Education leaders face growing pressure to improve quality and equity in their education systems, intensified by staggering statistics on the persistent crisis in learning and teaching. The declining health and well-being of students and teachers is also becoming a priority in education systems around the world, propelled into the spotlight by evidence that our children and youth are unhappier and more anxious than ever and that growing numbers of teachers are suffering from burnout or leaving the profession.

Today, this crisis in both learning and well-being is causing a collective questioning of the purpose and processes of education. At UN Transforming Education Summit in 2022, the global community came together to call for drastic change and a collective reimagining. Out of 143 countries that submitted national statements of commitment, 84 (59 per cent) highlighted the need to support mental and physical health in schools; however, very few articulated concrete measures to do so. (UNESCO, 2023).

Prioritizing happiness in education is not a luxury, nor a trade-off with academic rigor. Joy can and should permeate everyday school experiences, part and parcel of learning and teaching. If we want happy lifelong learners and teachers, and if we want resilient and collaborative societies, then we need happy schools.

The link between happiness and learning can be understood from scientific, philosophical and international normative perspectives.

Philosophical perspectives: Across time and location, philosophers identify happiness as a core purpose of life and education. Education philosophers specifically promote holistic learning, which focuses on the development of the whole-person – academically, socially, emotionally, physically, and morally – for fostering happiness and flourishing. Schools, where many of these elements converge, are inherently suitable spaces for cultivating happiness.

International normative foundations: The pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal and should be part of the global policy agenda as per resolution 65/309 of the United Nations General Assembly entitled ‘Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development’. In addition to upholding the Right to Education and the Rights of the Child, happy school environments can help advance UNESCO’s 1966 Recommendation, the Recommendation on education for peace and human rights adopted in 2023, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 4 on quality education and SDG 3 on well-being.

Scientific foundations: Scientific evidence on how the human brain learns best shows that happiness at school can serve as a key lever for better and wider learning experiences and outcomes. Lessons from neuroscience and psychology reveal that optimal learning environments and pedagogical strategies are those that are active, engaging, meaningful, socially interactive, iterative and joyful. Learner and teacher joy and engagement are important pedagogical vehicles to motivate better and deeper learning. While the research on happiness and learning has limitations, including the lack of studies across age groups and geographies, as well as the complexity of comparatively measuring learning and happiness, empirical studies indicate a positive relationship between happiness and academic achievement.

The formulation of UNESCO’s global Happy Schools framework drew from key lessons within each of these dimensions, making it an evidence-informed, values-driven and rights-based model.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but the UNESCO Happy Schools framework posits that happy learning environments can be unpacked into four key pillars: people, process, place and principles.

Together, these 4 pillars and 12 criteria form the global Happy Schools framework, a high-level, flexible, and easily adaptable to different education systems with varying needs.

There exists a wealth of terms closely related to happiness, including health, well-being, flourishing, fulfilment, contentment, satisfaction and joy. Happiness is ultimately a subjective concept, viewed differently across people and cultures. Therefore, the Happy Schools initiative does not provide a fixed, universal definition of happiness, nor does it prescribe indicators or standards to measure happiness at the individual level.

The global Happy Schools framework underlines the key conditions – physical, social-emotional, pedagogical, and professional – for school happiness, which contribute to schools becoming spaces where all can flourish, experience daily joy, grow in knowledge, and practise empathy and resilience. Taking the high-level framework as a guide, UNESCO empowers policymakers and school communities to form their own contextual understandings of happiness and to steer their own initiatives.

Multiple countries including Portugal, Viet Nam, Yemen, Japan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Thailand have launched national Happy Schools initiatives. All these countries have approached the Happy Schools framework from different entry points, including through teacher training, school leader professional development, socio-emotional learning interventions, relationship building and more. These cases demonstrate that the framework is versatile, flexible and relevant in diverse contexts, including crisis and emergency ones. UNESCO encourages Member States, organizations or individuals interested in transforming their education systems, to take the framework and transform it into context-specific initiatives.

From policy-makers to school leaders to teachers, UNESCO encourages all to join Happy Schools in partnership and commit to making schools happier places for learning, being, doing and living together. There are three main routes to engage with the UNESCO Happy Schools initiative to advance the reorientation of education systems towards happiness:

• UNESCO-supported national Happy Schools projects: UNESCO Member States may choose to approach UNESCO to receive technical support to adapt the global Happy Schools framework to their national education system and to develop national initiatives.

• Government-, school-, and partner-led Happy Schools projects: Materials and tools produced as part of the UNESCO Happy Schools initiative are global public goods. Countries, as well as interested organisations, schools and educators, are encouraged to use these materials to self-initiate, lead and implement their own Happy Schools projects at varying levels.

• Advocacy-based engagement with Happy Schools: Instead of adapting and implementing the Happy Schools framework, countries, organizations and individuals may choose to focus on the advocacy route to promote the integration of happiness in education policies or, more generally, to raise public awareness about the link between school happiness and quality education.

• Evidence-based engagement with Happy Schools: Contribute to the growing body of scientific literature that explores the links between happiness and learning, in particular through launching new research studies and projects that include evidence from international surveys.

If you are interested in becoming a Happy Schools champion country or partner, please contact s.yano@unesco.org and j.norrmen-smith@unesco.org.

To help strengthen the global happy schools community around the world, join the Happy Schools LinkedIn community to see regular updates and connect with others interested in supporting the Happy Schools mission.

Watch the webinar series on each pillar of the Happy Schools framework to learn more from experts around the world.