Sharing at the International Conference on Happiness in Education organized by the Institute for Education and Human Resource Development (EDI) on November 23, Dr. Ngo Tuyet Mai, lecturer at Flinders University (Australia), said that as someone who benefited from Vietnamese education, in her memory, schools are associated with the slogan "Every day at school is a happy day".

During her childhood, every time she came home from school, her father would always ask her, “What was fun today?” “Perhaps my father expected me to say it was math, literature or some other subject, but I always said that I was happiest during recess,” she recalled.

With the experience of a mother and an educator, she believes that in order for teachers and students to "have a happy day at school every day", it is important for schools to train students in both intellectual and emotional intelligence.

“As the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” If we only focus on the mind and grades, we will unintentionally create pressure for students, teachers and everyone involved in education,” said Ms. Mai.

To train both the heart and the mind, according to her, teachers must help students find their own qualities, from which they can maximize their strengths. Just like with a student who is good at dancing, if teachers know their strengths and create conditions for them to express them, they will feel confident, happy to pursue their passion and shine in their field of strength.

In addition, teachers need to put themselves in the children's shoes, organize meaningful classroom activities, learn while playing, play while learning, then going to school will truly become a happy day.

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Dr. Ngo Tuyet Mai, lecturer at Flinders University (Australia), shared at the workshop.

Dr. Ngo Tuyet Mai said that in Australia, before starting a lesson, teachers pay a lot of attention to the mental health of their students. Therefore, teachers often do “emotional check-in” activities. Instead of immediately talking about the lesson, teachers often prioritize asking students to describe their feelings that day.

“This may seem simple, but it actually shows that students’ mental and emotional health is important. Of course, teachers must also be sensitive, using their hearts, eyes, and smiles to communicate and recognize whether students are truly happy or not.”

Dr. Mai also mentioned the PERMA model to help schools build into happy schools, which includes the following factors: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Achievements.

Specifically, when entering the classroom, if the teacher is happy and excited, it will create energy and positive emotions for the learners. In addition, teaching needs to be engaging. Instead of asking questions about what to teach and how to teach, teachers should focus on creating learning experiences. If there is no engagement in the lecture, the teacher cannot create effective learning.

In addition, connection is very important. No matter how good a teacher is, if there is no connection with the students, learning will not be effective. “Therefore, every time I go to class, I often tell myself, when I come to class today, what will I put into the student's emotional bank, to help my relationship with the student better. In addition, what is taught at school, if students know the meaning, will also bring happiness,” said Dr. Mai.

When all four of these elements are done well, according to Dr. Mai, the letter “A”, or “Achievements”, will appear. “Understanding the PERMA model, schools will find the formula for happiness and have a way to make it happen,” Ms. Mai said.

The International Conference on Happiness in Education with a series of 4 sessions, held on November 23 and 24 at TH School, had the participation of domestic and international education experts discussing and sharing ways to create a happy learning environment for students; emphasizing the training of a generation of teachers to create happy lessons.

Thuy Nga

Minister of Education and Training: Vietnam's education system is changing to help people be happy. Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son said that Vietnam's education system is changing dramatically, the focus of the change is to realize the goal of comprehensive human development, knowing how to live happily, creating happiness for oneself and others.