Key Quotes & Images

IntroductionDespite recognition that wellbeing and academic achievement are compatible educational goals, few education systems have clearly established the role of wellbeing in meaningful and purposeful educational experiences. However, a framework that integrates the multi-disciplinary research, education policy, and students’ understanding of and experiences with wellbeing may offer a useful communication and planning tool for teachers seeking to make wellbeing central to the experience of education.

Emerging Patterns & Findings

Anne K. Soutter University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

Literature cited1Soutter, A., Gilmore, A., & O’Steen, B. (2011). How do high school youths’ educational experiences relate to well-being? Towards a trans-disciplinary conceptualization.

Journal of Happiness Studies, 12(4), 594-631.2Ministry of Education (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa.3Ministry of Education (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum for English-medium Teaching and Learning in Years 1-13. Wellington: Learning Media.4Ministry of Education (2010). Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-2015. Retrieved 14 Dec., 2010 from

http://www.minedu.govt.nz/theMinistry/PolicyAndStrategy/TetiaryEducationStrategy.aspx. 5Ministry of Education (2008). Te Mārautanga o Aotearoa. Wellington: Learning Media.6Soutter, A., O’Steen, B., & Gilmore, A. (2012). Wellbeing in the New Zealand Curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 44(1), 111-142.7Soutter, A., O’Steen, B., & Gilmore, A. (in press). Thoughts and experiences of New Zealand senior secondary students and their teachers regarding what it means to be well

in school. Journal of Student Wellbeing. 8Soutter, A. (2011). What can we learn about wellbeing in school? Journal of Student Wellbeing, 5(1), 1-21.9Soutter, A., O'Steen, B., & Gilmore, A. (2013). The Student Wellbeing Model: A conceptual framework for the development of student wellbeing indicators. International

Journal of Adolescence and Youth. doi: 10.1080/02673843.2012.754362

A way forward?

What does it mean to be well in school? An exploration of multiple perspectives on wellbeing

Figure 1: The Student Wellbeing Model

Key Themes in the Literature7 themes were identified in the review of the empirical and theoretical literature on wellbeing and related constructs.

Domains How does wellbeing relate to: Research FociHaving What one has? What is the role of having in youth wellbeing?

How does having affect relationships between wellbeing and youth’s educational experiences?

Being Who one is, has been, or will be? Is youth wellbeing predictive of adult wellbeing?What is the role of autonomy in youths’ educational experiences?

Relating To whom, to what, and to where one is connected?

What opportunities do educational experiences afford students to develop a) interpersonal relationships, b) connections with social institutions or places, c) relationships to meaning

Thinking How one thinks? Can youth choose to be well?Feeling How one feels? Do feelings contribute to, reflect, or result from wellbeing?

Is there room for emotion in education?

Functioning How one spends one’s time? What types of activities enhance wellbeing?Does the quality of time spent matter more than involvement?

Striving What one is striving for, and for whom/what?

Is wellbeing an end to be pursued or life (well-lived) itself?

Figure 1: Multiple perspectives on wellbeing exist

Materials and methodsThree different perspectives – the scholarly academic, curricular, and experiential – informed the question of how wellbeing is defined and experienced in relation to senior secondary educational experiences. These were gained through:

3) Naturalistic Inquiry methods guided classroom observations of Year 13 classrooms7

4) Interviews and focus groups7

5) A three-day teaching and learning experience that focused on what wellbeing means to youth today8

1) A multidisciplinary review of the wellbeing literature in economics, psychology, sociology, and health sciences 1

2) 2) A critical content analysis of how wellbeing is conceptualised in the formal education mandates across all levels of learning2-6

I care about the credits. But I also care about how fun learning is. Like we said before, the more fun it is, the more I get out if it [sic]. I find that if you just go to school just to get credits or just to sit there and listen, it’s boring. Then, you’re not going to be, you’re just going to be, ‘oh yeah, I passed’. You’re not going to be over the moon about it. As much as if you have fun and then, like, do all that kind of stuff then you get to your exam and you’re like pass, you feel like so over the moon and then you start to think on how fun it was to get it. Where if you just get it, you don’t really just remember. – Year 13 student, female

Well, when my parents were at school, you didn’t, like, if you dropped out at 15, there’s a possibility you could get a good job. But not these days, the way the economy is going, and you actually have to get, like, they’re not going to take a bum over someone who went to Uni.So it’s about your qualifications, really.At the moment it is. – Year 13 student, female

You know, and who is it – and for any other person – who is it for me to judge if you are? The only judge if you are doing a lot of these things is if you believe it. And if you generally believe it, well, then that is your reality. Where’s my place to actually then say that you’re not? So that, in itself, requires a lot of the questioning and conversation and skills to really develop the student’s concept in their own mind of where they’re at … Yeah, and if that’s where they’re at, that’s where they’re at. - Health and Physical Education teacher

And what I hope I provide them is an oppor— like an environment that they feel safe to take risks. Because if somebody puts them down, I’ll deal with it so that they don’t have to. But … If they can’t stand as an individual, strongly, they sink. - Y13 English teacher

What is your definition of wellbeing?• Things that make you happy• Good life e.g. healthy, wealthy • Having friends and family with you no

matter what you are going through • Being well, happy, body image, the

way someone lives and feels; sexually active

• Career, what you are doing; the environment around you; wealthy, poor, crowd – hanging out with the wrong crowd; who you’re with: supportive people, non-supportive

• Hauora – different aspects of your life – family, social, etc. … and how you feel about them.

• What’s the best things for you to get on with family, friends

• Makes you think; friendship; knowledge

• Being pleased and happy with all aspects and dimensions of your life

Through visuals and quotes, students and teachers offer their perspectives on what it means to be well.

Domains Examples of Indicators of Student Wellbeing

Having Highly qualified teachers continue their training and maintain a sense of purpose and enthusiasmQuality informational resourcesBuildings and grounds that meet students’ developmental, physical, socio-emotional and cultural needsFunding supports instructional needs and extended learning opportunities (e.g. curricular, athletic, cultural, spiritual, artistic events)

Being Students assume valued and/or esteemed roles in the school/larger communitiesClearly defined expectations for student behaviourSelf-ownership, autonomous action, and responsibility for ideas and actions is encouragedStudents are healthy, nourished, rested and fit

Relating All students experience a sense of place Cultural affiliations, beliefs and ideologies are acknowledged and celebratedStudent-teacher relationships are respectful, consistent and mutually supportiveParents/whānau and community actively and meaningfully connect with school staffStudents’ educational experiences transcend disciplinary, generational, cultural, or ideological boundaries and comfort zones

Feeling Students experience and express the full spectrum of emotionsStudents develop an appreciation for the positive aspects of life and for the ways in which others have contributed to their learning and developmentStudents have access to resources, information and support groups that facilitate feeling well.

Thinking Students are satisfied with schoolStudents have opportunities to make informed decisionsCurricula and scheduling allows for collaboration, cross-disciplinary study and time for students to think mindfully, constructively, creatively and contemplatively.Students have opportunities to demonstrate their strengths and competencies in multiple formats

Functioning Time is allocated to effectively engage with the national, school and classroom curricula, to extend learning, and to follow alternative pathways to understandingStudents have opportunities to experience a sense of timelessness in their work Students are not interrupted unnecessarilyNumerous and diverse opportunities are offered for students to participate in activities related to civic engagement, service learning, cultural celebrations

Striving Educational experiences support success in daily and ongoing achievements, while continually setting sights on the next stage in the learning processChallenges are framed as important and inevitable and welcome Higher education or further training are encouraged, and expectedStudents meet school and national benchmarks and progress at least one year’s growth for every year in school

Figures 2 & 3: The New Zealand Curriculum and cross-sector alignment of key competencies 3

Figures 4 & 5Representation of student 8- (Fig. 4) and NZC 6- (Fig. 5) data through the lens of the literature-derived conceptual framework

Figure 6The Student Wellbeing Model9