Abstract Book of the 8th International Academic Conference on Education, Teaching and Learning
Year: 2025
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My Happiness, My Learning: A Co-Creating Curriculum to Empower Youth Companions Through the Voices of Youth
Tidarat Sakveerakul
ABSTRACT:
This study aims to explore the meaning of happiness from the perspectives of youth, examine the role of family, school, and community in promoting or hindering youth-designed happiness, and synthesize approaches to support youth in designing meaningful well-being. The research employed Participatory Action Research (PAR) in three regions of Thailand. Research assistants lived in rural communities for seven months, gathering in-depth data from 31 youth aged 16–18 and collecting quantitative data from 31 youth using two instruments: The Secondary Child Happiness (SCH-Thai 12) and the Child and Youth Skills in the VUCA World (CY-VUCA Thai 11). The findings reveal that while youth demonstrate high levels of critical thinking, communication, and civic awareness, their happiness remains low. This suggests a disconnect between their inner potential and the external support systems, especially regarding opportunities for autonomy, expression, and meaningful participation. The study proposes five key strategies: opening space for authentic youth choice, shifting adult roles from controllers to supporters, strengthening self-management, fostering safe environments for learning through experience, and connecting youth happiness to real-life engagement. These findings offer insight for developing educational practices, learning activities, and youth policies grounded in youth voices and agency.
Keywords: youth happiness, autonomy and relatedness, community-based youth development, PERMA Model, Self-Determination Theory (SDT)