Edited By Gerald W. Fry and Haelim Chun
Published July 31, 2023 by Routledge
Synopsis: Through a series case studies from countries around the world with vastly different economic and education systems, the authors explore how happiness or well-being are linked with educational attainment and rigour.
My opinion: Many of the case studies were interesting and I got some ideas to try in my context.
I like the idea of a 'free learning semester' or test-free term (page 109). Also, several cases talked about the positive effects of exposing students to nature in short excursions or longer community-based projects.
The discussion of non-English words in various langauges (e.g. utu in Swahili or nunchi in Korean) with really complex and educationally relevant meanings was thought-provoking.
There were also random facts about some of the school systems examined. Did you know, for example, that countries are rated on a Misery Index (page 36)? Or, that apparently substitute/relief teachers don’t exist in Tanzania (page 47)? Also, did you know that in Japan there's 'an emphasis on unicycling as a part of the physical education curriculum, and most primary school have unicycles for their students' (page 82)? Another amazing fact, in South Korea on the day of the ‘college entrance exam, which is taken once a year… the government does not allow aircraft to fly and distract students. Even the stock market and businesses open an hour late’ (page 99).
Depsite the wide-reaching case studies and the overall exploration of two topics I'm very interested in (wellbeing and education), the book was slow to read, some chapters needed stronger editing and some of the cases were heavy on the contextual explanation but very light on practical approaches or critical analysis.
That said, our small book group didn't regret reading it, but we were glad to have accessed it free from our institution's ebook collection.
Similar sounding books (that I haven't read yet so make no guarantees about):
Strive: for Happiness in Education by Robert Dunlop
Happiness and Education by Nel Noddings
The Pursuit of Wisdom and Happiness in Education: Historical Sources and Contemplative Practices by Sean Steel
Next book: The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt.
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