An exploration of student's wellbeing in a DEIS post-primary school within the context of the new wellbeing curriculum at junior cycle

The current research aims to explore the phenomenon of wellbeing from the student perspective and identify possible impacts, school supports, and areas for improvements within one DEIS post-primary school. Wellbeing has been highlighted as an indicator of societal progress and thus been referred to as a new paradigm of development (O’Brien 2008; Bach and Scott 2018; Thorburn 2018;). The wellbeing of the students has been brought into sharper focus due to the increased prevalence of societal issues manifesting within the school setting (Hearne et al. 2018). Consequently, the Department of Education and Skills (2018) aim for wellbeing to be at the core of the ethos of every school and education institute by 2023. The recent Wellbeing Guidelines (NCCA 2017) outline this new curriculum and offer support in planning and developing a coherent Wellbeing programme. The study was anchored within this Wellbeing Curriculum with a specific focus of the study resting on the six indicators of wellbeing as proposed by the NCCA (2017). However, a review of the literature in this study highlights issues such as a lack of a clear definition of the wellbeing term which led to implications for policy drafting. The literature also discusses the role of the guidance counsellor as well as the whole school approach in supporting the wellbeing of the students in school (NCCA 2017; NCGE 2018). A mixed methods approach was used for the collection of data. This involved online surveys to the Junior Cycle cohort along with focus groups with transition year (TY) students who recently competed the Junior Cycle. It was felt this method would garner the most appropriate response to the research questions. Morse (2003) describes mixed methods research as being able to obtain a more complete picture of human behaviour and experience which leads the researcher to achieve their research goals quicker and more comprehensively. The research findings conclude that the new Wellbeing Programme is relevant to supporting students SWB. However, according to the findings, clearer communication is required to explicate the relevance of the programme to students in schools so they fully comprehend its rationale for supporting their wellbeing. Furthermore, a whole school approach is fundamental in the support and development of a student’s SWB as opposed to the sole responsibility for its delivery being placed on a school’s guidance service. Finally, a number of recommendations are put forward arising from the study.