Many schools have accepted that the overall well-being of students is an integral part of what helps children and adolescents succeed academically (particularly in light of the negative consequences created or worsened by the pandemic) and are working to reinforce the mental health of students.
But what if feeling happy wasn't as important to students, at least once they reach middle and high school, as feeling accomplished and confident?
TO study A study by researchers at the University of Cambridge suggests that students who have higher levels of eudaimonia (sense of competence and purpose in life) also perform better academically on English and mathematics exams.
Tania Clarke, who now works at a youth violence prevention nonprofit, led the study while pursuing her doctorate in child and adolescent well-being.
“I think if there is one thing that this project has highlighted, it is the need to take a more systemic look at our education system and the role that aspects like purpose and meaning play, and at different times, in children's development,” Clarke says. , senior evaluation manager of the Youth Endowment Fund.
Clarke was inspired to research the topic so she says it is a controversial article that argues that schools must choose between addressing children's academic needs and their well-being.
“The document written by this group of education experts suggested that, internationally, educators cannot focus on children's well-being alongside academic achievement, and had the idea that those two goals are opposed to each other.” Clarke says. “So I wanted to investigate the extent to which that was true, especially if we take a full conception of what well-being is.”
In the study, Clarke divides general well-being into two different aspects. Life satisfaction (or hedonia, as it is also called in the study) generally refers to happiness.
But Clarke says that's only half the picture. Eudaimonia, the other half of well-being, is how well people feel they are functioning. She says it includes concepts like accomplishment, self-confidence, and having a sense of purpose in life.
The concept and philosophical debates about the nature of eudaimonia date back to the ancient Greeks, and Aristotle believed that reach one's full potential was key to eudaimonic well-being.
Researchers surveyed just over 600 14- and 15-year-old students in England about their feelings about school and themselves.
“We found that for adolescents, the eudaimonic component of well-being is particularly salient for them, and I guess that makes sense because they are at a stage where they are discovering what it means to be themselves and their unique abilities.” and competencies,” says Clarke. “So it's probably really important to think about the role that school plays in that stage of development.”
Given the study's findings that eudaimonia correlates with students' academic success, that suggests that any education system's focus on reinforcing student happiness over eudaimonia could be missing a more effective way to help students. to prosper in their studies.
great feelings
The importance of eudaimonia in students' overall well-being has been under-researched, Clarke says, which was one of the reasons she undertook the study.
But the importance of young people striving to forge their own identities remains an essential pillar of pop culture. The '80s were a true renaissance for movies about the teenage condition: a constant struggle to find oneself in a world where picky parents and cantankerous teachers seem hell-bent on forcing teenagers to make pretzels in a premade mold.
While schools are where students spend most of their waking hours, these environments become ancillary settings as young people journey toward self-realization in coming-of-age stories.
The five teenage characters of “The Breakfast Club” open up to each other over the course of Saturday's detention, during which the principal demands that they each write an essay about “who you think you are.” Peter Weir's love letter to the humanities and quirky professors is called “Dead Poets Society,” not “Standardized Test Prep Society.”
One reason eudaimonia has been overlooked may be that helping young people find their purpose in life seems like a complex and Herculean task. But that's no reason to ignore it, Clarke says.
“I think what really hurts young people is focusing only on the hedonic aspects,” he says. “That runs the risk of focusing on toxic positivity, almost making it too simplistic an idea to just think, 'Oh, well, you have to be happy in life.'”
As part of Clarke's study, students were asked to complete the standardized questionnaire “How I feel about myself and school.” According to the report, statements related to eudaimonia asked them to rate statements about “feeling successful, confident, healthy, good about themselves, and able to handle challenges.”
Statements of life satisfaction measured that they felt “energetic, excited, that things were fun and that there was a lot to look forward to and that they were not bored.”
Students who reported high levels of eudaimonia also performed well on both English and math tests. In particular, on mathematics exams, students with the highest scores also valued their eudaimonia 1.5 times more than students with the lowest scores.
The researchers found no such correlation between academic performance and life satisfaction.
Interestingly, the researchers found that girls scored higher academically but “significantly lower” on well-being and eudaimonia.
While the study found a positive relationship between eudaimonia and academic performance, the question remains: Do those feelings of confidence lead to students doing well in school, or is it the other way around?
Clarke says more research is needed before academics can say that one variable causes the other. She emphasizes that her work is exploratory and has some limitations, such as the gender of the student sample is skewed and there are not enough girls, non-binary or transgender students represented.
Still, she advocates for schools to start taking eudaimonia more seriously.
“Maybe in a crowded curriculum where teachers have very little time,” he says, “maybe it's exactly what we need: creating some space for introspection and time to allow teenagers to reflect on their lives as a whole. “.
