Dubai: A happy student is a successful student and the happiness of students should be the prerequisite of an education system, said Dr Abdullah Al Karam, director-general of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, during a panel discussion at the fourth Global Education and Skills Forum at Atlantis the Palm.
Al Karam was part of a four-member panel comprising Tony Little, chief academic officer, GEMS Education, UK; Dr Vicki Zakrzewski, education director of the Greater Good Science Centre, USA; and Alexandra Harper, head of Early Childhood, Redlands School, Australia,
Discussing the topic ‘A happy future for all children: how do we promote wellness and positivity in schools’, the panel emphasised the necessity to cut back on academics and lay greater focus on the social and emotional aspects of education.
Al Karam stated that children are born curious but lose that curiosity as they grow older, thus adversely affecting their emotional and social well-being.
“At the entry point for schools, four-year-old children ask around 100 questions a day. Six years later they only ask 10 questions daily,” he said, highlighting the drop in the levels of curiosity.
This, he explained, is because we tend to put measurement of academics above the social wellness of students, which tends to destroy creativity and curiosity.
“Over the years, the education system has done a great job to focus on training the mind but we need to address the needs of students’ hearts, to teach children about their emotional and social happiness,” he added.
Further emphasising his point, he said: “We all grow up believing in the statement that hard work leads you to happiness and success, but what I feel is that happiness should be a prerequisite for working hard.”
He also stressed the necessity to include in the education system values such as giving and courage.
“Who is teaching the students about giving and courage? Who is teaching the children resilience, which school is teaching them to forgive and forget?” he questioned, adding that in Dubai KHDA is enhancing its focus on giving students wholesome education, which includes emotional well-being.
Dr Zakrzewski explained that schools need to increasingly check the emotional literacy of their students. “We are more than just a test score — we need to cultivate our children’s emotional and social health. We need to be human, we need to build bridges and ensure that happiness is an element of our pedagogical outlook.”
Harper, whose mission is to promote her students’ creativity, individuality and well-being, has created tools that encourage students to celebrate happiness, while Little highlighted how competence and creativity are deadened by measurement tools.
On Saturday, Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation, in cooperation with GEMS Education, launched the ‘School of the Future’ report.
The comprehensive report showcases the broad trends and features of schooling for the 21st century, and stresses the need to achieve a major shift in the purpose and nature of education in view of the complex realities of the modern world.
The report states that the current schools and curriculum are based on the frameworks of 20th century requirements to prepare an industrial workforce. It points out that the 21st century, with its technological and communication innovations, is transforming the ‘factory style’ work requirements, and repetitive manual jobs are being rapidly replaced with automation.
It also highlights the need to sustain, improve and use the growth opportunities provided by the knowledge economy.