Spotlight finalising

Wellbeing in Schools

How are schools implementing effective wellbeing innovations? Through this Spotlight on Wellbeing, HundrED will identify impactful and scalable innovations in the area of student wellbeing in schools.

This initiative is undertaken in partnership with the International Baccalaureate (IB), Oxford University, Research Schools International, Harvard University, and the Jacobs Foundation.

The submission period closed May 8, 2024.

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The challenge

Research has shown that wellbeing is declining for young people globally, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the need to focus on improving student wellbeing in schools. Although wellbeing initiatives are commonplace in schools, not all of these initiatives are grounded in scientific evidence.

The solution

Schools need to be provided with resources and research to support the advancement of students' wellbeing. By conducting a Spotlight to identify 10-15 impactful and scalable educational innovations that promote wellbeing in schools, HundrED is participating in an extensive initiative launched by the IB in collaboration with its funder and partners.

What is wellbeing?

Wellbeing is defined as students’ subjective experience of being satisfied with their school lives, having positive experiences at school, having positive feelings about school, and believing that what they do at school gives them some purpose and meaning. For definitions of wellbeing see The Wellbeing in Schools in Childhood and Adolescence Final Report, starting on page 34.

What Kinds of Innovations Were We Looking For?

We were looking to identify and promote impactful and scalable solutions that support the development of innovative educational practices in student wellbeing. In our review of the innovations we will consider those that support:

School climate and ethos
Family and community involvement
Participatory involvement / pupil and teacher voice
Incorporating targeted interventions

Who was eligible to submit and how?

Educators, students, researchers and innovators working in:

K12 schools
Mainstream or Specialised school programmes
Organisations, associations or networks

who have scaled their innovation within school settings, for example, from classroom to classroom, school to school and district to district.

The project recognises the diversity in the application of wellbeing interventions, categorised into three approaches: targeted, universal, and whole school.

Targeted interventions focus on specific populations, such as workshops for students with low self-esteem.
Universal interventions, like mindfulness workshops, are delivered to all students within a specific group, irrespective of their individual needs.
Interventions that take a whole school approach are more comprehensive, engaging with the school as a dynamic ecosystem, and include interventions for students, teachers, policy changes, and community involvement.

Innovations could be submitted by May 8, 2024, to be reviewed by our research team.

The Wellbeing in Schools Project Framework

The Wellbeing in Schools project explores, studies and measures student wellbeing in schools around the world to systematically learn and innovate together with both IB and non-IB schools over a three-year period. HundrED’s partners in this project are:

International Baccalaureate (IB), Project Lead- A global leader in international education, offering four programmes that help learners (ages 3-19) thrive and make a difference
Wellbeing Research Centre, University of Oxford - high-level expertise in the science of wellbeing
Research Schools International - extensive experience in action research with schools in the area of flourishing
The Human Flourishing Program, Harvard University - research expertise in promoting flourishing programmes globally
Jacobs Foundation (Funder) - A foundation that invests in the future of children so that they are given the education and learning opportunities they need to thrive.

The project aims to turn the rhetoric of student wellbeing into an evidence-based reality, clearly embedded into systemic change through learning and innovation structures in education to support a healthy and flourishing learning environment for all students.

For more information visit the IB’s website Wellbeing in Schools and watch their online project launch Wellbeing Webinar from June 7, 2023.

Useful definitions

Wellbeing Definitions (The Wellbeing in Schools in Childhood and Adolescence Final Report, starting on page 34)

Supporting Student Wellbeing: Insights from Global Experts

As a part of this Spotlight wellbeing experts from International Baccalaureate, the Wellbeing Research Center at Oxford University, the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University, and Research Schools International joined a panel discussion on April 3, 2024, and dived into what effective support for student wellbeing looks like.