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 STT1.9, 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 STT1.9 shows the proportions of year four and year six students who reported experiencing the associated condition at least most of the time.
In Small Island States, 59% of year four students and 62% of year six students reported that they had a good day ‘Most of the time’ or ‘Always’, while 58% of year four students and 62% of year six students reported they looked forward to the next day ‘Most of the time’ or ‘Always’.
On average, across both year levels, about one out of three students reported feeling hungry and tired "most of the time" or "always".
These findings can be compared to the findings from a similar set of items that teachers responded to (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 STT1.9. 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
- 201 5.5
- 207 2.2
Year 6
- 197 3.2
- 203 1
Reading
Year 4
- 204 5.1
- 206 1.8
Year 6
- 200 4.6
- 202 1.1
- 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 most comparisons, there were no differences in the well-being scores of students who performed at or above the expected level in a subject and those who did not. The exception was for numeracy performance at year six level. Year six students who performed at or above the expected proficiency level in numeracy tended to have slightly higher well-being scores than year six students who did not meet this performance standard.
No differences in well-being scores were found for year six students by reading performance or at year four level.
What does this mean?
Only half, or slightly more than half, the students in Small Island States are cheerful, have good days, and look forward to the next day most of the time. Many students are regularly experiencing positive well-being but a substantial proportion are not. Also, a substantial proportion of students are frequently experiencing challenges to well-being, such as feeling hungry, tired, upset, or not having enough friends.
In most comparisons, student performance was not associated with well-being. The one exception was numeracy performance at year six level. Year six students who performed better in numeracy tended to have better well-being scores than year six students who did not perform as well.
Regardless of whether well-being is associated with student performance in any way, the identified well-being challenges need to be addressed.
