58. årgang, nr. 1 – Marts 2021: Skole, uddannelse og daginstitution som arena for trivsel

Witness an increase in mental ill-being among young people

By Anne Görlich & Liv Graversen

In Denmark, as in many other western countries, we are currently witnessing an increase in mental ill-being among young people, which plays out in a range of dif- ferent institutional areas and seems to be a huge worry for practitioners, politi- cians, academics and parents. The authors of this paper are part of a large-scale re- search project exploring this increase in mental ill-being and ill-being in general among a range of young people aged 16-25. On this background, in this paper, we will analyse well-being and ill-being as dynamic and changeable phenomena. We will explore how trust and vulnerability in the young people’s relations in school, at home and among friends affect their participation in educational activities, as well as more generally on their processes of becoming as young people.

Well-being: A Transformative or Tyrannical Concept? Outlining a So- cio-ecological Conceptualisation of School Well-being

By Venka Simovska & Dorte Kousholt

School-related well-being is usually associated with students’ motivation, learning and academic attainment. Thus, it is not surprising that well-being has become one of the central issues in research, policy and practice concerning school development
– wellbeing measurement and monitoring strategies have been established in Den- mark and internationally. This instrumental use of well-being is often accompanied by a lack of nuance in its conceptualisations, which undermines its transformative and reinforces its “tyrannical” potential – that is – simplified and individualised norms about how students “should” feel in school. In this way, paradoxically, the in- creased attention on well-being overshadows significant concerns in other aspects  of school development. In this article, we problematise some of the simplifications in conceptualisations of well-being in research and practice and suggest a multifac- eted, socio-ecological concept of well-being that is extended to the whole-school envi- ronment. This concept points to the entanglement of the dimensions of being, be- longing, becoming and agency, embedded in school as an educational and cultural organisation.

Justice, relationships and belonging – research perspectives on student well-being in high school

By Jens Christian Nielsen

In recent years, there has been increased media and research attention on young people’s well-being and failure to thrive both in Denmark and internationally. The role of education and educational institutions is often discussed in connection with the finding of tendencies towards a lack of well-being among young people. Since school and education are one of the most important arenas of life, well-being in school and education can also be assumed quite central to the overall experience of well-being in one’s life. But what do we know already? This article summarises and discusses knowledge from a literature review of empirical research that addresses the well-being of high school students.

School Well-being – a conceptualisation

By Jens Christian Nielsen & Helle Rabøl Hansen

This article focuses on the well-being of children and young people in school – and during upper secondary education. Well-being in school is at first hand linked to the life lived in the school, but it can also be linked to interacting factors in and out- side the school’s specific arena. In the article, we seek to clarify how well-being in school can be understood, but also to examine what a concept of school well-being is, can, and does.
The understanding of school well-being that we advocate means that the school’s stakeholders must have an eye for how well-being-promoting initiatives should strengthen not only well-being at school and among students during school hours but also well-being outside school, and thus have an impact on the youth life that young people have. In this context, it is relevant to more openly examine students’ own understanding of and views on how well-being is created in school.

How early childhood professionals strive to create ‘well-being’ for children in vulnerable positions

By Bjørg Kjær & Karen Ida Dannesboe

The article explores how early childhood professionals strive to create ‘well-being’ for children in vulnerable positions as a way of promoting social justice and reduc- ing inequality and stigma. Well-being plays a key role in contemporary discussions of children and young people’s everyday lives and, in light of the widespread focus on inclusion, inequality of well-being is considered unacceptable. This also applies within the field of early childhood education and care, where inclusion is positioned as a central requirement in both legislation and educational practice. The analysis presented in the article is based on material compiled during fieldwork at a day care facility working with children with special needs through a socially inclusive approach. The analytical focus is on early childhood professionals’ sensitive read- ings of children and the process from identifying difficulties or problems to address- ing these through concrete adaptations of their work.

Well-being in ECEC (Early Childhood Education and Care) is discussed in relation to two main concerns

By Unni Lind

In this article well-being in ECEC (Early Childhood Education and Care) is discuss- es in relation to two main concerns. Firstly, a problematic separation between chil- dren’s life and working life. This separation means that the framework and struc- tures that surround work and which are essential for job satisfaction and the way the task is solved, are not included in the understanding of children’s well-being in ECEC. Secondly, well-being is perceived as an individual phenomenon, and it is op- erationalised based on subjective and psychological indicators. On the basis of my research work, I argued that well-being in ECEC should be understood as a collec- tive, bodily, and conflictual phenomena, which makes it possible to spot a predicta- ble unpredictability in everyday life. This is a basic condition and it requires flexi- ble bodies and a constant pedagogical work aimed at avoiding “worst days” and “tight patterns”. These appear to be central to the well-being of children and staff in ECEC.

The research project UC-TID studies the effects of the Corona crisis on the lives of young people in Denmark

By Helle Rabøl Hansen, Frederikke Knage, Pernille Rasmussen & Dorte Marie Søndergaard

The article is based on interviews conducted online via zoom and online in writing, as well as students’ assignments and art sent to us by students and teachers. Draw- ing on this research material and a conceptualisation of youth as not only a period of transition and development but also of being and belonging, the article argues for more nuanced and complex approaches to understanding young people’s lives. Although the young people emphasised a yearning for their peers during the period of school closure, some of them also had positive experiences, enjoying some relief from the pressure to live up to the various social and scholastic demands at school. While surprised by their yearning for school, some of the students also noted that the absence of certain sounds and the emergence of new ways of experiencing time and space gave new perspectives on their previously so strictly structured and dis- ciplined lives. Through the young people’s reflections during interviews, some of them became aware of the potential benefits of alternative ways of living.