Children’s Lived Experiences of Wellbeing at School in England: a Phenomenological Inquiry

Abstract

This phenomenological inquiry investigated children’s wellbeing experiences at school, including their hedonic (feeling good) and eudaimonic (doing good) accounts, a distinction often overlooked. Further, while phenomenological inquiries of children’s mental ill-health exist, wellbeing, a fundamental part of mental health, is neglected. This is at odds with positive psychology which favours strengths-based approaches to studying human development. Phenomenology provides rich detail, facilitating deeper understanding of why and how certain factors affect wellbeing, as described by children themselves. A sample of 15 children (aged 9–11), attending one English primary school broadly representative of the national socio-demographic, engaged in interviews. Children’s experiences of ‘feeling good’ at school were characterised by: an interdependence on peers’ emotional states (described as ‘a domino effect’), a need to feel cared for by, and trust, adults, and desire for autonomy over their time. Children attributed mistrust in adults to adults disregarding seemingly incidental events which felt significant to children. Children experienced ‘doing well’ as equating to academic attainment, conveying a fixation with test scores, using language of ‘correctness’ and efficiency. Shame pervaded when ‘correctness’ was not achieved, with children describing being ridiculed for poor test scores. Recommendations for schools to support children’s hedonia include prioritising wellbeing curricula and emotional literacy, greater staff reflexivity, and prioritisation of pupil voice. To foster children’s eudaimonia, recommendations include the need for teachers to provide formative, personalised feedback for pupils focused on the learning process, and the need for Government to embrace a range of ways pupils can feel successful beyond academic attainment.

Do scores ‘define’ us? Adolescents' experiences of wellbeing as ‘welldoing’ at school in England

“…• What does 'doing well' at school mean to adolescents? Both quantitative and qualitative project phases were pre-registered via the Open Science Framework (Clarke & McLellan, 2022a, 2022b.…”

“…The impact of high‐stakes testing on children's wellbeing is a long‐standing concern in England and internationally (Brown & Dixon, 2019; Cho & Chan, 2020), with pupils as young as nine experiencing academic performance as indicators of self‐worth (Clarke & Platt, 2023; Reay & Wiliam, 1999). It is argued that England's performativity culture (Ball, 2003) utilising judgements and comparison to control and incentivise, undermines children's wellbeing (Navarro et al, 2017; Roome & Soan, 2019), especially eudaimonia.…”

Associations between children's school wellbeing, mindset and academic attainment in standardised tests of achievement

“…Such cultures often undermine children's wellbeing (Ryan & Weinstein, 2009) and whole-child approaches to education. Indeed, research suggests performativity cultures can breed a fixation with academic attainment and competition among children (Clarke & Platt, 2023; Hargreaves et al, 2022). As a result, there is a tension between English schools’ responsibilities to (1) care for children's wellbeing, now part of statutory curricula (Department for Education, 2019b), and (2) ensure pupils achieve increasingly high academic standards (Department for Education, 2022).…”

“…This study was part of a larger mixed multi-method research project investigating children's and adolescents’ wellbeing and academic attainment at schools in England (see Clarke, 2023; Clarke & Hoskin, 2022; Clarke, McLellan & Harold, 2023; Clarke & Platt, 2023, also detailed in Supplementary Materials). The present article documents the quantitative findings from the Primary school (ages 9–11) phase, a cross-sectional study which seeks to extend research on the wellbeing-attainment association in three main ways.…”

Do we listen to what makes children happy? A systematic literature review of voices of children aged 3–7 years in educational research

“…Focusing on schools is relevant considering recent research showing that schools serve as influential environments where children spend much formative time and which influences the development of academic and personal skills (Malik & Shujja, 2013). Additionally, understanding children's happiness and wellbeing is vital to develop policies and practices to promote a holistic development at schoolsnot merely academic (Clarke & Platt, 2023). Considering recent research around subjective wellbeing in young children, it has been shown that recognising success beyond academic achievement fosters eudemonic wellbeing (Losada-Puente et al, 2022).…”