Connection between «Happiness of studying at school» and learning outcomes: Estonian Secondary Education within international assessment

Two events such as the publication of the results of PISA-2015 and the reviews and studies of OECD «Better Life» in 2015 caused heated discussions and aroused the desire to draw parallels. For example, Taiwo Pungas, a researcher at the Swiss Higher Technical School of Zurich, wrote it in the Teacher's Newspaper that «if according to the results of the PISA tests Estonia occupies the top lines in the world, then in the rating of the OSCE countries according to the level of happiness our schoolboys tinkle at the very tail» [Estonian News, DELFI.ru 2017]. The high rates of pupils of Estonian schools compared to children from all over the world and the lowest positions in «happiness studies» that secondary school students experience compared to children from 35 countries, members of OECD, make the author of the article, a citizen of Estonia, a member of Baltic Association of Historians of Pedagogy, an INNOVE expert, think about the possible connection between high learning outcomes and low levels of satisfaction with school life.