Happiness and a Sense of Achievement: A Qualitative Pedagogical Exploration in a Japanese Elementary School

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical qualitative research on happiness and education. Case study data of Third-Graders in an Elementary school in Japan will be analyzed. It will be shown that the students' happiness in school is associated with what we call 'a sense of achievement'. Their specific sense of achievement will be reconstructed: It refers to the acquisition of practical skills and being able to use these skills; it is linked to tasks which include a moderate challenge; it is related to a process in which different feelings are embraced; and it has an important social dimension. Such a detailed and complex analysis is a necessary addition to quantitative happiness research and provides important insights for a pedagogical exploration of happiness. It demonstrates that a 'sense of achievement' may significantly vary from what is usually referred to as 'achievement' in the realm of education, namely the grading of students' performances. On a methodological level, the paper reflects the difficulties of translating qualitative interviews from Japanese into English and points toward the necessity to consider bodily expressions in discussions on language and translation.