The Exercise Class Experience: An Opportunity to Promote Student Wellbeing During the HSC

Research reveals that approximately 40% of Year 12 HSC students and 25% of Year 11 HSC students experience symptoms of depression, anxiety and or stress exceeding the normal or expected values. Numerous studies show that female students report higher levels of psychological distress than their male counterparts. Female secondary school students also report poor lifestyle behaviours such as low levels of physical activity participation. This is despite research demonstrating physical activity interventions as an effective means of promoting wellbeing. However, it has not been well documented whether physical activity interventions are considered beneficial by HSC students at this stressful time of their lives. Therefore, the current study explores the experiences among a group of female HSC students (n=6) (mean age = 17 years) regarding their involvement in a once per week, 8 week exercise class program. Each participant reported at least one perceived benefit relating to their involvement in the 8-week exercise class program. A perceived increased level of access to physical activity was identified by the participant group. After taking part in the program, reductions in individual subjective stress, increased social interaction, improved self esteem and improved mood states were all identified by the participants as perceived benefits of exercise class participation. It is recommended that secondary schools in Australia focus on providing supportive environments for health by offering HSC students the chance to take part in conveniently located, free of charge exercise classes.

Understandings and experiences of wellbeing in a New Zealand senior secondary context

This article draws upon data generated through interviews with and classroom observations of Year 13 students and their teachers in New Zealand to propose that wellbeing is viewed as a multi-dimensional, complex phenomenon involving seven interrelated domains: Having, Being, Relating, Thinking, Feeling, Functioning, and Striving. Student and teacher commentary indicated that educational experiences reflect an emphasis on developing wellbeing-enhancing Assets including Having resources and support, Being an independent individual, and Relating well with teachers. In addition, Functioning efficiently in assessment-related activities and Striving towards acquisition of credits were considered important aspects of engaging in Actions that will lead to wellbeing in the future. In contrast, cognitive and affective Appraisals, such as Thinking creatively, critically, or meta-cognitively, or Feeling and expressing a wide range of emotions, were considered peripheral to their current educational experiences. Overall, data suggests that while understood in terms that reflected a view of wellbeing as a complex, learning system, wellbeing was experienced in the school context more simplistically. Implications for the development of wellbeing-enhancing educational experiences are discussed.

Student wellbeing for those with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities: Same, same but different?

The nature of student wellbeing, although now subject to some consensus, continues to engender debate. To improve student wellbeing, widely regarded to be an overarching non-academic outcome of schooling, it is generally argued that it must be consensually conceptualised in order to be operationally defined and made measurable. The new Australian Curriculum puts forward common educational curriculum and outcomes for all students – including those outcomes implicitly and explicitly related to student wellbeing, but for students with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities this is, argues the author, philosophically and practically problematic. The author puts forward a research-based conceptualisation of subjective wellbeing for these students and recommends this as a basis for guiding a continuing research agenda to improve their wellbeing.

The Effect of You Can Do It! Education in Six Schools on Student Perceptions of Well-Being, Teaching-Learning and Relationships

This research investigated the impact of a social and emotional learning program, You Can Do It! Education (YCDI), on different aspects of student social and emotional wellbeing. YCDI was implemented on a whole-school basis in six primary schools with six matched schools serving as controls. At the end of the school year, students in grade 5 in both types of schools completed the Attitudes to School Survey (Victorian Department of Education) and, again, at the end of the following school year when they were in grade 6. Results indicated significant improvements over time on different aspects of student well-being in the YCDI schools and not in the non-YCDI schools. The positive impact of a train-the-trainer model used in this study in a variety of schools under naturally occurring conditions holds promise for low-cost, preventive mental health programs.

What can we learn about wellbeing in school?

In recent years, the term wellbeing has become more common as an explicit educational aim. Despite its frequent use, it is often broadly applied, and rarely explicitly defined. Typically, wellbeing is described in education policy in ways that align conceptual pairings common in political discourse, including wealth, health, and happiness. Given the attention wellbeing is receiving by politicians around the world, this is an important time to consider if common uses of the term are relevant to and resonate with those in the school context, particularly amongst those on the cusp of entry into their adult lives. Here, I present data collected over a three day teaching and learning event in which students were invited to share their understandings of wellbeing as they worked to accomplish tasks related to their school examinations. Soutter, Gilmore, & O’Steen’s (2010) framework for wellbeing served as the conceptual lens through which data were analysed. The central finding to emerge was that wellbeing is conceptualised by students as a multi-dimensional, complex construct that holds both instrumental and intrinsic value for them as individuals, but that educational experiences did not play a prominent role in their visual or verbal communication about wellbeing. Through the discussion, this paper attempts to “create space” to consider wellbeing’s role in the senior secondary context.

Developing Reflective Function:The Advocacy Model as a way of developing a sense of meaning in young people

The psychological development of children and adolescents, however broadly or narrowly conceived, is central to the purpose and function of schools. However, insufficient attention may be paid to a key aspect of psychological development in adolescence ― the reflective function. This paper outlines the rationale for a specific systemic intervention in the schooling experience of adolescents. In a number of schools in Victoria the provision of one-to-one relationships between teacher-advocates and students is coupled with the use of a bank of electronic tools (the Student Achievement Inventory) designed to support the development of refective function and with it the capacity to construct a meaningful experience of learning within the school context. The Advocacy Model is discussed within the framework of developmental psychology and attachment theory.

Playwork: A Profession Challenging Societal Factors Devaluing Children’s Play

Over the duration of my teaching career I have witnessed the intensification of attitudes devaluing play, and now in my role as a university professor I have visited many school sites that offer little time for child-initiated play. These personal experiences painted a bleak picture for the inclusion of play in the daily lives of children. So while attending The Association for the Study of Play’s conference in 2006, I sought out sessions that focused on issues of play advocacy. As it turned out, a session offered by Fraser Brown titled Children Without Play was just what the doctor ordered. At that presentation I was introduced to the field of Playwork and became intrigued by a profession whose underlying principles were well suited to address the societal factors devaluing children’s play in America.

Editorial: Sport, health and physical education special edition

This special edition of the Journal of Student Wellbeing emerges out of the Sport, Health and Physical Education (SHAPE) conference held at Flinders University in 2010. The conference was organised and run by the SHAPE research group, which is located within the School of Education at Flinders University. It was designed to bring together national and international academics to share their research and knowledge around children’s health and wellbeing within the context of sport, health and physical education settings. Approximately 150 delegates attended. The conference themes were divided into four key areas: (i) physical activity research, (ii) physical activity programs in schools, (iii) nutrition education and (iv) physical education. The papers within this special edition are indicative of the presentations conducted by a number of the presenters at the conference.

The role of health literacy in parents’ decision making in children’s sporting participation

The contemporary concept of health literacy has received heightened attention within the academic community over the last decade. Health literacy, which is related to the acquisition, understanding and application of health-related information (Jordan, Buchbinder and Osborne 2010), has been acknowledged as a key public health goal within Australia. Health literacy is particularly important where parents and children are concerned, as parents play a key role in recommending or discouraging activities that may impact on children’s physical health, such as sport. A health literacy approach may reshape parental motivations towards the holistic outcomes of sporting engagement, thereby promoting a healthier approach to sport participation. This is fundamental, given the current orientation towards a competitive sports model of participation within Australia, even for those participating at an amateur level. At present, improving social awareness of the physical health benefits of junior sport participation is a major challenge for communities, as parents are motivated by a combination of factors. Sport sociology literature suggests that social health is the primary beneficiary and motivator of junior sport participation, which encompasses the formation and development of friendships and communication skills. For parents, another key motivational factor for junior sport participation is the importance placed on winning. However, the fundamental benefits of junior sport involvement extend beyond the competitively oriented goals that are often enforced by parents. Consequently, there is a concern that parents who lack a holistic understanding of the physiological, biomechanical and social benefits of junior sport may impact on sport discontinuation. This paper will provide discussion around the importance of taking a health literacy approach towards junior sporting participation rather than the competitive model that currently dominates sport in Australian culture. It will highlight the health and broader social benefits of taking such an approach.

Studies of obesity, body image and related health issues among Australian adolescents: how can programs in schools interact with and complement each other?

This article details recent studies of body weight, obesity, body image and related health issues among Australian adolescents and the ways in which subsequent nutrition and physical activity programs in schools can interact with and complement each other, rather than contradicting or competing with each other. I briefly identify and discuss the commonalities between health promotion, obesity prevention, body image improvement, eating disorder prevention and promotion of physical activity. In this article I present for the first time the findings of a 2009 research study examining the recent barriers to participation in sport, physical education and physical activity from a study of 1000 Australian children and adolescents. These findings illustrate the complex interrelationships between various adolescent health issues and their prevention. Finally, I believe that preventing the co-existing problems of obesity, low physical activity, disordered eating and body image concerns among adolescents is very challenging and requires a thoughtful, careful community involvement strategy. I suggest that it would be a mistake to target any sort of weight loss or weight control message towards adolescent girls, many of whom clearly already have a fear of fatness, an apparent body image problem and low self-esteem. Similarly, I recommend that it would be culturally inappropriate to approach obesity prevention among ethnic groups of overweight or obese adolescents and their families without serious consideration of the potentially harmful, undesirable or culturally inappropriate outcomes. Several facets of prevention need attention when focusing on school based health promotion, nutrition education and body image improvement using a whole-school approach, including school curricula, school ethos, school policies and school–community links.