I feel like I have been hearing the word ‘well-being’ much more often than before.
In the SDGs, ‘Good Health and Well-being’ is listed as the third goal. In the OECD’s ‘Learning Compass 2030’, individual and societal well-being are positioned as one of the important directions that education should aim for.
And Japanese education is no exception. In the discussions currently underway for the next Course of Study, the necessity of organizing the relationship between ‘zest for learning, humanity, etc.’ and well-being and agency has been indicated. Furthermore, the term ‘individual and societal well-being’ has also appeared as something related to ‘humanity that directs learning’.
It seems that well-being is not just a passing buzzword, but is becoming one of the terms that cannot be ignored when thinking about the future of education.
On the other hand, when asked ‘What exactly is well-being?’, it is surprisingly difficult to explain. Some people might feel it is something a bit spiritual, like a ‘way of thinking to become happy’.
I myself do not want to shout loudly alone that ‘it is important to think about well-being!’. Rather, I would like to take the opportunity to think together with my colleagues and children about ‘what it means to live happily’.
To do that, I must first be able to explain ‘what is well-being’ in my own words. So, this time, I would like to organize my thoughts on well-being, which I have been learning about in my own way.
What exactly is well-being?
What is well-being?
To put it very simply, it is probably ‘being in a well state’.
……Having said that, this hardly explains anything.
To add a little more,
‘it is being in a state that you feel is good, physically, mentally, and socially’.
However, I want to be careful about one thing here. Well-being does not mean ‘always being happy’. When you hear the word well-being, you might imagine a state of being happy, positive, and stress-free every day. But it is natural for humans to feel sad, angry, or anxious.
What is important is not to eliminate those emotions.
‘I am feeling anxious right now’
‘I am feeling a bit tired today’
Accepting those emotions as part of yourself and dealing with them well is also included in well-being.
In fact, forcing yourself to ‘be happy’ or ‘think positively’ is a little different from well-being.
Thinking about it this way, well-being might be a slightly broader concept than simple ‘happiness’.
Even so, this is still abstract. That is where a ‘framework’ that breaks down well-being into several elements becomes useful.
‘SPIRE’, looking at happiness from five directions
The first is the ‘SPIRE’ concept proposed by psychologist Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar.
In SPIRE, well-being is captured from five domains.
S: Spiritual Well-being
Well-being related to the meaning and purpose of life. Do you feel that ‘what I am doing has meaning’?
P: Physical Well-being
Well-being related to the body. Are you taking care of your body through exercise, diet, sleep, and rest?
I: Intellectual Well-being
Well-being related to intellect and learning. Are you enjoying having curiosity, learning new things, thinking, and growing?
R: Relational Well-being
Well-being related to human relationships. Do you have connections with family, friends, colleagues, etc., and are there relationships where you support and are supported?
E: Emotional Well-being
Well-being related to emotions. It is not just about experiencing pleasant emotions like joy, but also about whether you are able to accept your own emotions, including anxiety, sadness, and anger.
When we break it down like this, the contours of well-being start to become a little clearer.
Even if asked, “Are you happy?”, it is quite difficult to answer.
However, if asked,
“Have you been sleeping well lately?”
“Are you learning anything new?”
“Do you feel a sense of meaning in what you are doing?”
“Is there someone you can talk to when you are in trouble?”
it becomes a little easier to answer.
My work is fun, but I haven’t been sleeping very well lately.
I’m busy, but I’m learning new things and feel fulfilled.
I’m blessed with good relationships, but I don’t know what I want to do.
Thinking in this way allows us to view our current state from various angles, rather than just a binary choice of “happy/unhappy.”
This is also one of the reasons why I find the concept of well-being interesting.
“The Four Factors of Happiness”
Another thing that was very easy for me to understand is the “Four Factors of Happiness” which emerged from happiness research by Professor Takashi Maeno and his colleagues.
Each of these has been given a friendly name.
“Let’s try it!” factor—Self-realization and growth
Having dreams and goals, taking proactive challenges toward them, and feeling one’s own growth.
“Thank you!” factor—Connection and gratitude
Having connections with people, expressing gratitude to someone, or helping someone.
“It’ll work out!” factor—Positivity and optimism
Viewing things positively and not being overly pessimistic even when there are failures or difficulties.
“Just the way you are!” factor—Independence and being yourself
Not comparing yourself excessively with those around you and being able to be yourself.
For many people, this might be easier to visualize intuitively than SPIRE.
“Have you thought about ‘trying something’ lately?”
“Do you have connections with people you can say ‘thank you’ to?”
“When you fail, are you able to think ‘it’ll work out’?”
“Are you comparing yourself too much to others, causing your ‘just the way you are’ self to shrink?”
Reflecting on your life in this way.
Then, the content of what used to end with “I’m feeling good lately” or “I’m feeling kind of tired” begins to emerge little by little. Learning about well-being is not about being taught the “correct answer to becoming happy.”
It might be about increasing the vocabulary we use to think about our own happiness.
It’s okay for happiness to have a “health checkup”
And there are also tools to actually reflect on your own well-being.
For example, with the “Well-being Circle,” you can visualize your state of well-being by answering several questions.
What’s interesting is that this is not a “personality test” that you take once and are done with. Just as the results of a health checkup change depending on your lifestyle, your state of well-being also changes.
There are times when work is busy, and times when relationships are going well. There are times when you are excited about finding a new goal, and times when you don’t know what you want to do. That is precisely why you should check your state from time to time.
“Just as you take care of your health, take care of your own happiness.”
I quite like this way of thinking.
Even if you can’t tell just by vaguely wondering, “Am I happy lately?”, by looking at it from several perspectives,
“I am fulfilled here.”
“I’m a little weak in this area lately,” you can notice.
Why was I drawn to well-being?
I have written about well-being up to this point, but the biggest reason I was drawn to this word is, after all, because I am a teacher.
Even before I became a teacher, I thought one of the major goals of education was
“to enable everyone to live happily.”
Being able to speak English, getting good scores on tests, and advancing to higher education are important. But those are not the ultimate goals.
Using the knowledge and skills you have acquired to make your own life better. Isn’t that what education is for?
However, I had one problem for a long time.
The question, “Well then, what is happiness?”
I read various books written about happiness. There are many interesting philosophical theories of happiness as well. But when it came to “How should I handle this at school?” or “How should I think about this with the children?”, it was quite difficult.
That was when I encountered well-being.
If you think about it in terms of SPIRE, it includes physical health, learning, connections with people, and the meaning of one’s life.
If you think about it in terms of the “four factors of happiness,” challenging yourself, being grateful to others, being able to think “it will work out somehow,” and being yourself also lead to happiness.
Instead of forcing happiness into a single answer, you can think about it from many directions.
“Oh, I might be able to think about happiness with the children this way,” I thought.
Looking at classes through the lens of well-being
Since learning about well-being, the way I look at classes has changed a little.
One of the things I have been valuing recently is
“being able to envision a bright future for yourself.”
What kind of person will I be after learning English?
If I can speak English, what kind of people will I be able to talk to?
When I encounter ways of thinking I didn’t know before, how will my world expand?
It’s not just about “memorizing because it’s on the test,” but by learning, you can feel potential in your future self.
“I might be able to become this kind of person.”
“I might be able to meet these kinds of people.”
“I want to try doing things like this.”
I think being able to feel these things is also one form of well-being that education can create.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that every class should be a “fun class.” There are times when you hold your head in your hands over difficult problems. There are times when you feel frustrated because you can’t express your thoughts well in English. There are times when your opinions clash with your friends’. But that is okay, too.
“I want to try.”
Being able to do something you couldn’t do before.
Sharing ideas with someone.
Encountering values different from your own.
And being able to think, “I might be able to do this, too.”
Thinking about it that way, there are many moments in everyday classes that lead to well-being.
And I don’t think this is just about English. What kind of well-being for the children does my class lead to? Conversely, could the things I am doing with good intentions be diminishing the children’s “I want to try” or “being yourself”?
Learning about well-being is not about learning one new teaching method. I believe it is about acquiring a lens through which to re-examine the education we have been providing from a different perspective.
Don’t Forget Teacher Well-being
And, if we are to think about education and well-being, there is one more thing we must not forget.
It is that well-being applies not only to the children, but also to us teachers ourselves.
While telling children to ‘take on challenges,’ are we just getting through the days ourselves?
While telling them to ‘value connections with others,’ have we lost the time to talk slowly with our colleagues?
While telling them to ‘be yourself,’ are we ourselves constantly comparing ourselves to those around us?
Of course, this is not to say that teachers must always be happy. Teachers get tired, worry, and have days when they don’t want to go to work, too.
That is precisely why I think it might be good to stop and think about our own well-being from time to time, just as we do for the children’s well-being.
Starting with ‘What is happiness?’
Just because you think about well-being doesn’t mean you can be happy every day. There are unpleasant things, there are tiring days, and there are times when you struggle with human relationships.
Even so, if you know what is important to you, you can view your own state from a slightly different angle.
In some cases, you might realize, ‘I thought I was lacking everything, but I was actually blessed with many things.’
Conversely, you might realize, ‘I might have been pushing myself a bit too hard lately.’
I don’t think the spread of the word ‘well-being’ itself is what’s important. I think what’s important is that this word serves as a catalyst for more people to think about,
‘What does happiness mean to me?’
And in schools, to be able to talk about, ‘What are we learning for?’ ‘What kind of life do we want to live?’ and ‘What can education do for that?’
I believe there is meaning in such things.
Let’s start from here. I want to talk about well-being with my colleagues and with the children.
