TITLE: How Teacher and Student Wellbeing Impact Academic Achievement
Keywords: wellbeing, teacher wellbeing, student wellbeing, academic achievement, engagement
“I believe that engagement and wellbeing are at the crux of what we do in schools and if we get this right, outcomes will-largely-look after themselves (for staff as well as students).”
Dan Haesler
Because of the social and emotional nature of education, teacher wellbeing impacts student wellbeing, engagement and learning.
According to a 2015 literature review by the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation(CESE), levels of student wellbeing are correlated to academic and social success. Wellbeing can be an accurate predictor of mental health, stability and academic achievement.
Promoting student wellbeing can increase teacher wellbeing because teachers are affected by the environment, tone and priorities in their classrooms and across the school.
Research cited by CESE, indicates that students with high levels of wellbeing have been shown to have:
- higher academic achievement
- greater likelihood of completing Year 12
- better mental health
- more prosocial, responsible and lawful lifestyles.
Research has also shown that teachers who work with students to improve social and emotional skills, expand their own skills.
5 Ways the Wellbeing of Teachers and Students Influences Academic Achievement
- SAFETY. A safe school and classroom culture promotes better learning. A positive school culture is one where students and staff feel safe physically, emotionally and psychologically. A safe, supportive, environment must be deliberately and purposefully envisioned and developed. A culture that nurtures creativity, promotes thinking and risk-taking over getting the correct answers and explicitly teaches students how to manage their emotions provides an effective springboard for teachers to teach and students to learn.
- CONNECTEDNESS. A sense of belonging is promoted by William Glasser as a primary need, and a sense of connection to school is a significant protective factor for students health, engagement in learning and wellbeing. According to a longitudinal Australian study, however, 40% of students indicated that they did not feel that anyone at the school knew them well or were able to be trusted. The Wingspread Declaration on School Connections (2004) states that a positive connection to school where students felt they were valued as people, impacted students’ ‘educational motivation, classroom engagement and improved school attendance’. Positive relationships between teachers and students, students and students and parents and the school contribute significantly to the students’ sense of connection.
- LEARNING ENGAGEMENT
Wellbeing, learning and engagement go hand in hand with higher levels of wellbeing and engagement leading to greater academic achievement.
Engaging students with diverse needs and learning styles through authentic differentiation,
quality instruction, student-centred learning and ‘positive education’ refers to activities ‘that aim to increase wellbeing through the cultivation of positive feelings, thoughts and behaviours’ (CESE).
Interventions based on Martin Seligman’s positive psychology model were researched by Lea Waters who reviewed evidence from 12 schools that had focused on gratitude, hope, serenity, resilience and character strengths, and found significant influences on student wellbeing, relationships and academic achievement.
- SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING: The Collaborative for Academic and Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) promotes the use of evidence based SEL programs in schools. SEL programs are based on the premise that effective learning occurs when there are ‘supportive relationships that make learning challenging, engaging and meaningful.’ (CESE). One of the most compelling studies is by Durlak and Wiesberg who provided a meta-analysis of over 200 papers that showed that schools with an explicit SEL program showed a gain of 11% over schools without SEL,on standardised testing.
- WHOLE SCHOOL APPROACH: An effective wellbeing process must focus on the education of the whole person and be integrated into the fabric of the school, rather than seen as an add-on. It must inform policies and procedures, determine curriculum, expectations and pedagogy and support positive relationships within the immediate and extended school community.
References
5 Key Takeaways about Student Wellbeing. Dan Haesler
Student Wellbeing: A Literature Review. Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation
Cited in, Australian Catholic University and Erebus International (2008) Scoping study into approaches to student wellbeing: Literature review. Report to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations: Canberra
Wingspread Declaration on School Connections (2004).
QUOTES WITH IMAGES
- Student wellbeing is linked to academic and social success.
- Teacher wellbeing has a direct impact on student wellbeing and achievement.
- A culture that nurtures creativity, promotes thinking and encourages risk-taking provides the perfect catalyst for teachers to teach and students to learn.