WHY focus on well-being?
Why should we focus on wellbeing?
This page provides you with seven exhibits to explore. You could use them in a workshop with staff - each exhibit being explored by a group who then presents their findings back to the whole group - using the Jigsaw a document or book protocol.
“One of the important domains of scientific research into human learning is that of the interplay between cognitive development, achievement motivation, growth mindset and well-being. Well-being is now seen as shaping the social and emotional conditions for learning to be effective and sustainable. When the social and psychological climate is not optimal, learning will suffer.” (Andreas Schleicher, OECD)
"The deep purpose of education: well-being and learning. Well-being (is a) critical pre-condition for learning. Learners will not learn when they are uncomfortable or contribute when they are self-conscious. As we know, 'Emotion is the gatekeeper of motivation, cognition and attention.' Therefore, establishing an environment that focuses on well-being and belonging for all is job one for teachers. In short, well-being and quality learning are intimately related. " (Michael Fullan & Joanne Quinn, Education Reimagined, Microsoft Education)
“To enhance happiness and well-being, school systems need to value learners’ unique strengths and talents, recognizing that there are ‘multiple intelligences’ and that each of these has equal importance (Gardner, 1993). Indeed, as stipulated in Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, education should ensure ‘the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential’ (United Nations General Assembly, 1949).”UNESCO: Happy Schools: a framework for learner wellbeing in the Asia Pacific (2016:2)
“When we feel good, we function well.” (Prof. Lea Waters)
“The detrimental effects of high-stakes testing on children and youths’ well-being are well-documented. This is because when test scores and grades become the primary objectives of education, learners do not learn to learn, but merely study to pass tests. When tests are high-stakes, the grades serve to determine a young person’s value to society, thereby relegating the value of education to the measurement of test-performance, rather than appreciating the value of education as learning and well-being. As such, quality of learning suffers; teacher-centric, instruction-based, vertical styles of pedagogy dominate; and issues of mental ill-health, disaffection and disengagement are exacerbated. Indeed, globally, there has been an epidemic of mental ill-health and related disengagement and feelings of disempowerment among children and young people, especially those who are most vulnerable. For example, in the latest global OECD study, a quarter of all students were considered to have poor levels of school engagement.” (Developing Well-Being Focused Education Ecosystems: Towards One Earth, One Family, One Future IF20 Education Policy Brief p.6)
“We showed that if you want to predict whether a person is going to have a happy adult life, whether they're happy as a child is a better predictor than how well they do in their exams. Schools are meant to be preparing people for satisfying lives so if they can, they should be trying to influence the happiness of the children as well as their academic attainment. And then we have this extraordinary finding that they influence the happiness of children as much as they influence their attainment. So that suggests that this should become a much more explicit goal of schools.” (Professor Lord Richard Layard)
In recent years positive psychology and happiness research have entered political policy discourse as an important goal to be pursued. The concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) was first proposed in the 1970s by the Bhutanese king, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck. It includes an index that measures the collective happiness and well-being of the population. The king said that "Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product." In 2011 the UN General Assembly passed the resolution: "Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development" urging other countries to follow the example of Bhutan. The United Nations now produce the World Happiness Report which is a survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. Other examples include: UNESCOs report Learning: the treasure within which identifies four pillars of learning (to know | do | live together | be); references to well-being throughout the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the Better Life Survey which is an index that allows you to compare well-being across countries, based on 11 topics the OECD has identified as essential, in the areas of material living conditions and quality of life; and PISA which measured the link between well-being and learning outcomes (2018).
This recent UNESCO report looks at children from the world’s richest countries offers a mixed picture of their health, skills and happiness. For far too many, issues such as poverty, exclusion and pollution threaten their mental well-being, physical health and opportunities to develop skills.
Worlds of Influence: Understanding what shapes child well-being in rich countries, UNESCO, 2020
Key findings: What makes a good childhood?
- Good mental well-being: Positive feelings and good mental health are crucial for a quality childhood. However, a significant number of children in affluent countries struggle with mental well-being.
- Good physical health: Health issues such as obesity highlight concerns about children's physical well-being.
- Skills for life: Many children lack basic academic and social skills by age 15. Children often feel they lack opportunities to participate in decisions at home and school. Bullying remains a serious issue among peers.
- Gaps in family policy: Work expectations can lead to long hours and stress, reducing parental time and energy for children. Many European employees find it difficult to balance work and family responsibilities.
- Gaps in services: High-quality childcare is crucial for a stimulating environment and reducing socioeconomic disadvantages. However, one in seven parents across 29 European countries has unmet childcare needs.
In her blog, What Ed Said, Edna Sackson presents this open letter to parents. It goes to the heart of the well-being agenda.
Dear Parents
We know how much you love your children. Many of us are parents too and if we aren't, you can rest assured that we wouldn't be educators unless we cared deeply about children, so we know that many of the following things are important to you. Take a moment to consider which of these you most wish for...
- My child succeeds without struggle
- My child is above average at school
- My child is admired by others
- My child is well behaved and works hard to get good grades
- My child excels in sporting competitions
- My child produces impressive work at school
- My child is extended by her teachers
- My child’s class gets homework to help them do better at school
- My child is popular with his peers
- My child is always happy at school
Our teachers have been reading Contextual Wellbeing, by Helen Street, which is based on extensive research, and it turns out that the pressure induced by the items on this list, despite being instinctive desires of many parents, can actually undermine children's wellbeing.
Now consider the list below...
- My child is valued as an individual
- My child feels a sense of belonging
- My child’s strengths matter more than his weaknesses
- My child is intrinsically motivated
- My child forms meaningful relationships
- My child experiences personal growth
- My child contributes to the community
- My child loves learning
- My child has ownership of her decisions and accepts the consequences
- My child is allowed to fail and learn from his mistakes
We asked parents who attended our informal session last week to sort all these aspirations into two groups. Once they got going, it quickly became clear which would put pressure on their children and which would support them in becoming well adjusted, valued and valuable members of society, content within themselves. We ask you to think about it too...
'Wellbeing is a state of health, happiness and positive engagement that arises from membership of an equitable, inclusive and cohesive environment’ (Helen Street 2016 )
Exhibit #4: Mental health is in crisis
According to a 2018 survey, many high school students don’t believe their schools have done enough to help them deal with stress (51 percent), understand their emotions (49 percent), and solve disagreements (46 percent), and fewer than half of graduates surveyed feel prepared for life after high school. (Respected, CASEL, 2018)
Mental illness is the greatest cause of disability for young people worldwide. (The World Health Organization, 2017)
Reflect: read the following text that describes some of the pressures on young people and provides a context for teaching wellbeing.
"Internal factors such as poor learning environments, educators’ insensitivity, obsolete curricula and an overemphasis on academic content impact negatively on learner well-being and can make schools unhappy places. In addition, learners and educators both face increased pressure due to high emphasis on grades and exams as well as implicit pressure to outperform their counterparts in neighbouring countries in international and regional assessments, which many countries use to benchmark educational performance against others. This pressure reflects the current emphasis on strictly academic outcomes. Increasing pressure to perform academically has resulted in alarming trends: growing mistrust among students, competition, bullying and school violence, as well as growing fears among learners of expressing their personalities and of making mistakes. These symptoms of ‘unhappiness’ reflect the need for education systems to reposition the school as being more than a means of providing educational instruction, but rather being an environment that allows for social and emotional growth and development.
Today, there is increasing recognition of the need for learning assessments to look beyond strictly academic outcomes and place importance on measuring the social and emotional domains of learning that are conducive to enhancing learner well-being. As argued by Layard and Hagell (2015, p. 118), ‘If you treasure it, measure it. If schools do not measure the well-being of their children but do measure their intellectual development, the latter will always take precedence’. Indeed, education systems, including schools, must move away from the focus on standardized teaching and testing and instead define and measure quality beyond the primary academic subject areas, so as to value and nurture a diversity of unique talents, skills and competencies in learners (Zhao, 2015)."UNESCO: Happy Schools: a framework for learner wellbeing in the Asia Pacific (2016:3)
Access the link: What are we doing to our children? and collect evidence from the film.
Watch the video by Simon Sinek
In this video Simon Sinek argues for the importance of social and emotional learning. “I do not buy into the whole thing that AI and robotics is going to replace everything. We like human interaction. The education system can play a much bigger role in preparing us to be human. We measure a students’ performance – how well they perform in a test – but we have no metrics in some for the whole person. We ignore their ability to lead, we ignore their ability to communicate. When we teach kids how to come together, how to organise, how to have opinions that is what our future will hold. They will do the things we teach them.”
Read the article Positive education: learning and teaching for well-being and academic mastery, In it the authors Matthew White and Margaret L. Kern provide the following six reasons for focusing on wellbeing.
Philosophical: wellbeing and virtue ethics (the development of character) are at the heart of what it means to nurture people who are positive contributing members to society.- Psychological: high rates of mental illness young people has raised awareness that we need to better understand and support students' mental health. Mental illness is the greatest cause of disability in young people worldwide (World Health Organization, 2017)
- Social: we all have a deep-seated need to relate well with others and feel a sense of belonging. Peers and friendships are pivotal to how the individual thinks and feels about him|herself. Social and emotional skills of how to handle emotions, develop positive relationships, and make responsible decisions have an impact on academic performance.
- Cognitive: One of the biggest challenges schools face is how to engage students in their learning. We need to teach students how to be mindful, pay attention and show resilience.
- Economic: The cost on national economies each year for mental illnesses is substantial. If we can prevent young people from mental illness and save lives it means substantial economic benefits in the future.
- Cultural: School culture needs to be nurtured to empower students to develop a positive lens for experiencing the world.
The class of 2030 and life-ready learning: The technology imperative, Microsoft & McKinsey & Company, 2019, address the question: ‘how we can all help prepare the class of 2030 to thrive in work and in life?’
Key points:
- Importance of SEL: Social-emotional skills are already in high demand, but short supply in the workplace. “Social-emotional skills provide students with the perspective and flexibility necessary to function at a high level even when faced with uncertainty, change, pressure, stress, and other work and life challenges. This is critical, because change and uncertainty are going to be increasingly pervasive for the class of 2030.”
- Have an integrated whole-school approach: Teachers recognise that it is critical to integrate social-emotional skills into the learning programme, but many say they do not have time and support to do this.
- Utilize technology: Technology can be utilized to help teachers reallocate time so they can focus more on student-centric activities and work more as a coach with children. Three emerging technologies were highlighted: (a) collaboration platforms; (b) AI (artificial intelligence) which provides new ways to understand how students are progressing and allows for highly customized, timely, and targeted curation of content; and (c) mixed reality to create immersive learning experiences for students that foster increased cognitive and social-emotional growth.
OECD, 
Rethinking Learning: A Review of Social and Emotional Learning for Education Systems, published by the UNESCO MGIEP reviews the latest research on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), its impact on student health and school climate and its transformative role in building happier classrooms. This publication reviews the latest research on SEL and presents scientific evidence for why SEL is key to education, and by that corollary, to achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 4, Target 7 that focuses on building peaceful and sustainable societies through education. The full report can be downloaded from HERE. A summary for decision makers can be found HERE.
The IB have produced a succinct overview of the importance of well-being, specifically focused on the pandemic. The document is called: Why wellbeing matters during a time of crisis: Wellbeing considerations for a successful post-Covid-19 educational transition and can be accessed either through the programme resource centre or HERE. Excellent summaries of:
- The challenges, opportunities, and wellbeing insights during transition (dealing with fear, anxiety, and stress | ‘Lost learning’ | Dealing with uncertainty
- Moving towards an integrated wellbeing approach (Learn from the crisis | Become comfortable with uncertainty | Invest time in wellbeing routines | Redesign a wellbeing pedagogy | Dare to experiment, share and innovate.
Nord Anglia Education have published an insight guide focused on happiness and wellbeing. It contains some excellent articles that could be used in professional development sessions. In Pursuit of Happiness: Why it's important that school days are the happiest of our lives.