Children's Social And Emotional Wellbeing In Schools: A Critical Perspective

This book critically examines the concept of social and emotional wellbeing in the field of education. It charts the rise of wellbeing as a policy objective and how it has linked and been shaped by external factors such as child poverty, antisocial behaviour and employability issues.

The different responses from all four countries in the UK are examined and discussed, and although the focus remains on England, the learning highlighted is transferable and relevant.

A theme throughout the book is the predominance of “Objective List” approaches to defining, developing and evaluating policy relating to social and emotional wellbeing, and to what extent children and young people have been involved in defining how they see wellbeing or the list of success criteria commonly used.

The book highlights the need for a more challenging and cautionary approach by practitioners and school leaders to some of the widely held beliefs relating to current wellbeing policy and practice.

Containing a wealth of examples of good practice, this book is recommended as a valuable resource to inform, or possibly question, school-based work or to support work at a broader policy level.

Reviewed by Angela Davies, project manager, ContinYou Cymru