Childrens', parents' and teachers' perceptions of child wellbeing (original) (raw)

Sixsmith, J., Nic Gabhainn, S., Fleming, C. & O’Higgins, S. (2007). Childrens’, parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of child wellbeing. Health Education, 107(6), 511-523.

This paper presents an exploration of parents', teachers' and childrens' perspectives on children's understanding of wellbeing with the aim of illuminating and comparing the conceptualisation of wellbeing from these three perspectives.

Loved or listened to? Parent and practitioner perspectives on young children’s well-being

Early Child Development and Care, 2017

Well-being is a significant concept in research, policy and practice in education, but consensus about what it is is challenging. In addition, the well-being of children under eight is under-researched. Using online surveys, this paper looks at the perspectives of 155 parent/carers and 285 practitioners in England on young children's well-being. In many areas there were high levels of agreement: the importance of fun and laughter, feeling good about oneself, feeling listened to, good family relationships, time and space to play and opportunities to express thoughts and feelings. Parents/carers emphasized 'love' whilst practitioners emphasized listening to children. Practitioners also strongly emphasized the importance of their relationships with children and parents/carers. The paper concludes that, whilst the perspectives of parents/carers and practitioners are valuable, a full understanding of young children's well-being needs to include their voices as well as those of adults. Keywords Well-being, perspectives, parent, practitioner, love, listening five elements of well-being: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment (PERMA). Disabato and colleagues' study (2016) concludes that Hedonia and Eudaimonia are highly correlated on a number of measures, and may be better seen as one well-being construct. The final perspective, educational, is underpinned by a more instrumental, developmental view (Mashford-Scott et al., 2012). These different perspectives emphasize different aspects of well-being, whilst at the same time they are also clearly overlapping to some degree, for example, ideas of Eudaimonia are significant in Psychological Well-Being (PWB). The second potential reason for the lack of agreed definition, the apparent interchangeability of well-being with other terms, is reflected in the range of expressions used in the literature.

Children’s conceptualisation(s) of their well-being

Social Indicators Research, 2007

ABSTRACT. This paper describes the process and some findings of a collaborative project between the New South Wales Commission for Children and Young People and researchers at the Social Justice and Social Change Research Centre, at the University of Western Sydney. The ...

What about Us? – Children's Perspectives on their Wellbeing

Psicología, Conocimiento y Sociedad, 2021

The understanding of childhood changes along with the development and changes of society and the social paradigm. Consequently, the child's understanding and acceptance of the role of participation in personal upbringing and education changes, while respecting the child's right to express and respect his/her opinion. This research is aimed at understanding the children’s perspective, their subjective experience of current and long-term wellbeing. It was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Teacher Education in Zagreb, and implemented in accordance with the Code of Ethics for Research with Children (2003), with the consent of children and their parents. The concept of wellbeing is considered in the dimensions of personal satisfaction, and social and educational achievement. The opinions of 63 children, age 5 to primary school enrollment was surveyed. A qualitative research paradigm was used, which included children’s expressions through drawings and narrative e...

Promoting children’s wellbeing in an educational context

Problemy Wczesnej Edukacji, 2016

The topicality and the context of this research are related to the phenomenon of wellbeing and factors influencing it, regarding early childhood and primary school. The aim is to study, analyse, and identify the key factors of promoting the wellbeing and healthy lifestyle of a child. Children’s wellbeing, therefore, and health and safety are more than just physical wellbeing; it should be seen holistically, as a whole welfare, and it depends not only on the environment where the child is raised, but also involves emotional support from all the people who are connected with this little human being. Thus, the first years for children at school and also for teachers (especially young teachers who have just begun their career) are a special time in their life because during this period the experience of what the child and the teacher is, and how strong and essential their connection will be, is formed. It is very important already at the early stage to understand that each child is diff...

Promoting Children's Wellbeing. Policies, Practices and Current Trends

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015

Mastering emotions and developing relationship skills are considered vital in this century of change. The current study meets the need of active experimentation with new ways of building educational relationships at early ages. The chosen theme is relevant and timely for both theory and educational practice. An innovation of the relationship models that is to place an accent on children's involvement and value in the educational process is required. We appreciate that we cannot value the voice of children in their absence. A re-examination and reconstruction of adult attitudes to create a better world for children becomes the new trend.

The Powerful Combination of Group Interviews and Drawings: How to Give Children a Voice in the Understanding of Well-being

2021

The study of subjective well-being is of great importance as it has been related with health and longevity (Diener and Chan 2011), income, productivity, organizational behavior (e.g., performance, absenteeism), educational outcomes (Gutman and Vorhaus 2012) and individual and social behaviors (e.g., increased sociability, reduced risk-taking; De Neve et al. 2013). Subjective well-being is also an important indicator of positive development throughout the whole life course, including early and middle childhood (Park 2004; Pollard and Lee 2003).

The voice of children on their experience of wellbeing

2000

At the end of the 60s, serious attempts were made to develop major research about people's happiness or satisfaction with life. A significant difference emerged from these studies between an "objective" and a "subjective" well-being (Campbell et al., 1976; Bertolini, 1984; Ben-Arieh and Frones 2007): material conditions may not indicate anything about people's real worries and needs; what is important