Strategies that address well-being at school include
- promoting physical and mental health
- developing social and emotional competencies
- enhancing the capacity of pupils and educators to make healthy choices
- creating supportive environments that foster positive relationships, collaboration, learning, and personal development
| On this page |
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| What is well-being at school? |
| What are the current challenges? |
| How is the EU tackling these issues? |
What is well-being at school?
Well-being or positive mental health is a dynamic state in which people are able to realise their own potential, cultivate innate capacities, nourish their abilities and cope with the daily stresses of life.
Well-being at school means
- active and meaningful engagement in academic and social activities
- having positive sense of identity, ability to manage thoughts, emotions, self-esteem, self-efficacy and a sense of autonomy
- building and maintaining positive and supportive relationships with teachers and peers
- feeling safe, valued and respected
- feeling a sense of belonging to their classroom and school
What are the current challenges?
Declining skills and mental health
The latest results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), show a worrying decline in basic skills and students’ exposure to bullying has been increasing. Evidence from World Health Organisation reveals that adolescents today experience poorer mental health than previous generations.
Increase in bullying
Research has shown that bullying (including cyberbullying) is a widespread phenomenon with devastating consequences on learners’ health and academic achievement and increased risk of early school leaving.
Teachers at risk
There is also a noticeable decline in teacher well-being [pdf], with an increase in burnout and stress due to new challenges faced without adequate resources, training and support. This can have negative consequences on health, self-efficacy and teaching practices. These factors increase the likelihood of leaving the profession.
How is the EU tackling these issues?
Engaging the whole school
The whole-school approach is one of the more effective ways to support the well-being of children and young people.
Strategies that use the whole-school approach acknowledge the schools, families and communities as interconnected entities of an ecosystem that impacts the learner. This means that decisions and actions can take place at multiple levels of this ecosystem, at the same time.
The whole-school approach also builds stronger cooperation between the school, the local community and a wide range of stakeholders, including:
- municipalities
- health and welfare agencies
- youth organisations
- higher education institutions
By engaging all parts of the school ecosystem, whole-school approaches can tackle to deal with complex issues that schools may not have the relevant expertise for. Often, these issues happen beyond the school grounds and may include:
- socioeconomic challenges
- cultural and racial discrimination
- trauma and adverse childhood experiences
- (cyber-) bullying and other forms of violence