Towards a framework for conceptualising holistic wellbeing in schools

Abstract

Human wellbeing is highly interconnected with the wellbeing (and survival) of the whole Earth’s ecosystem. Schools are important places in which people learn how to enhance both present and future wellbeing. To date, however, there are no school wellbeing frameworks that holistically consider the psychosocial and physical wellbeing of the entire school community and extend the concept of wellbeing beyond human boundaries. This paper focuses on the need to increase our understanding of what holistic wellbeing in schools means from a broad perspective, including not only various aspects of human wellbeing but also non-human aspects of wellbeing into a single conceptual framework. The framework was developed based on a narrative literature review consisting of 107 articles. The profound joy and happiness of both teachers and learners form the foundation of our conceptualisation of wellbeing. In addition to these core concepts, and based on the earlier conceptualisations of holistic wellbeing, our framework includes physical, psychological, social, creative and socioeconomic dimensions of wellbeing. Finally, all these wellbeing dimensions are highly dependent on planetary wellbeing. The framework is designed to serve as a basis for developing pre- and in-service teacher training programmes and to support school leaders and educational policymakers in their efforts to promote holistic wellbeing at schools.