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Conceptualising Wellbeing

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Book cover Wellbeing, Equity and Education

Part of the book series: Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity ((ILEE,volume 1))

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Abstract

The concept of wellbeing has gained of currency over the last decade in policy debates about children and young people. Yet it remains ill-defined. This chapter shows how the term wellbeing, as used in the context of schooling, emerges from a range of professional and academic disciplines each with their own historical roots and their own understanding of the meaning. Whilst this multi-disciplinary buy-in allows wellbeing to be the focus of inter-professional effort and discussion it can also lead to misunderstandings and confusion. Five main discursive themes of wellbeing are identified and discussed:

  • Discourse of physical health promotion, focusing on individualised health related behaviours and skills, often discussed within the context of choice.

  • Psychological discourse of social and emotional literacy, focusing individualised skills associated with understanding and control of emotions and management of self in social situations.

  • Discourse of care, linking education with the field of social care. This theme is associated the provision made for children by professionals. School-based concerns would include ethos, relationships and rights, often based on the concept of the ‘whole child’.

  • Philosophical discourse of flourishing. This theme derives from the Aristotelian notion of eudaimonic happiness. Influenced the Capability Approach (Sen 2009) this is conceptualised by as leading a life one has reason to value, and is arguably the most educational of the discursive themes

  • Emergent discourse of sustainability, linking environmental sustainability with human wellbeing, in the context of social justice. This is a newly emerging discourse in education policy.

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  1. School of Education, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK

    Jennifer Spratt

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Spratt, J. (2017). Conceptualising Wellbeing. In: Wellbeing, Equity and Education. Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50066-9_4

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