Evidence-based tips for fostering student wellbeing in schools

By Po Sally Tsai, PhD in Education (Cambridge University) & Ioannis Katsantonis, PhD student in Psychology of Education (Cambridge University)

Why do we need school-based interventions for students’ wellbeing?

In the last decade, robust longitudinal research has shown that school-aged children’s wellbeing in the UK declines. This already observed declining trend has been amplified by the COVID-19 that brought tremendous changes to young people’s daily lives. Thus, it is our belief that teachers, school leaders, and professionals working with/in the education sector need to be aware of how to foster wellbeing in schools.

The existing evidence on what works in improving students’ wellbeing in schools can be considered too complex. Therefore, we decided to write this blogpost to provide some evidence-based tips by consulting syntheses of the literature on wellbeing interventions.

How we define wellbeing in this blogpost

The wellbeing of children and adolescents has long been a concern in many nations, and problems associated with wellbeing can impact schools’ effectiveness and affect student academic achievement (e.g. Jamal et al., 2013). Interest in wellbeing in the school setting has increased in the past decades; however, there is a lack of agreement as to a definition of wellbeing. Different studies have therefore assessed wellbeing in different ways, embracing a range of variables. In this blogpost, wellbeing consists of a positive state of mind and body, [resulting in the individual] feeling safe and able to cope, with a sense of connection with people, communities and the wider environment (Department for Health, 2009). This definition comprises two aspects of wellbeing – feeling well (hedonic wellbeing) and functioning well (eudaimonic wellbeing).

What do the syntheses of evidence suggest?

Various types of interventions for promoting wellbeing exist such as mindfulness-based, positive psychology, CBT, and social-emotional learning interventions. However, we will be covering some of the characteristics of successful mindfulness-based interventions in schools because the interest in these has seen an explosive growth*. Mindfulness techniques originate from the Buddhist philosophy and meditation practice. For those who are not familiar with the term, being mindful is to be conscious of the moment-to-moment experience.

Evidence-based tips

Take away thoughts

Despite the lack of agreement of the definition of wellbeing, one area of agreement is that wellbeing is holistic, more than the absence of mental illness (Stewart-Brown, 2017). In this blogpost, we focus on how to promote wellbeing because of its positive and holistic focus. Schools and teachers can involve some of the above-mentioned mindfulness-based interventions in the Physical Health and Mental Health curriculum to improve their students’ wellbeing and to prevent student mental illness. Additionally, headteachers, school leadership teams, teachers, and wellbeing practitioners can draw upon these tips to improve their policy making and practice.

Note: A quick literature search revealed that most existing meta-analyses on wellbeing interventions are focused on mindfulness programmes.

References

_{Auger, R. (2010). The school counselor’s mental health sourcebook: Strategies to help students succeed. Thousand Oaks : Corwin.}

_{Carsley, D., Khoury, B., & Heath, N. L. (2018). Effectiveness of Mindfulness Interventions for Mental Health in Schools: A Comprehensive Meta-analysis. Mindfulness, 9(3), 693–707. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0839-2}

_{Department for Health. (2009). New horizons: A shared vision for mental health.}

_{Emerson, L.-M., de Diaz, N. N., Sherwood, A., Waters, A., & Farrell, L. (2020). Mindfulness interventions in schools: Integrity and feasibility of implementation. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 44(1), 62–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025419866906}

^{Felver, J. C., Celis-de Hoyos, C. E., Tezanos, K., & Singh, N. N. (2016). A Systematic Review of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Youth in School Settings. Mindfulness, 7(1), 34–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0389-4}

_{https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/aug/02/wellbeing-in-decline-in-england-as-loneliness-rises-report-shows}

^{Mansfield, K., Jindra, C., Geulayov, G., & Fazel, M. (2021). Self-reported wellbeing and sample characteristics in a survey of 19000 school pupils during the first UK COVID-19 school closures. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/gtbfm}

^{McKeering, P., & Hwang, Y.-S. (2019). A Systematic Review of Mindfulness-Based School Interventions with Early Adolescents. Mindfulness, 10(4), 593–610. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0998-9}

_{Stewart-Brown, S. (2017). Population Level: Wellbeing in the General Population. In M. Slade, L. Oades, & A. Jarden (Eds.), Wellbeing, Recovery and Mental Health (1st ed., pp. 215–230). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316339275.019}

_{The Children’s Society. (2021). The Good Childhood Report 2021. The Children’s Society.}

^{Zenner, C., Herrnleben-Kurz, S., & Walach, H. (2014). Mindfulness-based interventions in schools—A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 5. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00603}