Contextual Wellbeing: Creating Positive Schools from the Inside Out

by Helen Street

Our schools and colleges have never done so much to 'teach' whole school wellbeing, support mental health and engage young people in learning. Yet, young people have never been so disengaged, demotivated or distressed in our schools. Dr. Helen Street believes that we need to embrace and support Contextual Wellbeing if we are to effectively help young people to flourish; and that means changing our fundamental understanding of what it means to be a 'good school'. Contextual Wellbeing is a state of health, happiness, and positive engagement [in learning] that arises from membership of an equitable, inclusive, and cohesive [school] environment If we are to help young people attain a love of learning and flourish at school, then we need to explicitly support their wellbeing. In this book, Helen Street introduces a definition that underpins an alternative way of supporting young people, and an alternative way of delivering education. All too often we try to help a child who is distressed at school by encouraging them to change or to develop as an individual. We want them to be more confident, more resilient, less anxious. But what if the answer is not about trying to help that individual to change, in whatever capacity? What if the answer is all about creating a healthier environment for that individual? I believe that wellbeing is an interplay between our best individual self and our best environment. As such, happiness and success are far more than individual pursuits, or even individual responsibilities. Lasting happiness develops from the ongoing creation of healthy connections to others and to the world around us. Happiness is a positive state of wellbeing resulting from our connection to a social environment that supports and nurtures us to become the best we can be.

194 pages, Paperback

Published September 17, 2018

Reviews

[Emi Yoshida · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended reading for parents at London's Halcyon International School, and I'm embarrassed it took me a few years to finally get to it. Dr Helen Street published Contextual Wellbeing in 2018, and it holds up brilliantly 6 years on. Her work in the development of positive school contexts has been effectively applied in Europe, Asia and Australia; and I think American educators would do well to listen also. I am so thankful that my kids got to experience all three of their middle school years at Halcyon, an IB school, that prioritized "self-determination and life-long wellbeing" over GPA worship, teaching to test scores, and maintaining the status quo.

If you've already read Mindset by Dr Carol Dweck and The Smartest Kids in the World: and How They Got That Way by Amanda Ripley, you know the basics that Dr Street covers here, but you'll also find plenty of new and different information to marvel at. For example the positive effects of brain breaks (five minutes of fun, physical activities involving collaboration, choice and/or control), Honesty Shops (if you've seen the 2023 German film Das Lehrerzimmer, The Teachers' Lounge, this concept is particularly fascinating), Conditional Goal Setting, intrinsic motivation (interesting job that gratifies) vs extrinsic motivation ($), and how colors, comfort and even seating positioning influence students.