Student-Centered Understanding of Well-being: A Co-Creative Qualitative Study in Education

Background: Well-being is a complex concept, central to both international and national education sectors well-being has emerged as a pivotal focus within both international and Danish educational contexts (Hossain et al., 2023; Simovska & Kousholt, 2021; Spratt, 2016). In a Danish context, attention to children and youth well-being is increasing, albeit with conflicting explanatory models (Katznelson et al., 2022). This research project aims to explore lower secondary students' own experiences, understandings, and negotiations of well-being to achieve a deep understanding of the concept. The project, part of the larger project; VoiceWell funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark. VoiceWell focuses on incorporating students' perspectives to expand our theoretical understanding of well-being and contribute to a well-being measurement validated in collaboration with the students themselves. A significant challenge is that we know very little about children and young people's well-being from their own perspective (Bourke & MacDonald, 2016; Leren, 2006; Powell et al., 2012; Soutter et al., 2012, 2014).

This study insists on involving children and young people's voices in research, thus creating participatory opportunities to give them a central role in the discussion of well-being with the following research question:

What are lower secondary students' own experiences, understandings, and negotiations of well-being, and how can co-created knowledge about this contribute to a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the concept of well-being?

Methods – Interviews, fieldwork and co-creative processes:
The study entails three iterations of individual interviews with approx. 20 students from three different schools in Denmark. Additionally, it entails a classic anthropological fieldwork at a Danish public school in 7th grade – 9th grade. The fieldwork is essential in this study, planned in three iterations in 2024, 2025, and 2026 at one selected school. With nine months allocated to fieldwork, the purpose is to immerse myself in the school environment over time, based on anthropological principles of relationships and trust. Participant observation is at the core of the fieldwork. Active participation in students' everyday lives enables informal conversations and organic insight. Field observations, focus group interviews and co-creative workshops are facilitated to understand well-being interactively, while involve students as active co-creators of their own understanding of well-being.

Additionally, a co-creation process with teachers, school management, politicians, and other stakeholders follows. This initiative serves as both a data collection source and a dissemination channel with hopes of broader dissemination in the school environment in a Danish context.