What does excelling in wellbeing look like?
That wellbeing is important is uncontested.
What we mean when we say wellbeing is a little slipperier. The figure below from the 2022 AITSL Spotlight on Wellbeing in Australian Schools articulates the increased prevalence of publications focused on wellbeing over time.
Figure 1: Google Ngram viewer for wellbeing
With so much literature in the wellbeing space, it can be difficult to align on a shared definition of wellbeing, which we need to be able to evaluate what excelling looks like.
Most frameworks cover an intrapersonal (within a person) and interpersonal (between people) components and call out social and emotional wellbeing.
Personally, I like the Australian Catholic University (1) definition “Student Wellbeing is defined as a sustainable state of positive mood and attitude, resilience, and satisfaction with self, relationships and experiences at school” because it explicitly states the need for a sustained state.
I also find the NSW School Excellence Framework definition: “In schools that excel, there is a strategic and planned approach to develop whole school wellbeing processes that support the wellbeing of all students so they can connect, succeed, thrive and learn.” particularly useful for assessing the current state of the school and identifying areas for strategic improvement and consolidation.
So, with a definition in tow, what does excelling look like in a school? The below list expresses key characteristics of schools that are excelling.
- Students know they are cared for:
- Students have a safe place to record their emotions
- Self-regulation is explicitly taught
- There is a shared language and process around wellbeing
- Student data is collected with a high frequency (3; times a week)
- Teachers have the right information at the right time:
- Teachers trust student wellbeing data (relevant and reliable)
- Teachers are provided actionable insights in real-time
- Information is manageable and insights are prioritised by need
- Whole school processes are focused on empowering student voice and responding to need:
- Time and space is created to surface key patterns and trends
- Individual student data is considered rather than just averages
- Resourcing and focus is driven by point of need data
- Clear induction processes are in place for new staff
This list is obviously not exhaustive but rather an illustration of the key components of a successful wellbeing program. In essence, excelling in wellbeing focuses less on the unrealistic idea that we should be striving for 100% of students happy 100% of the time and is more grounded in processes over people, and having a system in place that provides early indicators of students in need and ensures teachers are equipped and resourced efficiently to meet those needs in real time.
- Australian Catholic University 2008, Scoping study into approaches to student wellbeing: Report to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, <https://www.dese.gov.au/download/1033/scoping-study-approaches-student-wellbeing-final-report/764/document/pdf>.
[ Rydr Tracy is the Head of Education at Life Skills Group and former Director Strategic Priorities at CESE. He is a specialist in evidence-informed practice in educational innovation, with a career focus on strategic change that improves student outcomes. He draws on a rare blend of successful experience in schools, system leadership roles and industry practice – experience that has given him deep understanding of the complexities of the education sector from the classroom to the boardroom and a demonstrated capacity to generate practical recommendations that are grounded in context and evidence. ]
