Get to know » Students » Self-reflections:
Student well-being
The PILNA student questionnaire collected information about children’s physical health, mental health, relationships, and material circumstances. The intention was to collect a holistic picture of the well-being of the students who participated in PILNA.
Students were given a list of circumstances, as set out in Table STT1.8, and were asked to indicate how often they experienced them. They could respond with ‘Never’, ‘Sometimes’, ‘Most of the time’, or ‘Always’. For reporting the results, ‘Most of the time’ and ‘Always’ were combined, as they were considered to be materially similar in terms of student experience.
Well-being experiences
Table STT1.8 shows the proportions of year four and year six students who reported experiencing the associated condition at least most of the time.
In Cook Islands, 65% of year four students and 66% of year six students reported that they had a good day ‘Most of the time’ or ‘Always’. 58% of year four students and 68% of year six students reported they looked forward to the next day ‘Most of the time’ or ‘Always’.
For frequent negative experiences, nearly two in five students reported feeling hungry or tired, either ‘Most of the time’ or ‘Always’. These proportions were found across year four and year six students.
These findings can be compared to the findings from a similar set of items that teachers responded to in the regional report (Student difficulties reported by the teacher). Not all the same items were given to teachers but there are interesting comparisons that can be made for the items about hunger and tiredness.
Well-being and student performance
A regional scale for student well-being was established, based on the first nine items from Table 7.11. These items are related to negative well-being experiences, rather than positive well-being experiences. Higher scores on this scale indicate higher, more positive, levels of well-being.
These well-being scale scores were compared with student performance in numeracy and reading. Student performance was grouped into two categories: students who performed at or above the expected level of performance and students who performed below the expected level of performance. There were no comparisons with the writing domain, as the writing proficiency scale is yet to be developed. Figure STF1.6 shows the average well-being scale scores by year level and student performance.
Numeracy
Year 4
- 191 4.6
- 198 3.4
Year 6
- 192 6.1
- 201 2.5
Reading
Year 4
- 192 3.9
- 198 2.8
Year 6
- 190 8.9
- 200 2.1
- Scale score for students below expected proficiency level
- Scale score for students at or above expected proficiency level
- Statistically significant correlation (p <0.05)
- Standard errors appear in parentheses
In both numeracy and literacy and across both year levels, students who performed at or above the expected level of performance had higher well-being scores on average than students who did not meet the expected levels of performance. This means that students who met the expected levels of performance in numeracy and literacy had greater levels of well-being, based on this PILNA student well-being scale.
What does this mean?
Over half the students in Cook Islands are cheerful, have good days, and look forward to the next day, at least most of the time Many students from Cook Islands are regularly experiencing positive well-being but a substantial proportion are not. Over 35% of students across the region are frequently experiencing challenges to well-being, such as feeling hungry and tired.
There was a clear trajectory regarding the differences in well-being scores against student performance. Students who met the expected performance level had slightly higher average well-being scores than those who did not. This indicates a correlation between the well-being of a student, and their performance in school. Regardless of whether well-being is associated with student performance in any way, the identified well-being challenges need to be addressed by stakeholders.
