Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

Education is no longer about teaching stuff, but about qualifying the student for exploration. A full understanding of the world takes understanding of science, philosophy, art, literature, culture, and religion. Only with a deep understanding of the central themes of human existence can life be lived happily and in balance with the global eco system. We explore in this article how education for the new time must look, and how quality of school life can be measured in this context. Approach/objective: To give a conceptual outline of what constitutes the good education that develops the fundamental human qualifications needed for our collective survival on this planet. The qualification of the student includes the student’s ability to explore own ego, consciousness, social/love ability and come to a sufficient understanding of the structure of physical, mental, social, sexual and spiritual health and disease in order to lead a happy, well-functioning life. Material: Exploration of the relevant theories of human needs, quality of life and intelligence relevant for evaluating the quality of school life. Based on this exploration 11 questions was found to constitute a valid measure of quality of school life. Result: The Quality-of-School-Life Questionnaire with 11 questions in three categories: Q1-Q3: global evaluations, Q4-Q7: students experience of the teacher and the lessons (objectivistic measures), and Q8-Q11: students report on own state (subjectivistic measures). The rating scales and psychometric properties of the questionnaire are similar to QOL10.

Keywords: Education, teaching, school, quality-of-school-life, happiness, intelligence, understanding, creativity, interest, inspiration, safety, affinity, focus, activity, engagement, importance, experienced value