In this next piece, James Mattiace, Consultant at BIG Questions Institute, considers the measurement of well-being and the importance of educating the 'whole-child'.
Trends & Themes
- Establishing parameters to define and measure well-being is half the battle.
- What is needed to support student well-being, including the idea of educating the ‘whole-child’.
- The role of the PERMA model, Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment.
Practical Applications
- Teacher-led programs that focus on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making have a positive correlation with outcomes and well-being.
- How to educate the ‘whole-child’.
- The five key aspects of the PERMA model can be measured in a variety of ways and provide a baseline of information to identify students most at risk.
What does the research tell us?
'...we have not identified what we mean by well-being'.
A fascinating 2022 study by Hossain, O’Neill, & Strnadová looked at how we are measuring well-being and concludes that we have no universal understanding or measurement of well-being. They narrowed down 1200 research articles to thirty-three for study and found that different studies measured eight key things (although the mix and match as to which eight was, seemingly, arbitrarily chosen). They identified:
- Positive emotion,
- (lack of) Negative emotion,
- Relationships,
- Engagement,
- Accomplishment,
- Purpose at school,
- Intrapersonal/Internal factors (emotional regulation, depression, agency etc),
- Contextual/External factors (school and home conditions, safety etc).
Their conclusion is that A. we have not identified what we mean by well-being (although positive emotion and joy were nearly universal), B. we have not found an agreed upon method for how we measure well-being, we largely rely on quantitative methods excluding student voice, and predominantly focus on Western cultural contexts. With that in mind, here are some ideas for getting schools and practitioners on the same page.
The first and most important agreement is that we must have standards and be aligned to those standards. The Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning (widely known as CASEL) has the most often recognized and cited set of standards. There are mountains of evidence that suggest teacher-led programs that focus on those five domains (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making) have a positive correlation with the outcomes schools and employers want and lead to success in academics, careers, and personal happiness.
A 2023 report by the Learning Policy Institute begins with an overview of the CASEL standards and a review of 12 meta studies on effect sizes when teacher led SEL strategies are used. It then goes on to weigh the most effective SEL strategies (broad programs over narrow and embedded rather than stand-alone). The report then goes on to kick it up one level to regional government public health policies to support the school-based initiatives and concludes with an impressive list of recommendations for future study.
There is a small focus/mention on looking out for educators' well-being while developing strategies for student mental well-being as well. As the report states “This broad notion of educating the “whole child” generally includes at least the abilities to: (1) develop healthy personal relationships, (2) treat others with respect and dignity,
(3) develop the cognitive capacity to solve problems and think creatively, (4) succeed in postsecondary education and the labor market, and (5) be a contributing citizen in a democracy.” (Greenberg 2023) These are clearly key desirable outcomes and provide a solid foundation for the why.
The how, or the implementation advice comes from CASEL itself. They have created a how-to manual, focusing on the 6 steps to create high quality SEL programs. For each strategy there are multiple links to existing policies and programs which are 100% grab n' go. The six strategies form a continuum and should not be done in isolation from each other, but when looked at holistically they should result in a comprehensive and effective program.
'...schools need to shift the focus from teacher burnout being a personal failing to an institutional one'.
Another strategy that is easy to implement is to give your school a baseline measurement. While the Hossein, O’Neill, and Strnadová study rightly points out that we have not agreed on what or how we measure, there is a lot of support for the PERMA+ measurement. The PERMA model stands for Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. The “+” opens the model to other aspects like Nutrition, Sleep, Optimism etc. However, the five key aspects of the PERMA can be measured in a variety of ways. At my two previous schools I combined a variety of survey tools to produce this simple survey that can be used by counselors or the dean of students to get a baseline and identify students most at risk.
While we are collaborating and developing a common set of what we will measure and how it will be measured for student well-being, it is important to keep in mind the educators in the building or on the virtual Zoom calls. A 2022 article by Dr. Helen Kelly looks at teacher and leadership burnout as a follow-up to her article on student resilience. Her most striking finding is that schools need to shift the focus from teacher burnout being a personal failing to an institutional one, particularly when the two main causes, workload, and community, can be addressed and mitigated by the school. She identifies some opportunities for schools to shift system wide and the impacts of burnt-out/stressed teachers on students, thus creating an imperative to get it done.
References
- Greenberg, M. T. (2023). Evidence for social and emotional learning in schools. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/928.269
- Hossain, S., O’Neill, S. & Strnadová, I. What Constitutes Student Well-Being: A Scoping Review Of Students’ Perspectives. Child Ind Res 16, 447–483 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-022-09990-w
- Kelly, H. (2022, March 11). ‘Teachers are not to blame for their own burnout’ School Management Plus: School & Education News Worldwide. www.schoolmanagementplus.com/heads-governors-school-leadership-governance/teachers-are-not-to-blame-for-their-own-burnout/
- Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Key Features of High-Quality Policies and Guidelines to Support Social and Emotional Learning; Recommendations and Examples for State Policy Leaders (June 2022) https://casel.org/key-features-state-guidelines/
- Mattiace, J (2020) Secondary Engagement Survey https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QLfsHN5BT132iVqCUVsA-FdXi7YFM-o5kRKa7kjEDZc/copy
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