Thesis
Building a whole school approach to wellbeing: An exploration of classroom care practices
Southern Cross University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25918/thesis.432
Appears in Recent Faculty of Health Publications
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Abstract
It is well established in research and policy that preventative, universal measures that target the whole school and are embedded within the curriculum are the most effective at supporting student wellbeing and mental health. Recent studies also show that positive, caring relationships between students and teachers are critical to the promotion of student wellbeing. However, little is known about how these care practices are enacted by teachers and experienced by students. This thesis reports the findings of a multi-site case study that captures lived experiences of students, teachers, and leaders across three sites in the one school. The overarching aim of the study was to consider how or if shared understandings of these practices might facilitate a whole of school approach to wellbeing at the school. Following a critical participatory approach, the research is framed by childhood studies practice theory. Significantly, it situates intergenerational dialogue as being critical to children’s sense of agency and their participation as central to wellbeing. The study was conducted across three iterative phases, each phase addressed a specific research question which in turn shaped the subsequent phase specific methodology and analysis. The findings of the study provide a rich picture of the teaching and learning landscape of the school, across all three sites, and found that care practices used routinely by teachers serve a dual purpose in supporting learning and wellbeing. While pedagogical care practices are highly valued by students in terms of psychological safety, the study also found that these practices are not experienced by students in the same way across the three sites. Similarly, practices between peers served a dual and complex purpose, simultaneously impacting student engagement and wellbeing in both positive and negative ways. A central finding of the study was the ways in which continuity and discontinuity in care practices, within and across sites, both enables and constrains whole school approaches to wellbeing. The development of shared understandings of care practices, including their impact on wellbeing, was aided by bringing students' views into dialogue with those of teachers and leaders, shedding further light on the arrangements and conditions that hold such practices in place, and offer space for potentially transforming these.
Details
- Title
- Building a whole school approach to wellbeing: An exploration of classroom care practices
- Creators
- Skye Tyler
- Contributors
- Anne Graham AO (Supervisor) - Southern Cross UniversityTess Boyle (Supervisor) - Southern Cross University
- Awarding Institution
- Southern Cross University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Theses
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
- Publisher
- Southern Cross University
- Number of pages
- xii, 227
- Identifiers
- 991013243261002368
- Copyright
- © Skye Tyler 2024
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Health
- Resource Type
- Thesis