Our mission is to complement the teaching of lexical knowledge with the teaching of well-being in schools. Our main goal is to support the well-being of children, teens and teachers in a strategic and scientific way, to strengthen the ability to be happy through the development of individual and social skills, to actively cope with stress, and to create a strength-focused institutional culture.
The Happiness Lesson Integrated Programmes consist of 4 different annual programmes, each of them offering a different direction to well-being interventions.
Schools join the 'Happy Institutions' Network, their teachers train with us, thus incorporate playful and artistic exercises regularly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeePNC8s1jg
1. Happiness Lesson Basics: Savoring life joys, strategies for positive assurance, mindset and positive relationships in the classroom and beyond (based on Sonja Lyubomirski's and Barbara Fredricksons' findings),
2. Character Strengths for kids and teens (based on Martin Seligman's and Peter Peterson's Character Strengths findings for flourishing and successful life),
3. Self-confidence building activities for kids and teens (based on the practitioners' community's measured needs, developed by the foundation recently, including the Growth Mindset),
4. Mindfulness skills for kids and teens (Coping with feelings and emotions + self-compassion).
The Happiness Lessons were first introduced in 2014, and since than 1500+ institutions have joined the Network. Among them there are kindergartens (35%), primary schools (35%), secondary schools (20%), Special needs institutions (Special Education, Foster Homes, Extracurricular Study or Arts schools, Mental health support social programmes for minors) (10%). The practitioner community has grown to 7500+ educators, reaching out to 150000+ children and young people in 8 countries. We established a network of “Happiness Lesson ambassadors": 30+ educators and 25 students who live in different regions and burst high community activity, and 10 celebrities who support our mission. Scholars and research groups at different universities study the programme and support validation&impact assessment.
Interested education professionals can join the Network though training with us or applying for the 'Happy Institution' title. We often invite professionals for workshops, conferences, speeches, or other events to explore why nurturing well-being in schools is an effective way to build better relationships with children, thus engage students better in learning. We are open for collaborations.