News
The Wellbeing Project
21 Jul 2010
In an article in Nursery World Mary Dickins, early years consultant, discusses the concept of wellbeing.
Dickins acknowledges that there is no agreed definition of wellbeing but does believe there is consensus that wellbeing draws on “many different factors including material conditions; housing and community; how children feel and do in education; their health; exposure to risks; and the quality of relations and the way in which they develop.”
There is a current concern in our society about wellbeing, as demonstrated by recent legislation and the Every Child Matters programme. But the 2007 Unicef report ranked the UK in the bottom third of countries for child wellbeing. The report compared a number of factors including the many different factors listed above and the subjective sense of wellbeing which those young people interviewed felt. Dickins goes on to say, "the UK ranked higher in educational wellbeing, we lagged behind in terms of relative poverty and deprivation, quality of children’s relationships with their parents and peers, child health and safety, behaviour and risk-taking and subjective wellbeing.”
Also highlighted is the Children’s Society’s Good Childhood Inquiry which showed that while there is not a strong or consistent relationship between per capita GDP and wellbeing there is one between lower inequality and higher levels of child wellbeing.
Improving the wellbeing of children should be a “central policy objective” but the concept of wellbeing is complex and can have a range of different meanings for those professionals working with children. Wanting to address this the National Children’s Bureau’s Early Childhood Forum and London Metropolitan University have created the Wellbeing Project. The project seeks to look at early childhood wellbeing with these aims:
1) Enable debate and discussion about what is meant by children’s wellbeing.
2) Gather evidence about wellbeing that will support the early years sector in developing clarity in relation to principles and practice.
3) Directly influence early years policy and provision.
Dickins ends the article by calling for “policy that reflects clarity of purpose and a strong sense of direction.”
For more information on the Wellbeing Project visit www.ncb.org.uk/ecu_network/ecf/well-being_project.aspx
