Wellbeing Interventions in Education: A Commentary

By Ioannis Katsantonis, PhD candidate, MPhil (Cambridge), B.Ed(Hons)

Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

Why does wellbeing matter?

Although wellbeing means different things to different people, most educationalists have come to understand that students’ wellbeing is declining, both in the UK [1] and globally [2]. In the UK specifically, the Good Childhood Report [1] in 2022 indicated that 11% of the children aged between 10 to 17 had low wellbeing. Evidence coming from cross-national studies, such as the PISA [3]survey, has cemented the need for further action to tackle the declining levels of student wellbeing. Despite that some countries (e.g., England, Ireland) have taken steps to ameliorate this trend through educational policy, it comes as no surprise that the reasons leading to this declining trend and the ways in which to foster wellbeing, are less well-understood.

Yet, the question remains: why does wellbeing matter so much? The answer to this question is fairly simple: wellbeing is very important since early wellbeing is connected to multiple positive outcomes in later life course, such as improved physical and mental health, and social and economic standing [4]. However, researching wellbeing is not only important for later-life outcomes, but also for maintaining and improving a positive quality of school life. Hence, it becomes clear that wellbeing should be, if it is not yet, a matter of educational priority. Nevertheless, according to recent evidence, I argue that wellbeing should become the focus of educational policy, especially in secondary education.

The age of adolescence and wellbeing decrements

Even though adolescence is considered by many as a period of longstanding health- at least in the Western developed world [5], evidence suggests that wellbeing is subject to decline especially during this vulnerable period [4,6]. Despite the multitude of developmental changes occurring in adolescence, a significant transition takes places during this period, namely transition to secondary education [7]. Hence, it is only reasonable to assume that this transition has a part to play in this declining trend. Indeed, studies suggest that attending secondary school is connected to psychological distress [8]. According to the literature, multiple factors, such as peer relationships (e.g., bullying), teacher-student relationships (e.g., lack of trust, respect, care, etc.), social support (e.g., lack of teacher and peer support networks), organizational structure, disciplinary climate (e.g., punitive vs. responsive), amongst others [8,9], may be responsible for students’ psychological distress in secondary education. Thus, it is not only necessary to design and implement educational policies to tackle psychological distress and declining wellbeing in secondary schools, but it is also the responsible thing to do.

Photo retrieved from https://unsplash.com/photos/w1FwDvIreZU

Wellbeing policies in education: What may be missing?

Despite the fact that some countries (e.g., Finland, Australia, UK) have made progress in tackling issues of low student wellbeing through the introduction of wellbeing modules in the national curricula, there is still room for improvement. From a comparative reading of countries’ policy papers and guidelines, it becomes apparent that the national curricula describe multiple approaches (e.g., development of skills, knowledge transmission, raising awareness, audio-visual methods, physical activities, etc.) to teaching and learning about wellbeing (1). Additionally, much flexibility is permitted, and education providers can design and implement their versions of the curriculum. It could be argued that a more unified approach may be needed that will be designed according to contemporary, well-validated, evidence-based recommendations (see below).

Concluding remarks

In conclusion, it is recommended that policy makers consult extensively with experts in the field of wellbeing research and consider the literature on the most effective interventions. Since wellbeing declines are more notable in adolescence [4,6], when students attend secondary education, it would be sensible to recommend the implementation of appropriate evidence-based intervention programmes in secondary school contexts. A few insights from the literature [10,11] regarding the nature of effective wellbeing education are presented below.

Although these insights are neither detailed nor do they do justice to the complexity of wellbeing education, they are meant as food for thought. In short, I conclude that general guidelines subject to multiple interpretations may not suffice if we wish to boost students’ wellbeing.

Footnote

(1) https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-mental-wellbeing (UK); https://www.oph.fi/en/education-and-qualifications/national-core-curriculum-ecec-nutshell (Finland); https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/downloads/learning-areas#accordion-b71b085f07-item-61a8e06872 (Australia)

References

1. The Children’s Society The Good Childhood Report 2022; The Children’s Society, 2022;

2. Marquez, J.; Long, E. A Global Decline in Adolescents’ Subjective Well-Being: A Comparative Study Exploring Patterns of Change in the Life Satisfaction of 15-Year-Old Students in 46 Countries. Child Ind Res 2020, doi:10.1007/s12187-020-09788-8.

3. OECD PISA 2018 Results (Volume III): What School Life Means for Students’ Lives; PISA; OECD, 2019; ISBN 978-92-64-97042-7.

4. Katsantonis, I.; McLellan, R.; Marquez, J. Development of Subjective Well‐being and Its Relationship with Self‐esteem in Early Adolescence. British J of Dev Psycho 2022, bjdp.12436, doi:10.1111/bjdp.12436.

5. Patton, G.C.; Sawyer, S.M.; Santelli, J.S.; Ross, D.A.; Afifi, R.; Allen, N.B.; Arora, M.; Azzopardi, P.; Baldwin, W.; Bonell, C.; et al. Our Future: A Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing. The Lancet 2016, 387, 2423–2478, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00579-1.

6. Marquez, J.; Katsantonis, I.; Sellers, R.; Knies, G. Life Satisfaction and Mental Health from Age 17 to 21 Years in a General Population Sample. Curr Psychol 2022, doi:10.1007/s12144-022-03685-9.

7. Symonds, J.; Galton, M. Moving to the next School at Age 10–14 Years: An International Review of Psychological Development at School Transition. Review of Education 2014, 2, 1–27.

8. Evans, D.; Borriello, G.A.; Field, A.P. A Review of the Academic and Psychological Impact of the Transition to Secondary Education. Front. Psychol. 2018, 9, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01482.

9. Duckett, P.; Sixsmith, J.; Kagan, C. Researching Pupil Well-Being in UK Secondary Schools: Community Psychology and the Politics of Research. Childhood 2008, 15, 89–106, doi:10.1177/0907568207086838.

10. Weare, K.; Nind, M. Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools. In Wellbeing; John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2014; pp. 1–48 ISBN 978-1-118-53941-5.

11. Huppert, F.A. The State of Wellbeing Science: Concepts, Measures, Interventions, and Policies. In Wellbeing; Cooper, C.L., Ed.; John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichest