BECOMING KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES
A Happiness Framework for Institutions of Higher Education in India
Keywords:
Ethics, Happiness Framework, Information Society, Knowledge Society, Pillars of Education, Satisfaction Survey, Sustainability, Subjective Well-BeingAbstract
The transformation of Indian Higher Education Institutions (IHEIs) to knowledge societies require multiple coordinated interventions and actions on both the local and the global levels of institution administration, management, supply and demands of the economy and society. A vibrant knowledge society will not only require institution’s support to plan and amend practices but also require the engagement of all stakeholders and the ability of individuals and society to imbibe new ways of thinking, working, and acting. It is vital to chart a direction and an approach that is in alignment with the local context and culture. At the supply front, IHEIs should initiate intervention programmes to enhance human capital through investment in a Happiness Framework and a shift in the workplace culture that requires conscious measures of intervention, which will drive institutional effectiveness and improve student experiences. This happiness framework should be integral and reinforced, first as an induction-training programme, and practised as institutional culture. Individuals, who are thus, trained at the local level of institutions, while participating in the global labour market with their increased skills and competencies will drive the IHEIs towards a fully functioning knowledge-based society. A knowledge-based society thus built to generate, disseminate, and use knowledge to improve the standard of living and the quality of life of citizens in an ethical and sustainable way will certainly make happinessas its ultimate goal and will focus on happiness as a process to improve efficiency and efficacy of the work force.
References
Brinda R Bazeley, Development and Problems of Higher Education in Barak Valley and Karbiv Anglong Areas, Regency Publication: New Delhi, 2006, 2.
UNESCO, “Towards Knowledge Societies,” 17 <https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000141843> (20 April 2018).
Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom, New York: Alfred Knopf, 1999, 13-34.
Ravi Kumar, “Market, Deprivation, and Education in the Age of Globalization” in Anastasia Nokolopoulou, Taisha Abrahama and Farid Mirbagheri, eds., Education for Sustainable Development: Challenges, Strategies and Practices in a Globalizing World, SAGE Publications India, 2010, 103
Jacques Delors, The Treasure Within: Learning to Know, Learning to Do, Learning to Live Together and Learning to Be. What is the Value of that Treasure 15 Years after Its Publication? <http://www.ooscimena.org/uploads/1/wysiwyg/Delors_article_review_of_education_2013.pdf> (2 March 2018).
Jonathan Wolff, "What is the Point of Higher Education, if it doesn’t Make People Happy?" <https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/feb/12/what-is-the-point-of-higher-education-if-it-doesnt-makepeople-happy> (18 March 2018).
E. Diener, “Subjective well-being,” Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 95 No. 1, 1984, 542-575. 24Jessica Pryce Jones, Happiness at Work: Maximizing your Psychological capital for Success, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, 7.
Sharon S. Andrew, “The Servant Shepherd: A New Leadership Paradigm for Job Satisfaction and Happiness at the Workplace,” in S. S. Sengupta, ed., Integrating Spirituality and Organizational Leadership, Macmillan Publishers India, 2009, 377 – 391.
A. Dean and P. Gibbs, "Student Satisfaction or Happiness?" Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 23 No. 1, 2015, 5-19.
George Kuh, The National Survey of Student Engagement: Conceptual and Empirical Foundations, New Directions for Institutional Research, 2009, 5–20 <http://nsse.indiana.edu/pdf/NSSEConceptualandEmpiricalFoundations.pdf> (8 March 2018).
