Conversation Hour Presentation 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Building Flourishing Schools: Measurement, Assessment And Evaluation For Student Wellbeing (#158)

Mathew White 1
  1. The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, Australia

Schools are increasingly interested in measuring wellbeing of students. But to what end? Many positive education measurement initiatives have stalled because schools do not adopt a full cycle of measurement, assessment and evaluation which are linked to pedagogical and organisational goals. Instead, they opt for an "off the shelf" approach with hardly any relationship between measurement and pedagogical practice. There is limited evidence that individualised wellbeing reports have a tangible benefit to students in schools, and there are many ethical implications of this approach with limited expertise in teaching. Instead, effective wellbeing measurement, assessment and evaluation will adopt group trends to act as a barometer of student wellbeing and inform teaching and wellbeing practices. This presentation provides examples of multidimensional approaches to group measurement of wellbeing and how measurement can be used to advance educational goals.