Lessons in Happiness

For secondary schools

Jacqueline Boerefijn July 2th 2014

Slide title

Text

What is the nickname of the Dutch?

BINGO!

Biology teaches about

• Smoking

• Drinking

• Drugs

• Teenage pregnancy

• STD’s / AIDS

• Anorexia

• Obesity

• Global warming & Rising sea levels

Tutors teach about

• Bullying

• Performance anxiety

• Criminality

• Risk of domestic violence in the future

Lessons in happinessFor freewww.lesseningeluk.nl

Youth happiness ranking

1. Netherlands

2. Sweden

3. Norway

4. Iceland

5. Finland

6. Denmark

Lessons in Happiness

1 What is happiness?

2 What makes you happy?

3 Is happiness important? (optimism)

4 Can you learn to be happy? (grattitude)

5 Be kind to each other.

6 Use your strengths.

Dessert to take home: realize your plans (hope)

Research

• n 631 students from three schools

• Six lessons of 50 minutes15 classes randomly assigned (n 381)

• controlgroup 10 classes (n 250): usual mentor classes.

• pre-and post-study questionnaires via internet asking about happiness and health.

• Grade point averages at the end of the school year pre and post the intervention.

GPA

21

Esti

mate

d M

arg

inal M

ean

s7,00

6,90

6,80

6,70

6,60

6,50

2

1

1=LIH, 2=control

Estimated Marginal Means of MEASURE_1

Think about your life in 5 years.

Imagine that everything has gone as well as it possibly could. You have worked hard and succeeded at accomplishing all of your life goals. Think of this as the realization of all of your life dreams.

Now, write about what you imagined.

(I wish I was rich and not that happy)

The International Commission on Education for the 21st Century

four pillars as the foundations of education:

* learning to know,

* learning to do,

* learning to be,

* learning to live together.

(Jacques Delors 1996), for UNESCO

In Europe almost 20 years later

learning to beor betterlearning to be WELL

needs us to spread and implement it

• Happiness protects teenagers against all kind of risks. It protects against depression, riskybehaviour (smoking, drinking, using drugs, gambling, sexual misbehaviour, criminality) and dropping out of school.

• Happiness levels drop significantly in early teenage years, especially for girls. ( WHO Europe 2008, UNICEF, 2007)

Thank you!