Children’s well-being in the primary school: A capability approach and community psychology perspective

Abstract

This qualitative research with UK primary school children reveals their own subjective perceptions of well-being. In an educational context, the development of a theoretical framework towards understanding well-being is provided by capturing the voices of children through creative and visual methods. The data enabled nine key themes to emerge which have been applied to the Capability Approach and Community Psychology. The flexible approach also provides a practical means for practitioners to further understand and support children in an educational context.

Exploring the School-Based Support for Youths Who Head Households in Limpopo Province, South Africa

“…Schools that expect learners to pay for extra lessons, are in contravention of the policy, as youths who head households are unable to pay, as indicated by Jakachira (2012). As Kellock (2020) suggests, this has the potential to affect their well-being.…”

Mixed methods Participatory Action Research to inform service design based on the Capabilities Approach, in the North of England

“…The framework's five themes: 'people and relationships', 'places, spaces, and time for me', 'learning and skills', 'freedoms, rights and responsibilities' and 'health and wellbeing' resemble other lists informed by participatory research with young people. For example, 'people and relationships', 'places, spaces, and time for me' and 'learning and skills' correspond with Kellock's (2020), themes of 'people -relationships with friends', 'Place and environment /being physically active / being creative' and 'learning' which were derived from focus groups with primary school children in the UK.…”

The Capability Approach and Child Well-Being: A Systematic Literature Review

“…For example, in addressing well-being in the educational setting, Kellock and Lawthom (2011) conceptualise capabilities in collaboration with elementary school children using visual and photo-voice methodologies to engage and discuss with children and capture alternative creative frameworks of well-being and capabilities. Kellock (2020) has recently developed further this work by creating a dialogue between the CA and community psychology.…”

“…Another possible focus of analysis addresses how the CA helps investigate wellbeing around specific spaces. The most frequently addressed are educational spaces: schools and schooling (Biggeri & Santi, 2012;Hart, 2009;Hart & Brando, 2018;Kellock, 2020;Kellock & Lawthom, 2011;Terzi, 2014). The CA is described as a paradigm that contributes to the design or evaluation of different educational models, considering whether they promote children's agency, participation rights, and human flourishing.…”

“…Other studies address the possibilities of developing an integrated view of well-being using objective and subjective measures collected through surveys (Domínguez-Serrano et al, 2019), mix-method (Babb et al, 2017) or creative methods (Kellock, 2020).…”