in different countries throughout the world.
