Wednesday Jul 05, 2023

Episode #29: Global well-being and the role of education in flourishing, with Dr. Alejandro Adler

Today our focus is on the importance of education and the role of teachers and mentors in facilitating human flourishing, and we are joined by Dr. Alejandro Adler, who does an amazing job of illuminating the research and findings on this subject. Dr. Adler is the Dean of Student Life and Wellbeing at Upper Canada College and has had a varied career acquiring a wealth of experience in international well-being initiatives and projects.

Dr. Adler's professional focus has been squarely on well-being, education and skills, human capital development, and public policy. He has worked with and advised many organizations across the globe on the value of positive psychology and life competencies. In our chat with Dr. Adler, we get into the science of well-being, worldwide research on the subject, and, most importantly, how we can approach integrating the science into our educational systems. So to hear it all in this fascinating chat with a great guest, press play now.

Key Points From This Episode:

Dr. Adler talks about how he conceptualizes and explains human flourishing.
Unpacking various undesirable states of ill-being.
Defining meaning and its relationship to belonging.
Dealing with short-term, deeply negative experiences and trauma.
Reflections on global studies on well-being and the evolution of Dr. Adler's views.
The three 'M's of well-being and how to approach supporting students.
Exploring the different kinds of leaders and organizations that these lessons apply to.
Comments about Finland, its education system, and the decisions that have contributed to its success.
Closing thoughts from Dr. Adler on the role of education in the promotion of global well-being.