Do Unto Others

I was fascinated by a TED Talk called "Money Can buy Happiness" by Michael Norton from Harvard. His research is in how spending money brings people happiness. In a series of experiments, his TED Talk video relates how spending money on yourself doesn't do much to increase your happiness- regardless of how much money you spend or on what you buy. But spending money on others increases the giver's happiness- also regardless of how much you spend. Norton found this to be true all over the world, that there is a positive correlation between giving to charity and happiness in almost every country.

 

 

So, how is this a life hack for teachers? We do things for others all the time and often- at least for me- feel like we're being taken advantage of. One of the differences in what Michael Norton is talking about and a teacher's reality is the expectation of the receiver. In his research, the receivers are given gifts for which they express gratitude. In teaching, we give students supplies which is often seen by students as "our job"- hence, no gratitude. Although this is not a focal point of his research, I believe one of the reasons givers are happier is because of the gratitude they receive- or anticipate others would feel. In a classroom, the lack of student gratitude is often overwhelming.

 

Does this mean we stop doing things for our kids? Of course not. No one I know became a teacher because they thought kids were devotedly gracious and conscious of how much we do for them. So how can teachers- who give so much to students- feel the same happiness boost that everyone else feels when they spend money on others? Easy. We need to spend money on people who can truly appreciate our gifts, aka other teachers.

 

Donors Choose is a great donation site for teachers to help other teachers with things they need for their classroom. Support other teachers' quests for offering great educational experiences to their students- and include a message that shows how much you support them and understand what they are going through. It will be the same happiness hack that everyone else gets from giving money, only better because you'll appreciate exactly how much your gift means.