"This autumn term, students at Wellington will be the first in the world to start regular lessons in well-being (known colloquially as 'happiness').
From later this week, girls and boys in years 10 and 11 (aged 14+ and 15+) will have a 40-minute timetabled lesson on 'the skills of well-being' every fortnight for two years. The lessons will give them an understanding of what factors help a life to thrive and flourish, as well as teaching them some practical skills for everyday use.
The unique curriculum has been devised for Wellington by Dr Nick Baylis of the University of Cambridge (www.CambridgeWellbeing.org), one of the world's leading specialists in the science of well-being. The approach is founded on the principle of studying lives that go particularly well, and then using that knowledge to develop and apply strategies and skills that promote all-round progress in a person's psychological, physical and social life. Importantly, the curriculum takes a rounded approach to the subject of life development, combining a core of positive psychology with teaching on a range of other key factors such as sleep, nutrition and exercise. Ten of the school's existing teachers are being trained to deliver the curriculum, led by Wellington's Ian Morris, who has devised the classroom applications in close collaboration with Dr Baylis.
Special programmes in other schools have tended to target 'youngsters at risk', or children rather than teenagers, or specific maladies such as depression rather than life in general, so the great majority of interventions have been remedial, trying to get youngsters from below average up to average. Our curriculum is aimed at helping everyone to make progress, no matter what the individual's starting point.
The lesson themes are structured around a student's relationship with life, including:
· The relationship between mind and body
· The relationship between their conscious and subconscious
· The relationships with people around them
· The relationship with their past, present, future and fantasy lives
· The relationship with the natural world
Techniques and activities in the lessons will include: learning how to positively channel emotional energy; working in harmony with the sub-conscious mind; overcoming fears and unhelpful inhibitions; and using 'imaginative rehearsal' to improve real-life performance.
Wellington parents will be invited to attend a seminar and workshop with Dr Baylis and the Wellington teaching team later this term to involve them fully in this initiative, and introduce them to what 'the skills of well-being' are all about. In February 2007, an educational conference will be held on the subject, and those interested in attending can email [email protected] for further information.
The subject is not one in which exams are taken, but Dr Baylis and Dr Anthony Seldon, the Master of Wellington, plan to put in place a range of benchmarking and tracking methods over time to assess the range and level of benefits for the pupils. Dr Baylis is devising a number of measures to provide objective evidence as to whether a youngster can do far more after the well-being training than he or she could at the outset.
"These lessons will challenge pupils to explore themselves and their talents, learn in a practical way how to better look after their bodies, minds and emotions, enhance their relationships with others, with technology and the environment, and help them to learn how to make themselves, not others (including friends and parents), the masters of their lives. These initiatives may not change the world, but they are our response to the need for a more holistic education; and I believe independent schools have a duty to be innovative," said Dr Seldon.
"We were overwhelmed by the worldwide response to the announcement of our plans for well-being lessons - almost all of it extremely positive - and parents have been hugely supportive. We are very conscious that our work with our students from this term onwards will be watched with intense interest by schools, educationalists and families all around the world, and we hope to report positively on progress during 2007. There will be early feedback on the first six months' lessons at our conference in February next year and we expect the high level of interest in our experiences to continue."
Responding to some commentators who have questioned whether the lessons are simply teaching teenagers how to 'feel good' and 'think selfishly', Dr Baylis explains: "Far from eliciting a self-obsessed attitude to life, our Skills of Well-Being programme will prioritise the sorts of 'healthy partnerships' which allow a youngster to grow well beyond their own concerns and immediate horizons. Rather than focusing on the youngster 'feeling good', our skills focus on the youngster 'doing good', because constructive activities such as partnering-up on a project are likely to bring them some profoundly satisfying emotions.
"By these means, we plan to nurture the sort of quiet self-confidence of character that appreciates we are not defined by the brands and logos we wear, nor the goods we own, nor the things we say; rather it is the quality of partnerships we create with the world around us, that are the measure and the making of us."
There are plans for a 'Skills of Well-Being Handbook' for secondary schools to be available for sale in the spring of 2007, and Dr Baylis will be approaching potential publishers later this month. Meanwhile, 'Learning from Wonderful Lives ', the recent book by Dr Baylis, is the only source of information relevant to the course, obtainable from www.nicksbooks.com. General information about the science of well-being can be found at www.CambridgeWellbeing.org.
Dr Nick Baylis, www.nickbaylis.com, is a well-being scientist and practising psychologist, studying lives that thrive and flourish, even in the face of adversity. He has dedicated the past twelve years to understanding the hows and whys of such 'wonderful lives', looking for the most promising routes to 'healthy, helpful and good-hearted living'.