Factors Associated with Student Happiness at Wesgreen International School, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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Date
2017-06
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The British University in Dubai (BUiD)
Abstract
Students’ happiness has been a growing area of research in the last few years. However, it is still new in this part of the world. Being in the field of Education for the past 18 years, and working in different schools in the Middle East, I have noticed that the students’ emotional well-being is not the center of a school’s focus. Goal setting and establishing future improvement plans usually takes the priority. Students spend most of their day in school. The main goal for students is to learn new things that will help them to develop their skills to be prepared for the real world. Likewise, the goal for parents and teachers is to aid in the facilitation of these goals. It is evident that every one strives to be happy. School management, teachers, parents and students wish to have happy and positive learning environments. This positive atmosphere makes the learning process smooth and creates an enjoyable climate. The primary goal of this research is to discover whether the male and female grades 4 – 6 students at Wesgreen International School in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates are happy and to also determine which factors have the biggest impact on the students’ feeling of happiness. The factors examined in this research are: relationships (human factor), self-confidence and personal safety (personality factor), school activities and facilities, personal and academic achievements and extra-curricular activities. Furthermore, this research is aimed to examine the school management’s and teacher’s awareness of the importance of students’ happiness in the educational process, as well as their understanding of student needs and opinions. The results of the research revealed that the majority of the students are happy, with 96% answering ‘yes’ to the first statement. The students listed the factors that affects their emotional side and what makes them happier. The most important factors in order of importance were: the relationship with their teachers, peers and family, academic achievements, extra-circular activities, the feeling of safety in
school, personal achievements and awards, and using the school facilities. The results from the staff survey revealed similar views of the most important factors that have an impact on the students’ happiness. The results of this research enlighten both teachers and school management on the importance of students’ happiness on the overall educational process, and provides them with useful data that will enable them to further plan and improve in the areas that are most important to students while still working on achieving major goals of the school.
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Keywords
student happiness, educational process