Session Information
25 SES 11, Children’s Rights, Wellbeing and Protection
Paper Session
Contribution
This research, part of an ongoing project, seeks to identify the extent to which children can use their own words to describe and elucidate the notion of wellbeing. Drawing upon the sociology of childhood, and the mandates of the UNCRC, this research directly includes children as active contributors to the knowledge base of matters that directly affect them personally, and childhood more broadly. By understanding how children conceptualise the constructs of wellbeing, adults may be better equipped to assist children during the transitions from tween to teen, adolescent to adult.
This research investigates:
- How wellbeing is defined and conceptualised by tweens
- How and in what form tweens learn about wellbeing, and
- What lessons about wellbeing the adult community can take from the “tween” perspective
Within a range of research fields, the notion of wellbeing remains vague and ill defined, with the absence of any agreed definition highlighting such difficulties. Wellbeing is variously described using terms such as ”good health”, “happiness” and general positivity or conceptualisations that focus on the negative aspects of the human condition (Ryff and Singer, 1998; Ryff, 1995) such as “depression” and “poor health”. Ironically, adults have difficulty defining and understanding wellbeing, yet devise the very programs intended to benefit children and their wellbeing. Without a clear understanding of what wellbeing means to children, it is difficult to know whether the programs implemented will and can be effective for the intended recipients. By engaging with the perspectives of ‘tweens’, adults may better understand the issues facing today’s youth (Sargeant, 2008; 2010) and more readily embrace their capacities.
It is increasingly shown that ‘tweens’ can be included as capable informants in matters that affect them (Sargeant 2010; 2008; 2007; 2005). There also appears to be a growing global focus on ways to improve children's wellbeing through interventions, identification of ways to enhance positive characteristics of wellbeing or ways to minimise the effect of negative influences. However these developments have progressed without the essential inclusion of the children's voice. Until we include the insights of children relating to notions such as wellbeing, a significant voice remains absent from the conversation.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Crivello, G, Camfield, L & Woodhead, M 2009, ‘How can children tell us about their well-being? Exploring the potential of participatory research approaches within Young Lives’, Social Indicators Research, vol. 90, pp. 51 – 72. Diener, E & Oishi, S 2005, ‘The non-obvious social psychology of Happiness’, Psychological Inquiry, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 162 – 167. Fattore, T, Mason, J & Watson, E 2007, ‘Children’s conceptualization(s) of their well-being,’ Social Indicators Research, vol. 80, pp. 5 – 29. Fraillon, J 2004, ‘Measuring student well-being in the context of Australian schooling: Discussion paper’. Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). Australia: ACER. Jones, N & Summer, A 2009, ‘Does mixed methods research matter to understanding childhood wellbeing?’ Social Indicators Research, vol. 90, pp. 33 – 50. Kim-Prieto, C, Diener, E, Tamir, M, Scollon, C, & Diener, M 2005, ‘Integrating the diverse definitions of happiness: a time-sequential framework of subjective wellbeing’, Journal of Happiness Studies, vol. 6, pp. 261 – 300. Pollard, E L & Lee, P D 2003, ‘Child well-being: a systematic review of the literature’, Social Indicators Research, vol. 61, pp. 59 – 78. Ryff, CD & Singer, B 1998, ‘The contours of positive human health’. Psychological Inquiry, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1 – 28. Ryff, CD 1995, ‘Psychological Well-being in adult life’, Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 99 – 104. Sargeant, J 2010 ‘The altruism of pre-adolescent children’s perspectives on ‘worry’ and ‘happiness’ in Australia and England, Childhood, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 411 – 421. Swan, JK & Sargeant, J 2010 ‘Towards a workable definition for child wellbeing’ Paper presented at Australian Association for Research in Education 2010: Making a Difference. Melbourne, VIC: AARE. United Nations 1989 Convention on the rights of the child (Geneva, United Nations).
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.