Self-awareness, empathy and conflict management could soon become part of the curriculum for some Pittsburgh-area high school students.
In an effort to support student well-being, educators in the region are considering teaching the science of human flourishing in high schools, based on a course developed at Penn State.
Blake Colaianne, who teaches at Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development, said the “Art and Science of Human Flourishing” course comes at a time when high schools are looking for ways to support students’ mental and social challenges. Additionally, future employers are seeking job candidates with personal skills — like self-awareness and compassion.
The course would be modeled after a Penn State undergraduate class and customized for high school students. Colaianne said undergraduates who have taken the class have better self-awareness, empathy and compassion skills.
“Students who took the course in 2019 fared better during the pandemic in terms of their well-being,” Colaianne said. “Because of that evidence base that we had at the college level, that is why we felt confident that we were ready to test it out at the high school level.”
Emma Durant is completing her junior year at Penn State. She is a student in the Learn to Flourish Design hub there.
A 2023 Elizabeth Forward high school graduate, Durant thinks teenagers can benefit from a human flourishing course.
“Learning about yourself is going to help you with your relationships with others, and flourishing in general,” said Durant, 21, of Elizabeth Township.
“It’s really interdisciplinary. Any field needs emotionally intelligent, compassionate and group workers. High school students want to find purpose in their lives.”
Student perspectives reinforce the need for schools to teach those skills, said Natasha Dirda, principal at South Fayette High School.
Dirda pointed to the “constant stressors” in teenagers’ lives, like connectedness through social media platforms. It’s important to incorporate well-being, resilience and mindfulness, she said, and South Fayette is exploring ways to pilot the course.
“This need continues to be at the forefront of how we best prepare students and staff in living in the world we’re in now,” she said.
Skills taught in the course, Colaianne said, include emotional precision — how to communicate precisely about one’s feelings — stress patterns, and purpose.
“We know that having a sense of purpose when you are in high school is huge for student well-being,” he said. “We offer practical ways for students to cultivate a sense of purpose.”
Colaianne looks at the course material to supplement existing initiatives schools have to support student well-being.
“It takes more of a preventative approach,” he said. “It makes our mental well-being resources more equitable, because any student could sign up for a course like this and receive some preventative approaches that not only support their own mental health but also support their relationships and give them new skills for the workforce.”
Human flourishing is the “perfect parallel” as students enter a technology-driven workforce with artificial intelligence, he said.
“We still need emotions, and I think that human capacities are going to become even more important as AI starts to do things that we used to do,” Colaianne said. “Having the ability to genuinely and authentically connect with others is going to be such a top skill for the workforce and teaching students about the science of human connection is going to parallel really nicely with AI training.”
Marzia Cozzolino, a social sciences teacher at Sewickley Academy, predicts the course will be popular at her school.
“The kids are curious about understanding themselves,” Cozzolino said.
“They want to understand, how do I get motivated to come to school and learn? Why do certain things rub me the wrong way? It’s human nature.”
She anticipates Sewickley Academy to offer the course next year. Colaianne anticipates the rollout across 10 schools to take place over the next couple of years.
“It will put Pittsburgh-area high schools at the forefront of what it means to train students to support their well-being and purpose, in a way that I don’t think we’ve seen in a lot of other areas in the country,” he said.