Finding out why Dutch children are the happiest in the world!

The temperature is hovering around zero, it’s so cold that my fingers have gone an unnatural pink colour and I’m having problems locking my borrowed bike. I’ve parked it next to the playground of the school and I look around trying to figure out the entrance. I spy two tiny infants at the top of a precarious looking wooden climbing frame, it’s so high that it makes my head spin just looking at it. Two primary students in woolly hats and scarves are chasing each other around on unicycles screaming with delight, another group of children are playing piggy-in-the-middle. More kids arrive to the bike parking area, and unlike myself seem unaffected by the cold and don’t even bother locking up their bikes, they just prop them up against the wall and run excitedly to join the action in the playground. I’m looking lost, three 10-year-olds stop doing their gardening, they’re planting some bee-friendly plants they tell me later, and run over to see who I’m looking for. They realize I’m not Dutch straight away, I think it’s my size…well the lack of it that gives my nationality away, and they ask me in perfect English am I the teacher that’s coming in to do a theatre workshop with them. When I say I am, one of them grabs my hand and leads me to reception.

I’m not in a circus school but a Steiner (or Waldorf) school in Leeuwarden as part of my Erasmus plus program through the University of Loyola, Andalucia. I’ve chosen Holland, as according to UNICEF Dutch children are the happiest in the world and I’ve come here to find out why. (Spain is 19th slightly above Hungry and Poland) My stay has been organized by the theatre co-operative Kunstkade, a theatre co-operative in Leeuwarden in Friesland. In 2018 Leeuwarden was European Capital of Culture and the local government wanted some type of cultural legacy, so as drama isn’t a subject on the curriculum in Holland, they asked the theatre co-operative Kuntskade to provide a team of professional actors (known as ‘culture coaches’) to go into schools and work hand-in-hand with teachers, helping to provide structure for drama classes and giving expert advice. Even though I was only there a week I managed to squeeze in visits to one infant and 6 primary schools, had meetings with the people responsible for education visits in 3 theatres; I ran five sessions (4 in primary schools, and a puppet workshop for the actors at Kunstake and the rest of the time I observed and sometimes part in their sessions) as well as a trip to the Fries Museum with a class, and two visits after-school theatre club. I started the day at around 8.30 and finished most days at around 19hrs so it was pretty intense.

So did I learn why this flat, rainy country with its history of Calvinism and cheese is so good at giving young people such an optimistic outlook? Well, after quizzing all the groups I worked with, here are my anecdotal, non-scientific conclusions. Children start the day by having breakfast with the rest of the family, which is a calming and bonding experience (and sadly one that is becoming rarer and rarer in many countries). Eating well before going to school stops kids snacking on unhealthy food; I noticed a distinct lack of obesity in schools right across the socio-economic spectrum. Good health and a positive body-image contributes to higher self-esteem, less name-calling and less bullying. I also got the distinct impression that schools are more egalitarian than in Spain (where I live and work); teachers weren’t authoritarian and pupils really trusted them.

For the most part, primary students have little or no homework, and there isn’t as much emphasis on academic performance as in other countries I’ve worked in and visited. Competition doesn’t play much of a role either; students aren’t marked against each other. The key focus in education is on forming happy adults, and maybe this is something I should keep more in mind when teaching my own students.