Childrens', parents' and teachers' perceptions of child wellbeing

Abstract

PurposeThis paper presents an exploration of parents', teachers' and childrens' perspectives on children's understanding of well being with the aim of illuminating and comparing the conceptualisation of well being from these three perspectives. MethodologyThe participatory method developed to undertake this study stems from our adaption of the 'draw and write' technique, with children taking photographs rather than drawing and participating in data analysis. Children aged 8 12 years took 723 photographs representing well being, while a second set of children grouped the photographs into categories. A third set organised these categories, developing and illustrating through schema the pattern of relationships between categories. This process was repeated for parent and teacher groups drawing on the photographs taken by the children. FindingsSixsmith et al. Children's, Parents' and Teachers' Perceptions of Child Well being.In Press, Health Education, Vol. 107, 2007. 3 Differences emerged between parents and teachers and children and adults. Parents provided a more detailed conceptualisation than teachers. Children included pets where adults perceived school as more important in children's well being. The identification of the differing perspectives between children and adults suggests that this approach has enabled children to illuminate their own unique perspective on well being. It also demonstrates that children can express complex understandings of abstract concepts. Practical ImplicationsThe findings reinforce the need to gain children's perspectives rather than relying on adult perceptions of children's perspectives, in order to inform quality service, practice and policy developments.

Parents’ Perceptions of Risk and the Influence on Children’s Everyday Activities

“…Results from the first two studies (Fattore, et al, 2009;Sixsmith, et al, 2007) suggested that these children understood well-being in complex ways and identified relationships and connections with others as most essential to their well-being. In the first study, children acknowledged that positive and negative experiences could have multiple ways of influencing their well-being, (e.g.…”

Reframing ‘well-being’ in schools: the potential of recognition

“…Studies have started to explore student views about social and emotional wellbeing, and on programs in schools intended to support wellbeing (see Coombes, Appleton, Allen, & Yerrell, 2013;Hall, 2010;Kuurme & Carlsson, 2010;Sixsmith et al, 2007). While some research in Australia has sought to understand children and young people's views about wellbeing (Bourke & Geldens, 2007;Fattore et al, 2007;Gillet-Swan, 2014), very little of this, until very recently, has been in the context of schools (Redmond, Skattebol & Saunders, 2013).…”

“…It emphasises the importance of children's agency within 'child-centred' scholarship, including the way this takes shape in and through their relationships. Further, children's involvement in research about their wellbeing both recognises their right to participate in matters that affect them and contributes to realising children's rights associated with wellbeing, epitomised and articulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Camfield et al, 2010;Sixsmith et al, 2007).…”

Young People’s Conceptualization of Their Wellbeing: Culturally Situated Understandings in the Context of Kazakhstan

“…Adults' views have traditionally informed policy and practice, with parents often considered to be the primary voice of their child [15]. It has been argued that this adult-centered approach has led to the development of definitions and theories of young people's wellbeing that are often conceptions that convey adults' understanding of young people's wellbeing as opposed to young people's own constructions of their wellbeing [26]. There has also been little acknowledgement that children's and young people's perspectives are different and separate from those of adults, thus young people have been rendered as "objects" rather than active participants [27].…”