Resources

Happy Schools Art E-Exhibition What does a Happy School look like to you? A happy learner is more likely to be a thriving one – better able to solve problems and apply critical thinking skills, more self-confident and likelier to form and foster positive relationships with others. Happy learners require Happy Schools, those that ensure the holistic development and well-being of students and the wider school community. In today’s rapidly changing world, we are faced with increasing mobility, life stress, competition, information overload, inequalities and environmental concerns. As these symptoms of ‘unhappiness’ begin to emerge, the Happy Schools Project calls for the need for education systems to reposition the school as more than a service for educational instruction, but rather, an environment which allows for social and emotional growth and development for learners to contribute to a more peaceful, just and equitable world. As part of UNESCO Bangkok’s Happy Schools Project, the Happy Schools team hosted an art contest in early 2016 in an effort to capture actions, moments and ideas that are promoting happiness in schools. All residents of the Asia-Pacific region were invited to submit images of any kind (photos, drawings, cartoons, paintings, graphics, and posters) along with a caption/description that captures the concept of Happy Schools. Thirty winners were selected from the pool of entries for the Happy Schools Art Exhibition and Report Launch (of the Happy Schools: A Framework for Learner Well-being in the Asia-Pacific report. The artwork will be on display for the Happy Schools Art Exhibition from 25 March to 3 April, 2016 at The Commons in Bangkok, Thailand, and available to view here as an e-exhibition.