Everyone is talking about the pressing issue of youth mental health and wellbeing, but no one seems to know how to solve it. Given how much time pupils spend in school, it鈥檚 no surprise the finger often gets pointed at teachers and the education system when it comes to solving the current crisis. But lift up the bonnet and there鈥檚 more to the issue than meets the eye. Fortunately, doing so points the way towards a distinctive role schools could play in future. Studies tend to show that schools only have limited influence over pupils鈥� and . Family relationships, material wellbeing, health and community context are all far more important. But none of that鈥檚 to say schools can鈥檛 help. One of the most compelling voices articulating a distinctive role for schools in supporting young people鈥檚 wellbeing is a researcher called Tania Clarke. As part of her PhD research, she has pointed out that wellbeing has multiple dimensions and that the dimension of 鈥榩ersonal wellbeing鈥� (PWB)聽. PWB involves things like setting personally meaningful goals and developing a sense of purpose and competence. It鈥檚 a concept that鈥檚 linked to the idea of eudaimonia, which takes its roots back in the Ancient Greek philosophy of Aristotle.聽 At the moment, policies and interventions tend to focus on 鈥榮ubjective well-being鈥� (SWB) – or what the Greeks called 鈥榟edonia鈥�. This focus is manifested in research that tends to measure how 鈥榟appy鈥� pupils feel, as well as policy documents and initiatives which concentrate on 鈥榤anaging feelings and emotions.鈥� Although some social and emotional learning programmes which focus on SWB聽聽to be beneficial,聽聽would help shape a more distinctive role for schools. This would build on schools鈥� role in inspiring pupils with big goals that provide purpose and helping them to pursue those even when the going gets tough. A different focus could build on schools鈥� role in inspiring pupils with big goals This would be better aligned with schools鈥� more traditional educational function. It could also put an end to unhelpful narratives that treat wellbeing and academic excellence as being in tension. As Aristotle put it, 鈥渁n excellent life requires exertion鈥�. Another of schools鈥� distinctive features is their universalism and their reach into every community. In , a report I co-authored for the Institute for Public Policy Research alongside the Centre for Education and Youth, I suggest that the next government should build on this unique characteristic by investing in schools as hubs for services that enrich children鈥檚 lives and strengthen families and communities. At the moment, schools serving more disadvantaged communities are less likely to provide and life-enhancing opportunities like compared to private schools and schools serving more advantaged communities. Yet the previous Labour government鈥檚 extended school programme that reached far out into the community. We shouldn鈥檛 expect teachers to endlessly stretch their remit, but with adequate funding more schools could employ specialist staff like nurses and mental health practitioners while forming partnerships with third-sector organisations that offer a rich menu of enrichment opportunities. This would have the added benefit of serving – freeing up parents to work, and putting money back in the family pocket. The dire statistics on youth mental health and wellbeing show that our society is failing to offer the next generation the childhood they deserve. The education system can鈥檛 solve this deep and complex problem, but by articulating and investing in a distinctive role for schools a future government could help them play their part.
24 August 2023 […] competence that students have for their own futures. It is this multifaceted feeling that, as Loic wrote about earlier in the week, creates a crisis of what researcher Tania Clarke calls 鈥榩ersonal […]