Well-Being And Education - Essay Example

? WELL-BEING AND EDUCATION Introduction Well-being is a term that can be used generally to mean a satisfactory or good condition of existence. It is characterized by welfare, good health, and happiness as agreed by a group of people. However, the meaning and purpose of the term well-being changes with time and is open to both obvious and understated challenges. It is an ambiguous term used widely and frequently in public discourse. Well being can be viewed as a positive mental condition, originally embraced by some scholars as a way of focusing on satisfaction with life and health, as opposed on the focus on mental illnesses and its cures. In a dynamic way of viewing it, “Well being|” is a state in which a person is able to develop his or her creativity, productivity, potential, and work. It helps one-build positive and strong relationships with others as well as contributes largely to their communities. It is through education that an individual’s well being can enhance a sense of purpose in the society (Kennedy, 2006 45-6). Promoting well being is a legitimate aim of education. Many professionals in the education sector firmly perceive that their work makes individuals have a high self-esteem and have a positive view of their lives. Research shows that most of the adult learners gain evidently in optimism and confidence because of successful learning. Such experiences have also been realized by most practitioners in workplaces, communities, and in colleges. There are numerous justifications for considering the promotion of well being legitimate in education. Apart from being desirable in itself, it has a positive view on the future and a feeling of one’s ability to control his life are crucial to further, on-going successful learning. It is also legal when associated with better health, better levels of civic and social engagement, as well as higher resilience in times of external crises (Kneller, 1964 56). This means that, if education affects individuals’ chances directly, there is a high probability of affecting them indirectly through improving their well-being. Well being is featured strongly in education, constructed as both important in, and a result of individual development. Personal well being contributes significantly to the development of young lives as well as their character. Most importantly, well being creates a focus on the emotional and social features of effective learning including managing feelings, empathy, self-awareness, social skills, and motivation. Educationists typically gauge the well-being of students in terms of test scores, academic achievement, university entrance trends, attendance records, engagement, or success in up to date accountability culture, and international league. The paper presents that promotion of well being is a legitimate aim of education in an exploration of wellness in schools to achieve an overall consideration of this issue. Well being is the foundation or basis on which academic excellence is build and the exemplary behavior is prized. It is quite logical to argue that well being and achievement of learners go hand in hand (Noddings, 1995, 41-2). Indeed, people who have received quality education say that they have the satisfaction in life and that they carry out worthwhile activities. However, it is not always true that education necessarily brings about happiness. The well-being of a learner is as well affected by the way he or she feels, including the health factor. Well being as a legitimate aim of education It is a justifiable aim of education; after all, education is goal-oriented. Moreover, when it comes to parents educating their children, it is believed that well being is a goal worth of pursuit their goals. As a relatively educational, goal, well being is assumed to prepare learners to develop into independent critical thinkers as ethically responsible citizens. It is a global requirement or legal expectation of the whole world that all children get access to universal education for a common good. Education aims at nurturing the personal good of learners and the public good of the community as a whole, of which the individual is. That “well being’ is spelled out in terms of understanding and knowledge; the moral dispositions and seriousness; practical skills and capabilities; and active participation in the society, which are perceived to be worthwhile. Nevertheless, in pursuing this broad aim and value for all learners, it is advisable that before promoting this aim, people should not narrow it to merely academic achievement or to anything that can be measured easily (Dewey, 1944 72-3). This is for the reason that, such narrowness may bring about educational failure to many young individuals who have achieved so much and who would wish to express the benefits of a broader vision of learning. UN Convention on Child Rights insists on the well-being of children founded on quality education. Their rights to life, development and survival, and their rights to be participants in decisions that impact their economic, spiritual, social, political, educational, and cultural life. In this way, the Conventions emphasize on well being as a key aim of education for children to realize their rights. In any given institution of learning, education aims at training people to attain effective, resolute, and quick thinking. It is not an easy task to think incisively for oneself. Most people are prone to letting their mental life occupied with legions of prejudices, propaganda, and half-truths. Activities and people that we come across fail to give unbiased truths, and that is why education is legalized to save man. Education aims at enabling one to sift and evaluate evidence, to distinguish between what is true what is false, and the unreal from reality. For the well-being of an individual, education gives him the skills to think critically and intensively before making a decision. However, the kind of education that stops with efficiency may be the greatest danger to the society (Boniwell & Ryan, 2012 66). Education gives hope of well being to a learner. This is done through its goal of character and intelligence. Complete education does not only give a person the power to concentrate, but also the worthy objectives on which he can achieve concentration. Wider education will thus transmit to a learner not only the accrued knowledge of the race but the accrued experience of social living as well. In this sense therefore, education aims at enabling a man to become better organized to attain with increasing facility the legal goals of life (Winters, 2007 96). In sum, the promotion of well being is a legitimate aim of education. I believe theta education aims at promoting the well-being of an individual and the community through an empowering process that permits and guides learners to develop their compassion, passions, orientation, and critical thinking towards wisdom, now and in the future. In other words, well being and self-cultivation are legally acceptable as the main purpose of education. Well being is understood in terms of forming part of a unified field of relations that lead to the growth of a mature cultural peace. When peoples' happiness and satisfaction is used to strengthen their depth of knowledge, environmental feedback supports timely refinements as well as adjustments in their technical and emotional developments. References Boniwell, I., & Ryan, L, 2012, Personal Well-Being Lessons for Secondary Schools: Positive psychology in action for 11 to 14 year olds, New York: Open University Press. Dewey, J, 944, Democracy and Education, New York: The Free Press. Kennedy, D, 2006, The Well of Being: Childhood, Subjectivity, And Education. New York: State University of New York Press. Kneller, G, 1964, Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Noddings, N, 1995, Philosophy of education, Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Winters, M, 2007, Teachers matter: Rethinking how public schools identify, reward, and retain great educators. Rowman & Littlefield. Read More