Happiness and Wellbeing
Beyond happiness, how can schools promote overall flourishing? The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard defines flourishing as a state of holistic well-being, characterized by happiness and life satisfaction, a sense of meaning and purpose, good character and virtue, physical and mental health, and close social relationships. Research shows that there are many ways to promote flourishing, such as volunteering, carrying out acts of kindness, and practicing gratitude, among others.8
International Baccalaureate
Wellbeing
RSI, the International Baccalaureate (IB), the Oxford Centre for Wellbeing Research, the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard, and HundrED are collaborating to carry out a global Wellbeing in Schools Program.
RSI is leading a virtual collaborative action research program with over 2,000 educators from 268 schools across 71 countries, which is exploring policies and practices that support wellbeing in students aged 3-18. In collaboration with the IB and the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard, RSI will create and disseminate a publicly available, multilingual digital booklet on research-informed practices to promote student wellbeing in schools, with illustrative examples drawn from across the international network schools participating in the collaborative action research program. Click here to watch a short video about the participants’ experiences with this program!
CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS AUSTRALIA
Flourishing
RSI has partnered with Christian Schools Australia (CSA) to conduct a longitudinal study to investigate student flourishing and practices that support student flourishing. This research project, which will be carried out with 24,000 students across about 70 schools in Australia, is the first study of this scope on adolescent flourishing. The study will address the following research questions:
To what degree are students flourishing across schools?
Are there associations between individual differences and family factors and flourishing and/or key aspects of flourishing in students?
Which practices are associated with flourishing and/or key aspects of flourishing in students?
We will broadly disseminate our findings.
SEVENOAKS SCHOOL
FLOURISHING
Researchers from RSI and The Human Flourishing Program at Harvard collaborated with Sevenoaks School to conduct research on student flourishing. We collected survey data from 866 students and analyzed this data using a mixed methods approach. Results revealed interesting differences in flourishing among subgroups. Furthermore, findings illustrate how Sevenoaks supports student flourishing through exercise, humor, volunteering, kindness, supporting healthy eating and sleeping, and inspiring a sense of wonder. Results also identified ways that Sevenoaks can further support flourishing as well, such as engaging students in more gratitude or mindfulness practices.
After we completed our research, RSI led a professional development workshop at the school. In this workshop, we presented the results and guided the teachers to develop interventions that target the areas for growth identified in our research that they would like to implement at their school. We then led a group of Teacher Research Fellows through a yearlong action research program in which they implemented their interventions and reflected on their impact.
To learn more about this project, watch this brief overview video.
COLUMBUS ACADEMY
Flourishing
RSI is engaged in a multi-year flourishing project with Columbus Academy involving research on student flourishing at the school as well as a professional development program for teachers. In the first phase of our work together, RSI collected data on student flourishing from nearly 800 Columbus Academy students aged 10-18. Our analyses showed compelling trends in flourishing across the school. Among these findings, we saw that flourishing is higher for students who have been at the school for longer. We also found that Columbus Academy is regularly incorporating humor and physical activity into the student experience, both of which are known to be supportive practices for flourishing. In our effort to identify areas for growth, we found that the school could further support student flourishing by helping students to find a sense of meaning in their schoolwork and encouraging students to practice gratitude.
The second phase of our work has involved a year-long professional development experience for educators at Columbus Academy. We began this phase with a workshop for all school educators in which RSI presented the findings from the research study conducted in phase one and led activities around how to support student flourishing at Columbus Academy based on the results of our study at the school. Following the workshop, RSI began leading a cohort of approximately 20 educators through a year-long action research program. The program involves creating and implementing research-based strategies to support flourishing and reflecting on their impact with students.
The King Alfred School
Flourishing
RSI has completed a student flourishing project with students at The King Alfred School centered on service learning. The title of the project is Promoting Flourishing: A Service Learning and Action Research Program.
In this project, RSI led a group of Student Research Fellows through a program in which students created, implemented, and reflected on the impact of a service learning project carried out at a local care center. The Student Research Fellows designed research-based activities aimed at promoting flourishing among members of the care center. The flourishing activities involved art, dance, and baking. Throughout the project, Student Fellows made regular visits to the care center and led members of the center through the flourishing activities. In the last phase of the project, Student Fellows reflected on how this service learning experience impacted their own flourishing and analyzed these data. The project culminated with the Student Fellows presenting their experience and reflections on the flourishing impact of this experience with their class and members of the broader school community.
Eton College
Happiness
As part of a wellbeing initiative at Eton College, RSI conducted a study on happiness among students at the school. The study looked at developmental trends in happiness among the full student body at Eton, consisting of boys in years 9-13.
Our results reveal that students at Eton tend to get happier as they advance through the year levels at the school. This finding is unexpected, as previous research on happiness has shown happiness typically declines throughout adolescence.
Given this surprising finding, we conducted a second phase of research to take a deeper look at what aspects of the Eton experience contribute to students’ happiness throughout their years at the school. Our findings suggest that the following four factors support students' happiness at Eton:
a system of social support from the school community,
autonomy in pursuing individual interests,
feelings of competence through achievements in diverse domains, and
a deep sense of gratitude for the vast opportunities that the school offers.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
Happiness, Gratitude and Academic Achievement
RSI is collaborating with the The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL) to carry out research on happiness at the school. In our first study on happiness, we measured happiness, motivation, social relationships, and academic achievement among students in grades 4-12 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School.
Results show that happiness is statistically significantly related to motivation and academic achievement. In addition, findings reveal that the strongest predictor of happiness is students’ social relationships. To learn more, read Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Usable Knowledge article on this research project!
Building on this initial study, the RSI team carried out research at St. Andrew’s to develop a research-based app that supports students’ gratitude and happiness. The app guides students to write thoughtful thank you notes that they can send to express gratitude. You can download our Send a Smile app for free!
St. George’s School
Well-being
St. George’s School partnered with RSI to conduct research on well-being among both students and teachers at the school. The aims of this research were to understand characteristics of well-being among members of the St. George’s school community, what aspects of school life at St. George’s support well-being, and how the school could further support well-being. In collaboration with a group of teachers at St. George’s, the RSI research team created surveys for students and staff that investigated well-being both quantitatively and qualitatively. The study examined aspects of well-being including happiness and motivation. Below are a few highlights from the findings from this research.
Relationships are central to happiness at St. George’s.
Relationships with others ranks highest among aspects of school life that support happiness for both students and teachers.
In their own words, students explain that building strong connections with others is central to their purpose at St. George’s.
Having an impact on student growth is important for promoting happiness among St. George’s teachers.
Students greatly value their free time and find that having a bit more of it could provide them with even more opportunities to pursue individual interests.
Happiness among St. George’s students is linked to motivation. This research finds a statistically significant positive correlation between happiness and the following features of motivation:
Intrinsic Motivation - maintaining inherent interest in one’s work
Autonomy - exercising agency and choice in one’s work
Competence - having confidence in one’s capacity to do the work at hand
Relatedness - feeling a sense of belonging to one’s learning community
Eton College
Happiness, Gratitude, Motivation, Perseverance, and Respect
Eton College is deeply committed to supporting students’ character. Toward this end, The Tony Little Centre for Innovation and Research in Learning at Eton partnered with RSI to carry out a study to identify which character skills are most central to the Eton community, determine if and how Eton is promoting those skills, and learn how Eton can further develop those skills.
In the first phase of the project, we surveyed pupils, masters, support staff, and dames to explore how important they believe it is for Eton to promote a wide range of character skills. Participants reported that the character skills most central to the Eton community are: happiness, gratitude, motivation, perseverance, and respect.
In the second phase of the project, we conducted an academic literature review to identify research-based practices known to support the development of these five character skills. Following this, we distributed a second survey to the Eton community to assess to what extent and how those research-based practices were implemented at Eton. Results revealed many research-based practices that promote happiness, gratitude, motivation, perseverance, and respect at Eton. To support happiness, Eton cultivates positive relationships. In addition, Eton encourages students to be grateful by engaging them in intentional gratitude practices, modeling gratitude, and inviting them to participate in volunteering. To promote motivation and perseverance, Eton emphasizes the role of effort in success and uses formative assessment. To cultivate respect, Eton encourages students to respect differences in perspectives, beliefs, and backgrounds. To learn more, read Research-based Strategies for Supporting Character Skills at Eton in the Eton Journal for Innovation and Research in Education.
Through this work with the RSI research team, Eton is ensuring that they are intentionally nurturing the character skills most central to their community.
Citations:
Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55, 34-43.
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 123, 276-302.
Griffith, J. (2002). A multilevel analysis of the relation of school learning and social environments to minority achievement in public elementary schools. The Elementary School Journal, 102(5), 349–366.
Griffith, 2002; Natvig, G. K., Albrektsen, G., & Qvarnstrøm, U. (2003). Associations between psychosocial factors and happiness among school adolescents. International journal of nursing practice, 9(3), 166-175.
Huebner, E. S., & Gilman, R. (2006). Students who like and dislike school. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 1(2), 139-150; Natvig, Albrektsen & Qvarnstrøm, 2003.
Samdal, O., Wold, B., & Bronis, M. (1999). Relationship between students' perceptions of school environment, their satisfaction with school and perceived academic achievement: An international study. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 10(3), 296-320.
Emmons, R. & McCullough, M. (2003). Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(2), 377-389.
VanderWeele, T.J. (2020). Activities for flourishing: an evidence-based guide. Journal of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing, 4:79-91.