scholarly journals How two English Primary Schools Promote Wellbeing

Pedagogika ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Jones
Keyword(s):  
School Culture ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Head Teachers ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Whole School ◽  
Primary Curriculum ◽  
The One ◽  
The Uk

This article is about how two English primary schools promote the wellbeing of primary-aged children and their teachers. No longer a privileged space for adults, wellbeing is increasingly a concern for children who, today, are subject to considerable stress. We currently inhabit a landscape of worry and pressure, often emanating from messages from news and social media that impact on children’s lives. Schools in the UK have excellent pastoral arrangements and have embraced the challenge of ensuring the wellbeing of their pupils and teachers as a fundamental right. The Personal, Social, Health, and Economic (PSHE) national arrangements for schools in England that I describe give details of the requirements for promoting the physical and mental wellbeing of pupils. Against this policy backdrop, I undertook to observe life in each of two schools and to interview their head teachers and the class teachers of 6-7-year-olds to understand how each school enacted wellbeing measures. The research question was simply “How do these schools understand and enact wellbeing for the children, and their teachers?” The schools were chosen as they were contextually very different but well-known in the community for the excellence of their pastoral and PSHE provision. I matched my data to the core theme of ‘Health and Wellbeing’ in the PSHE programme of study. The findings show how wellbeing is both readily identifiable as a “subject” in the primary curriculum and also embedded into the school culture and across the curriculum. The findings also emphasise the importance of the teacher as the one with daily contact and in prime position to observe and come to know and understand each child. The teachers emphasised the need to help children to build resilience and confidence to enable them to take advantage of opportunities and cope constructively with challenges in their exercise of life choices. I conclude that it is the whole school culture of wellbeing that foregrounds the conditions in which children can learn and develop their wellbeing in school and in the wider community. Keywords: wellbeing, mental health, primary curriculum, pupil voice, school culture

scholarly journals Evaluating Mental Health and Wellbeing of Postgraduate Researchers: Prevalence and Contributing Factors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Milicev ◽  
Stephany Biello ◽  
Maria Gardani
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The Uk

AbstractIntroduction: Recent research has revealed high rates of mental health issues in postgraduate researchers (PGRs). Mental ill-health is a barrier to life satisfaction and academic success. More knowledge is necessary to understand the extent and origins of mental health problems of PGRs in the UK. Aims: To assess the prevalence of anxiety, depression, sleep problems, subjective mental wellbeing, and suicide behaviours of PGRs in the UK, as well as to explore the factors that underpin these outcomes.Methods: An online survey (N=479) was used to measure the mental health outcomes, and assess the influence of demographic, trait and academic variables, and social support. Results: In this sample the prevalence of mental ill-health was high, while wellbeing was lower than in the general population. Female, non-binary and non-heterosexual PGRs had poorer mental health than their male and/or heterosexual counterparts. Researchers in the field of Arts had higher levels of wellbeing, while those in the 5th year of study or above were at a higher risk of suicidal behaviours. Resilience, adaptive perfectionism, social support and positive evaluations of progress and preparation, departmental climate, and supervisory relationship were associated with positive outcomes, while maladaptive perfectionism and workaholism were linked to the negative ones. Resilience and workaholism were the only variables that played a role in all mental health outcomes.Conclusions: The current paper contributes new knowledge about the PGR wellbeing, the prevalence of mental health symptoms, and some of the factors that shape them. Our findings imply that institutional efforts to improve PGR mental health and wellbeing should include a variety of strategies to promote equality, diversity, resilience, integration and work-life balance of PGRs.

scholarly journals Dangerous Education: The Occupational Hazards of Teaching Transgender

Sociology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellis Morgan ◽  
Yvette Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Occupational Hazards ◽  
Specific Nature ◽  
Head Teachers ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Education Initiative ◽  
Controversial Nature ◽  
Public Criticism

This article sets out the ways in which primary schools have come to bear significant risks in making decisions over whether, how and when to reflect transgender issues. We examine press reporting that arose in relation to a recent incident in the UK in which a primary school in East Sussex was widely criticised for instigating a ‘transgender education’ initiative. We argue that despite tacit indications that UK Government supports ‘transgender education’ as a learning area for children as young as five years old, there is an ongoing risk to primary schools who implement such initiatives. The nature of this risk is located within the usage of equalities terminology in governmental discussions and official guidance that effectively acts to gloss over the enduringly controversial nature of transgender issues. The vague and non-specific nature of equalities terminology allows for both heteronormative and transgressive interpretation, thereby locating the risk of public criticism with primary schools, and head teachers in particular.

scholarly journals Hip Hop as an Agent for Health and Wellbeing in Schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Hew Dale Crooke ◽  
Rachael Comte ◽  
Cristina Moreno Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Hip Hop ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Pedagogical Tools ◽  
Hip Hop Culture ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Whole School ◽  
Extracurricular Programs ◽  
Published Research

Hip Hop culture has shown an increasing presence in mainstream schooling over the last 15 years. This presence has taken many forms, including extracurricular programs, pedagogical tools, and whole-school approaches to student learning and development. Yet, discourse explicitly exploring the use of Hip Hop to facilitate wellbeing outcomes in schools remains limited. To explore the state of current research at this particular intersection, this paper presents a narrative synthesis of 22 research articles reporting on the use of Hip Hop interventions for wellbeing in school settings. Results indicated a growing rate of published research articles in this area, focusing health promotion for underprivileged students of colour in urban US settings, and the need for more methodologically sound research which critically engages with socio-political contexts. Nevertheless, important benefits were reported across studies, demonstrating the value of Hip Hop in promoting across the physical, social and mental wellbeing.

When is the Integration of Students with Special Educational Needs Successful? - A Good Practice Example - School N.O. Brasov, Romania

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-98
Author(s):  
Mihaela Voinea ◽  
Ioana Roxana Topala ◽  
Alina Oana Bota
Keyword(s):  
School Culture ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Educational Needs ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Teachers Perceptions

Abstract The issue of integrating children with special educational needs in mainstream school is still debatable.However, there are situations where the integration of children with special educational needs is successful and all those involved are satisfied. What are the factors that contribute to achieving true integration? Is it about a certain school environment or some teachers? Is it about parent involvement or school leadership? To answer the research question of this study, we have raised the hypothesis that school culture (values, teachers’ perceptions on integration, leadership) determines the success of integration.The goal of this study is to analyse the educational actors’ perceptions (students, teachers, managers and parents) and the school culture which promotes human diversity.The study in question was embedded in a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm, which employed both quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection.A questionnaire regarding students’ and teachers' perceptions on integration and focus-groups were used. A case study of a primary school (School N.O. from Brasov) was conducted.A number of 100 participants were included in the study, teachers, parents and students from primary schools of Brasov.One of the main conclusions of the research is that the integration of children with special educational needs depends on several factors: from the school culture that promotes social values such as tolerance, respect for difference, etc. to teachers directly involved in integration activities and parents who accept and understand the benefits of integration for all children.

scholarly journals Organisational Strategies for Implementing Education for Sustainable Development in the UK Primary Schools: A Service Innovation Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9549
Author(s):  
Ksenija Kuzmina ◽  
Rhoda Trimingham ◽  
Tracy Bhamra
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Service Innovation ◽  
Student Experience ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Service Concept ◽  
Whole School ◽  
Core Service ◽  
The Uk

Education for sustainable development (ESD) in schools requires a whole-school approach to ensure that all stakeholders, including students, value sustainability and express this value in an active engagement in the ongoing development process. Such inclusivity however is rarely achieved, with benefits of ESD in schools usually recognised only by a select few. School strategies that continue to dominate research focus on management of the finite resources or give emphasis to a particular pedagogical agenda, whereas approaches that emphasise whole-school ESD engagement are scarce. This paper aims to address this gap. To do so, we propose to frame schools as service organisations and use service logic approach and service innovation theory to review how five primary schools in England define and implement ESD. The findings from our comparative case study discuss three strategies that schools as service organisations need to consider: defining sustainable student experience as a core service concept, developing an organisational culture of sustainability-driven innovation, and engaging in a value co-creation process with external stakeholders in order to facilitate the concept. Our results suggest that by placing “sustainable student experience” as the core service concept, schools can align their external and internal organisational activities to enable sustainable education for all stakeholders.

scholarly journals School Leaders' Perspectives on Successful Leadership: A Mixed Methods Case Study of a Private School Network in Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehwish Raza ◽  
Nadia Gilani ◽  
Syed Abdul Waheed
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
School Culture ◽  
Private School ◽  
School System ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Head Teachers ◽  
Successful School

Private school culture dominates the public-school culture in Pakistan. With no central regulating organization, private schools in the country autonomously construct their educational philosophy that underpins curriculum choice, pedagogic approaches, and school operations. In this perspective, there is an increasing inquisitiveness in the understanding of what determines a private school as a “successful” school. The researchers intend to understand the determinants of a successful private school and aim to explore the leadership behaviors of head teachers of such schools in Pakistan. The Beaconhouse School System (BSS), the largest private school system in Pakistan, took part in this case study. A sample of a total of 128 participants, comprising of teachers (n = 120), School Group Heads (SGH) (n = 4) and school head teachers (n = 4) of four most successful primary schools of BSS, was drawn to participate in this case study employing a mixed-methods design. Two survey instruments, Determinants of School Success (DSS) and Leadership Practice Index (LPI) were developed on a five-point Likert Scale and applied to identify four most successful primary schools of BSS. It was found that head teachers had established a whole-school approach towards students high achievement, promoted a culture of trust, commitment, shared vision, practiced distributed leadership and involved all stakeholders in creating a shared sense of direction for the school. Recommendations have been generated for improving the performance of school leaders.

scholarly journals Deaf Learners’ Experiences in Malaysian Schools: Access, Equality and Communication

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khairul Farhah Khairuddin ◽  
Susie Miles ◽  
Wendy McCracken
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Head Teachers ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
School Communication ◽  
Deaf Adults ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

The Government of Malaysia has embraced international policy guidelines relating to disability equality, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Its aim is to ensure that 75% of children with disabilities are included in mainstream classrooms by 2025 as part of a wider agenda to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities. Including deaf children on an equal basis in the linguistically diverse, exam-oriented Malaysian school system is an ambitious and complex task given the difficulties they face in developing effective language and communication skills. The data presented here are taken from a larger study which explored teachers’, head teachers’, parents’, and children’s experiences of inclusion through in-depth interviews in three Malaysian schools. The study design was informed by a framework developed in the UK to guide best practice of educating deaf children in mainstream schools and focused specifically on the learning environment. This article presents contrasting educational experiences of two deaf adults, and then considers the experiences of four deaf children in their government-funded primary schools. A series of inter-related dimensions of inclusion were identified—these include curricular, organisational, social, acoustic and linguistic dimensions, which impact upon children’s ability to communicate and learn on an equal basis. Poor maintenance of assistive technology, insufficient teacher training and awareness, inflexibility of the education system, and limited home-school communication are some of the factors constraining efforts to promote equal participation in learning. There are promising signs, however, of teacher collaboration and the creation of more equitable and child-centred educational opportunities for deaf children.

Researching (with) Major Food Retailers

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 33-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Evans
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Major Food ◽  
Food Retailers ◽  
Food Retailer ◽  
The One ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Opening Up

This paper considers the relationship between social science and the food industry, and it suggests that collaboration can be intellectually productive and morally rewarding. It explores the middle ground that exists between paid consultancy models of collaboration on the one hand and a principled stance of nonengagement on the other. Drawing on recent experiences of researching with a major food retailer in the UK, I discuss the ways in which collaborating with retailers can open up opportunities for accessing data that might not otherwise be available to social scientists. Additionally, I put forward the argument that researchers with an interest in the sustainability—ecological or otherwise—of food systems, especially those of a critical persuasion, ought to be empirically engaging with food businesses. I suggest that this is important in terms of generating better understandings of the objectionable arrangements that they seek to critique, and in terms of opening up conduits through which to affect positive changes. Cutting across these points is the claim that while resistance to commercial engagement might be misguided, it is nevertheless important to acknowledge the power-geometries of collaboration and to find ways of leveling and/or leveraging them. To conclude, I suggest that universities have an important institutional role to play in defining the terms of engagement as well as maintaining the boundaries between scholarship and consultancy—a line that can otherwise become quite fuzzy when the worlds of commerce and academic research collide.

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