Happiness and Education (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780521807630)

When parents are asked what they want for their children, they usually answer that they want their children to be happy. Why, then, is happiness rarely mentioned as a goal of education? This book explores what we might teach if we were to take happiness seriously as a goal of education. It asks, first, what it means to be happy and, second, how we can help children to understand it. It notes that we have to develop a capacity for unhappiness and a willingness to alleviate the suffering of others to be truly happy. Criticizing our current almost exclusive emphasis on economic well-being and pleasure, Nel Noddings discusses the contributions of making a home, parenting, cherishing a place, the development of character, interpersonal growth, finding work that one loves, and participating in a democratic way of life. Finally, she explores ways in which to make schools and classrooms cheerful places. Nell Noddings is Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education, Emerita, at Stanford University. She is past president of the Philosophy of Education Society and of the John Dewey Society. In addition to twelve books, she is the author of more than 170 articles and chapters on various topics ranging from the ethics of care to mathematical problem solving. Her latest books are Starting at Home: Caring and Social Policy (University of California Press) and Educating Moral People: A Caring Alternative to Character Education (Teachers College Press), both published in 2002.

Author: Nel Noddings
ISBN-10: 0521807638
ISBN-13: 9780521807630
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 07/07/2003
Pages: 318
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.10w x 1.10d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2004 pg. 1344
Univ PR Books for Public Libry 01/01/2004 pg. 40 - Strongly Recommended