Schools could Be the Happiest Places on Earth

Abstract

Imagine you're going to a place where you could learn new things from smart people who care about you, laugh with your friends throughout the day, and dream about the future. Wouldn't you be happy there? Most schools are set up to be such places, with bright, caring teachers ready to share what they know, hundreds of students who really like or really dislike some of the same things, and a focus on getting people ready for the future. Schools are fairly happy places. Most American students have high levels of well-being, and teachers have cornered the market on thriving. With a little help from parents and the broader community, schools could be the happiest places on Earth. Results from the Gallup Student Poll tell us that many students have positive yesterdays, and the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index and the PDK/Gallup Poll help us understand some of the influences on school well-being. No troubles yesterday On the 2010 Gallup Student Poll, we measured how students experience their lives by focusing on four positive emotions (joy, interest, respect, overall energy) they felt on the previous day (which was a school day for most respondents). For the most part, American students, grades 5 through 12, said they had positive yesterdays. * 77% were treated with respect all day yesterday. * 89% smiled or laughed a lot yesterday. * 76% learned or did something interesting yesterday. * 86% had the energy to get things done yesterday. Fewer than half of the students said yes to all four items. When we put these results to the test in a group of high school freshmen, we found that the students who were happy when polled, went on to do better in school over the course of the term--completing more credits at a higher grade point average. This well-being bump for academic performance was not surprising given that psychological research suggests that frequency of positive emotions is associated with many types of life success. These results may stem from conditions in schools, including the quality of the environment and teacher well-being, and from how families and communities treat students during the school week. A closer look at how teachers might be influencing school well-being might help us understand the student voice and daily experience. Other factors are parent thoughts on the subject and the role of the broader community's well-being in school well-being. Teachers' well-being Teachers also have high well-being. This finding is based on representative findings from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. Compared to workers in more than a dozen other fields, teachers rank #1 in five of six well-being categories, including the Emotional Health Index that is based on items similar to the ones that students completed. Teacher happiness is believed to be related to the happiness and coping of students on a daily basis and over time. Teacher well-being also is vitally important to student achievement as demonstrated by Robert Briner's research on over 12,000 teachers in the United Kingdom. The well-being of the teacher staff accounted for 8% of the variance in student achievement on high-stakes testing. Parents and well-being The 2011 PDK/Gallup Poll asked parents about their perceptions of schools as well-being centers, places where students can learn and grow and achieve both academic outcomes and develop life skills that will help them become ready for the future. Generally, parents consider schools to be organizations that encourage well-being, which suggests they might be supportive of new or tweaked programming to foster student thriving. …