Ikigai Research Responses

Pedagogical structures in higher education classrooms dictate learner outcomes. Every student possesses the Japanese concept of ikigai, a sense of meaning and purpose in life. Yet, the way to attain it remains a mystery. To address this gap, this study explores undergraduate students' experiences of engagement, flow, and purpose in Education courses. These courses were intentionally aligned with the PERMA well-being model (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment) and the Japanese concept of ikigai. To capture students' perspectives, forty-four students completed an end-of-semester survey. The survey measured learning environment preferences, perceived importance of instructional strategies, engagement indicators, and a 36-item Flow instrument comprising nine facets (e.g., Clear Goals, Challenge-Skill Balance, Autotelic Experience, and Unambiguous Feedback). Results from the survey reveal high overall Flow (M = 4.00, SD = 0.45). Internal consistency was excellent (α = .91), with Autotelic Experience and Challenge-Skill Balance being the highest-scoring facets. Additionally, collaboration emerged as the most effective learning environment, and students reported strong interpersonal connections. Spearman’s rho correlations revealed significant associations among Flow facets and engagement indicators (ρ = .79, p < .001), supporting the internal coherence of Flow and its alignment with PERMA and ikigai domains. Based on these findings, pedagogical strategies, such as meaningful and purposeful collaborative experiences, clear goals, and personalized feedback can improve learner well-being, intrinsic motivation, and sustained engagement. The study recommends designing university courses to cultivate foundational dispositions, such as purpose and self-awareness for lifelong learning.