Elitis English school Eton College teaches to say “thank you”

In one of the best schools in the world, teachers have come to the conclusion that empathy is a character trait that can and should be developed over the years. For bright, gifted children, which is most often students of the famous school for boys Eton College, sometimes it is difficult to build relationships with the people around them. Talented children are so immersed in the learning process, feel the importance of achieving their goals, that they do not pay enough attention to such an important aspect of life as warm, friendly, open relationships with other people. According to our observations, talented children often do not receive satisfaction from communication with their peers, considering them insufficiently interesting and smart, which in turn leads to a manifestation of hostility towards themselves. Without developed socialization skills it is very difficult to be a happy person!

Eton College began teaching children to say “thank you” and to say words of gratitude as part of a new project that gives them a more sensitive attitude towards others. A boarding school in Berkshire, where tuition costs are more than 40,000 pounds, has introduced a discipline in the curriculum, in which lessons are taught to be grateful, kind, sympathetic. Thus instilling noble, chivalrous manners to his disciples.

The head of the college’s teaching and teaching department, Johnny Naus, believes that students can and should be taught to care more about other people’s feelings. He states that such a trait as empathy can be instilled and cultivated in a child. With it is not always born, and very often acquire during life. It is about mental identification with others, the ability to put yourself in the place of the opponent. People can be taught to overcome their natural inner wariness and distrust of others, as a result of which they will become more open to the world.

Now Eton’s students are learning daily how other people help them in life and how they can be helpful to them in return. And the most important thing is how to thank them for it, to react adequately to what is happening. Simple good deeds can even consist in writing thank-you cards. Empathy should be inherent in members of the privileged class, which are among many students of this ancient English private school.

Following a positive example, one of the UK’s leading universities, Bristol University, has announced that it will launch a 12-week course to teach students to be happy and bring happiness to others. As part of the project, students will learn the rules of healthy sleep and meditation. The lectures will consider a number of questions, including whether the feeling of happiness with genes is transmitted and whether it can be developed in a person. How our consciousness and mind distort the concept of happiness and what is the role of culture in shaping the feeling of happiness.

More than 400 students signed up for the pilot flow of the Science of Happiness course, taught by Professor Bruce Hood. The professor together with the organizers of the program expect that this year hundreds of students will listen to the course not only from the Department of Psychology, but also with engineering, chemistry, medicine and other streams.

The British education system increasingly includes new, topical directions, which complements the centuries-old tradition of better education in the world. This not only helps students to achieve consistently high results, but also helps students to enjoy their learning, to continue to be children, despite all the difficulties and intensity of their education in the UK.