International Conference on Affective Education

Affective education has become part of a global reflection, as evident in the 'strive to harness the emotional forces that drive us forward to a positive end' (The OECD Forum Network, 2019). In addition, recent education reform efforts in East Asian countries have moved beyond the conventional emphasis on knowledge and skills and incorporated elements in the affective domains. The affective domains include all the warm aspects of learning, including and not limited to:

• social and emotional development

• positivity psychology, well-being, happiness

• motivation, feelings, anxiety, attitudes, values,

• interpersonal skills, self-regulation learning, social-regulation

From the perspective of culture, at the country level, achievement in school subjects (e.g., mathematics, science, and reading) does not have a corresponding affective outcome (e.g., interest in mathematics). This is different from the result of the student level: consistent positive relationships between achievement and affective outcomes, as shown in international achievement studies like PISA and TIMSS. The contradictory findings deserve discussion and collaboration from scholars from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Our aim, therefore, is to place affective issues into the research agenda and affective concerns into national curricula as well as formal and informal learning (including ICT-infused extended learning) to develop well-being, happiness, and social/emotional development for all education stakeholders.