Children’s wellbeing and their academic achievement: The dangerous discourse of ‘trade-offs’ in education

Abstract

Research conducted in England over the last decade has documented sustained, significant decreases in children’s wellbeing. While recent changes to curriculum policy promoting children’s wellbeing have been introduced, a notable feature of the discourse surrounding the promotion of children’s wellbeing is that wellbeing is regarded as opposed to, or in tension with, children’s academic achievement. Recently, Gabriel Heller-Sahlgren proposed that there is an inevitable ‘trade-off’ between children’s ‘wellbeing’ and their academic achievement. Using PISA 2012 data, Heller-Sahlgren argues that pupil happiness and high achievement do not go hand in hand; implying policymakers have a decision to make about which they uphold as the priority. In this article, I discuss the theoretical assumptions underpinning transnational comparisons of children’s wellbeing and review evidence from psychology and education to ascertain whether a trade-off is empirically supported. I argue that far from being incompatible, children’s wellbeing and achievement are positively associated. However, this relationship is not straightforward and requires careful disentangling of the hedonic and eudaimonic components of wellbeing. I underline four main gaps in current knowledge of the wellbeing-achievement relationship to date: the need for (1) multidimensional conceptualisation and measurement of wellbeing, (2) exploration of mediating mechanisms/constructs explaining the wellbeing-achievement relationship, (3) objective operationalisation of achievement, and (4) investigation of developmental differences. To conclude, I argue that when making policy recommendations researchers should avoid ‘all or nothing’ thinking which lures governments into false dichotomies.

The “Trade-Off” of Student Well-Being and Academic Achievement: A Perspective of Multidimensional Student Well-Being

“…These mixed evidences concerning the relationships between different dimensions of student well-being and academic achievement offer insights in promoting well-being simultaneously and aiming for achievement improvement. However, the reasons behind these mixed evidences in this study need further investigations ( Clarke, 2020 ).…”

“…To sum up, although, with inconsistent results, most studies found a positive “trade-off” existing between well-being and achievement ( Clarke, 2020 ). However, the majority of these studies only measured a single dimension of student well-being and its relationship with academic outcomes within a single subject.…”

“…By pursuing this better future, the OECD Learning Compass 2030 highlights the element of “Well-being 2030” for our young generation. Research investigations have demonstrated that student well-being is vital for their learning process and for gains to happen ( Clarke, 2020 ; Runions et al, 2021 ). However, international studies ( Roome and Soan, 2019 ; Dix et al, 2020 ) have indicated that performativity cultures worldwide are harmful to student well-being.…”

“…In this context, society attributes enormous value to the academic achievement and experiences of students, which happen simultaneously to them reporting lower levels of well-being and mental health ( Boncquet et al, 2020 ). It has been strongly advised by Clarke (2020) to all the educators to assume a more balanced opinion considering both the realities. It is vital that education systems avoid promoting academic achievement goals without recognising that students’ attainment of such goals is empirically connected to their well-being.…”

“…Without sufficient investments in developing capabilities in the present, students may be less likely to enjoy well-being as school-age students and adults as well. Moreover, the existing studies mainly focussed on a single dimension of student well-being, but the need for a nuanced investigation of the multiple dimensions of student well-being has been proposed ( Clarke, 2020 ). Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate six dimensions of well-being (academic, psychological, self, physical, social, and spiritual well-being) and how they were related to academic achievement (e.g., Mathematics, English, and Chinese) at high schools in China using a relatively large sample from four cities in China.…”