Essay Sample on Why Happiness Should Be Taught in School

Introduction

The advocators of positive psychology present that the idea of well-being(happiness) infers to the core concept of positive functioning and is typically regarded as the primary goal in life; therefore, it should be highly considered. Studies in this context have provided very profound manifestations that happiness presents highly preferable benefits for instance, longer life, enhanced health, successful relationships as well as better performances in tasks (Noddings). The essentiality of teaching happiness in schools is that it helps to counter the highly rising cases of depressions among students. It will as well bring about self-satisfaction as well as enhanced learning and positive emotions among the learners. Multiple research works and literary works have presented an excellent job in explain the importance of happiness and why it should be integrated in life (Shankland and Rosset 363). This paper seeks to provide better insights into some of the issues that lead to the conclusion that happiness should be included in the school curriculum.

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Proposal

Happiness would be essential within the school setting as presented by its benefits and its essentiality to the young people and general life as well. The model for positive education should be incorporated in schools to make sure that students learn how to happy in life. Implementing positive psychology in the school framework will turn out to be effective in enhancing learning in schools. Some of the domains to be incorporated include positive emotions, positive accomplishment, decisive engagements, positive relationships, specific objectives as well as positive health. To be able to integrate happiness in the curriculum, the definition and benefits of happiness should be well understood. Happiness brings out positive outcomes, and it would be vital when introduced in the learning context.

Definition of Happiness

It is highly critical that the meaning of happiness should be profoundly understood before its integration in the school context. Happiness as an element of positive psychology infers to the general well-being and is one of the essential developments in psychology. The primary premise of happiness is that psychological health does not result in the absence of mental challenges, but instead it refers to the ability to lead a meaningful and fulfilled life. Happiness is the primary goal of positive functioning and positive experience. Contemporary research on wellbeing has been consequential from two typical approaches. Firstly, there is the hedonic approach, which focuses on the level of satisfaction with one's life a and low level of conflicting emotions. Secondly, there is the Eudemonic approach of happiness which focuses more on self-actualization and meaning. Multiple pieces of research present happiness as including both the eudemonic and hedonic bases. Happiness is known to contribute to the overall excellent aspects of psychological health.

Merits of Happiness for The Individual and The General Society

Studies indicate that happiness leads to highly needed life benefits such as longer life and better relationships with other people. Even though some studies present that causal links between happiness and positive outcomes cannot be clearly recognized, the strong correlation between happiness and life benefits cannot be denied. High levels of happiness are usually linked to positive outcomes such as productivity, active learning, creativity, pro-social relationships, and longer life. Generally, happy people contribute to society in several beneficial ways. Also, increasing happiness is a worthwhile objective, not only because it makes an individual feel good, but it is also linked with successful results in life.

The Question of If Happiness Can Be Learned and Taught

An individual's happiness can be determined in several ways including genetical based happiness, life situations which affect happiness and the intentional activities and practices. Even though it is not possible for individuals to set a certain point of happiness or circumstances in life, there are some situations which can be voluntarily controlled and be enhanced. Intentional activities are the ones which offer the best option of the general increase in the happiness of individuals. They help people to manage what happens to them instead of just simply reacting to conditions that are beyond their control and hence cannot be changed. These activities can be imparted to individuals, including learners in the classroom.

Why Happiness Should Be Taught in Schools

There are multiple reasons why happiness should be included in the school curriculum. The essential goal of introducing happiness in the school curriculum is the high pervasiveness of depression in the young people around the world (Boniwell, Osin and Martinez 85). The substantial increase in life satisfaction over the past years has been proved to be due to the collaboration between positive and learning emotion.

Promote Mental Well-being

Integrating happiness in the school curriculum would be essential towards reducing the rates in depression. In recent times, there has been an increase in the number of young people recognized with depressive disorders (Sachs). This indicates the need for addressing the problem appropriately to counter the effects of depression. Therefore, integrating happiness well help the students learn about well- being hence appreciating themselves and eventually reducing depression. Also, there will be increased life satisfaction among learners. Most researchers propose that people who meet their basics needs in life, usually have more happiness in life. However, there are some who suggest that happiness does not have come from having material things, but it comes from the mindset and psychological well-being of an individual.

Happiness should be integrated into the school curriculum to enhance the learner's deteriorating mental health and reduce the nation's mental health bill in the coming times. Introducing happiness in the school curriculum will help to promote and increase the psychological well- being of learners to receive the lifelong benefits of improved mental health. Happiness will lead to overall emotional well being of students hence maximum concentration and improved performance in academics.

Positive Education

Positive education would be achieved by introducing happiness to the school curriculum because it will lead to excellent overall outcomes out of the learners. Most caregivers would want their children to be confident, happy and healthy but unfortunately most schools today focus on discipline achievement and academic aspects. Introducing happiness in the curriculum will lead to positive education where there will be a focus on mental health for both academic achievements as well as gaining insights into all aspects of life.

Increasing Satisfaction in School

School satisfaction is one of the significant aspects of children's quality in life. It is crucial since children have the right to have good feelings about their environment in school. Moreover, it is essential because it affects the phycological welfare of the students, as well as the school engagement degree, absenteeism, behavioral patterns, and dropouts. Therefore, introducing happiness in the school curriculum will help learners have increased satisfaction in school.

Creative Thinking and Innovativeness

Happiness will lead to positive emotions which will eventually broaden the degree of cognition, attention, and action. This will widen the range of percepts, activities, and thoughts contemporarily in mind. On the other hand, negative emotions shrink these aspects. Therefore, it would be essential that the schools introduce happiness in their curriculum. Happiness will provide the best opportunity for vast thinking; hence learners will enhance their thinking and come up with new ideas of solving challenges or inventing viable materials.

Conclusion

In conclusion, happiness programs should be introduced in school as they will lead to more benefits within the learning context. Through happiness, both learners and teachers will have a conducive environment for self-development. However, while taking the action of implementing happiness in the school program, they should consider the teacher's wellbeing as the instructors' welfare has a direct impact on the learners' welfare.

Works Cited

Boniwell, Ilona, Evgeny N. Osin, and Charles Martinez. "Teaching happiness at school: Non-randomized controlled mixed-methods feasibility study on the effectiveness of Personal Well-Being Lessons." The Journal of Positive Psychology 11.1 (2016): 85-98.

Noddings, Nel. Philosophy of education. Routledge, 2018.

Sachs, Jeffrey D. "Introduction to the 2019 global happiness and wellbeing policy report." Global Happiness and Wellbeing (2019).

Shankland, Rebecca, and Evelyn Rosset. "Review of brief school-based positive psychological interventions: A taster for teachers and educators." Educational Psychology Review29.2 (2017): 363-392.