The Preconditions to 'Flourishing': Structural Necessities for Achieving Well-Being in Schools
Saved in:
| Title: | The Preconditions to 'Flourishing': Structural Necessities for Achieving Well-Being in Schools |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Gunawardena, Harshi (ORCID |
| Source: | British Journal of Educational Studies. 2020 68(4):425-442. |
| Availability: | Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 17 |
| Publication Date: | 2020 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Evaluative |
| Descriptors: | Well Being, Social Development, Emotional Development, Capacity Building, Educational Policy, Public Education, Equal Education, Government School Relationship, School Policy, Philosophy |
| DOI: | 10.1080/00071005.2020.1711857 |
| ISSN: | 0007-1005 |
| Abstract: | There is warranted concern among educationalists about child well-being where a number of school factors have created a system and a society where well-being is at stake. Within this discourse, understanding the impact of social and emotional learning and school-based well-being programs have seen educationalists return to Aristotle to understand the foundational conception of flourishing. Following this trend, we propose that before flourishing can be supported in the areas of teaching and learning, the preconditions to flourishing must be met. This paper examines the provision of structural and policy factors that form the preconditions to flourishing using the lens of Aristotle's eudaimonia, external necessities, and the obligations of the polis. This analysis found that policy intent and purpose are largely aligned with the preconditions; but the differential uptake of policy initiatives along socio-economic lines has created an education system where school capacity to provide the external necessities for student flourishing is supported by schools in an inconsistent way. This, we argue is not what Aristotle proposed for a public education, where all children have an equal chance of building capabilities to flourish. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2020 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1265206 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | There is warranted concern among educationalists about child well-being where a number of school factors have created a system and a society where well-being is at stake. Within this discourse, understanding the impact of social and emotional learning and school-based well-being programs have seen educationalists return to Aristotle to understand the foundational conception of flourishing. Following this trend, we propose that before flourishing can be supported in the areas of teaching and learning, the preconditions to flourishing must be met. This paper examines the provision of structural and policy factors that form the preconditions to flourishing using the lens of Aristotle's eudaimonia, external necessities, and the obligations of the polis. This analysis found that policy intent and purpose are largely aligned with the preconditions; but the differential uptake of policy initiatives along socio-economic lines has created an education system where school capacity to provide the external necessities for student flourishing is supported by schools in an inconsistent way. This, we argue is not what Aristotle proposed for a public education, where all children have an equal chance of building capabilities to flourish. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0007-1005 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/00071005.2020.1711857 |
