'Is Britain Happy?'

Is There a Correlation Between Happiness and Our Ability to Learn?

On October 23rd, the Tonight programme broadcast an episode titled ‘Is Britain Happy?’  In it, reference was made to the National Wellbeing Project, launched by David Cameron in 2010.  

A transcript of Cameron’s speech regarding this project can be read here.

Here is a snippet of his introduction:

“[T]oday the government is asking the Office of National Statistics to devise a new way of measuring wellbeing in Britain. And so from April next year, we’ll start measuring our progress as a country, not just by how our economy is growing, but by how our lives are improving; not just by our standard of living, but by our quality of life.”

Interestingly, the Tonight programme detailed how classes on wellbeing are now being taught in some schools.  The thesis that happy people are more resilient was explored through simple tests, such as timing how long participants could hold their hand in a bucket of ice and then drawing a comparison between their self-assessed levels of happiness and their performance.  It was found that those who attributed themselves higher levels of happiness consistently managed to hold their hand in the ice bucket for longer than those who were less happy.  The effect of these findings on learning is interesting as they imply that happy students would perform better in exams than unhappy students.

Is it the place of the teacher then to ensure, or attempt to ensure, the happiness of their students? Should their role extend this far?

In his speech, Cameron addressed the issue of whether it is the place of the government to ensure its people’s happiness thus:

“Now, of course, you can’t legislate for fulfilment or satisfaction, but I do believe that government has the power to help improve wellbeing, and I’m not alone in that belief. What’s interesting about this whole argument is now how many countries, economists, people and experts are joining in [...] The contention is that just as we can create the climate for business to thrive - by cutting taxes, slashing red tape and so on - so we can create a climate in this country that is more family-friendly and more conducive to the good life. That’s why I reject the criticism that government policy simply has no role in this area. To those who say that all this sounds like a distraction from the serious business of government, I would say that finding out what will really improve lives and acting on it is actually the serious business of government.”

Of course, teachers cannot involve themselves directly in the lives of each of their students.  But perhaps it would be prudent for all teachers to keep their students’ contentment in mind when assessing their performance; perhaps an individual’s happiness should be considered equally as important as their reading or mathematical ability.  It’s a thought-provoking question.