Understanding High School Students’ Perceptions of Wellbeing: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

The significance of wellbeing education is being better understood by school leaders, parents, policymakers and the broader population, given the rise of anxiety and depression among young people; however, few wellbeing education initiatives engage students from the outset in their design. The diversity of wellbeing definitions, theories and models can be challenging for school leaders as they seek to engage their students. Rarely are students asked to define wellbeing in their own words before large-scale wellbeing interventions commence. This chapter aims to discover how secondary students define wellbeing in their own words. It draws on the qualitative part of an appreciative mixed-methods study. For this study, a broad multidimensional view of wellbeing will be adopted and defined across five domains: social, physical, cognitive, emotional and spiritual. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory guided the interpretation of qualitative data collected in an open-ended question, specifically asking students how they defined wellbeing. The study sample was 797 students from Years 6–12, aged 12–18, in a non-denominational Canadian independent all-boys school. Analysis of the results highlighted that most students define wellbeing in binary terms, whereas a handful of students were able to describe wellbeing as multidimensional. The study concluded that most respondents argued it would combine physical and emotional domains. The findings suggest that the participants’ responses highlight the possibilities for future wellbeing education programs to expand students’ knowledge and understanding of different theories of wellbeing and how they may relate to their own lives.