School health and wellbeing and national education system reform: a qualitative study

Long, Sara ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1284-9645, Hawkins, Jemma ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1998-9547, Murphy, Simon ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3589-3681 and Moore, Graham ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6136-3978 2023. School health and wellbeing and national education system reform: a qualitative study. British Education Research Journal 49 (4) , pp. 674-692. 10.1002/berj.3861

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (250kB) | Preview

Abstract

Abstract The education systems of the four UK nations are diverging, and the education system in Wales is undergoing major reform with substantially increased emphasis on health and wellbeing. Understanding implementation of major policy and system reforms requires an understanding of system histories and starting points. This study aimed to explore the perceived roles of schools in contemporary society, and how this role has evolved over time; aims of the reforms, with a particular focus on health and wellbeing; and perceived barriers and facilitators for implementation. Interviews were held with senior stakeholders in the Welsh education system who held a strategic role in shaping the reforms. This included senior members of government and schools with a remit in either design of the curriculum or educationalists' professional learning, Wales’s school regulatory body, and those with a multidisciplinary remit in health and education. Interviews were subjected to thematic analysis, which produced a number of themes related to each objective including ‘a changing society and increasing expectations on schools’, ‘the perceived role of schools in supporting health and wellbeing’, ‘the aims of the reform’, ‘what will success look like?’, ‘national level barriers and facilitators’, and ‘community and school level barriers and facilitators’. Findings suggest education system reform requires change at multiple levels of the education system. Consideration of each level, and the interactions between them, is necessary for achieving change.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2361 Curriculum
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	1469-3518
Funders:	Health and Care Research Wales
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 February 2023
Date of Acceptance:	19 February 2023
Last Modified:	31 Aug 2023 16:17
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/157372

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item