Is school participation good for children? Associations with health and wellbeing

Abstract

Purpose-There is increasing recognition of children's abilities to speak for themselves. School democracy, as demonstrated by genuine participation, has the potential to benefit both teachers and students; leading to better relationships and improved learning experiences. The aim of this study is to investigate whether participation in schools in Ireland is linked with perceived academic performance, liking school and positive health perceptions. Design/methodology/approach-Data were collected via self-completion questionnaires from a stratified random sample of 10,334 students aged 10-17 years in Irish schools. The questions included encouragement to express their views in class, participation in the organisation of school events; taking part in making school rules; liking school, perceived academic performance, self-rated health, life satisfaction and self-reported happiness. Associations between school participation and other measures were expressed by odds ratios from logistic regression models, conducted separately for girls and boys. Findings-More than 63 per cent of participating students reported that they were encouraged to express their views in class, 58 per cent that they were involved in organising school events and 22 per cent that they had been involved in making school rules. All forms of participation were lower among older students. Participation in school was significantly associated with liking school and higher perceived academic performance, better self-rated health, higher life satisfaction and greater reported happiness. Research limitations/implications-These data are all cross-sectional and relationships cannot imply causality. Practical implications-These findings underscore the relevance of school participation for students in Ireland. Originality/value-The paper illustrates that, in general, positive relationships between school participation and health and wellbeing are demonstrated among Irish children.

Participation and social participation: are they distinct concepts?

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Participation, believed to contribute to health and well-being, 3,6,7 became a central concept of several policy articles. [8][9][10][11] In rehabilitation, participation is considered as the most relevant outcome.…”

The significance of ‘participation’ as an educational ideal in education for sustainable development and health education in schools

“…Chawla and Heft 2001;Cook, Blanchet-Cohen, and Hart 2004;Simovska 2007Simovska , 2012Reid et al 2008;Quick and Feldman 2011;de Róiste et al 2012). We draw particular inspiration from four recent reviews of literature on the participation of children and young people, with a rare emphasis on ESD and/or HE.…”

Immigrant Youth in Canadian Health Promoting Schools: A Literature Review

“…While an awareness of peoples' shared intentions provides a sense of their typical outlooks to life, it is important to consider individual contexts because many personal-social constructs, including reflexivity, gender, and class, influence health consciousness, beliefs, and practices. As argued by de Róiste et al (2012) and Griebler et al (2014), health promotion that is tailored to an individual's needs in the context of their culture encourages genuine participation, which is antecedent to successful interaction with health resources.…”

“…It is widely agreed that meaningful student participation is a key indicator of the effectiveness of HPS (de Róiste, Kelly, Molcho, Gavin, & Nic Gabhainn, 2012;Griebler, Rojatz, Simovska & Forster, 2014;Simovska, 2007). As posited by Simovska (2004), student participation in HPS encompasses active engagement in school activities, acquisition of substantial health knowledge, critical thinking, and is context-driven and political.…”