School health and wellbeing and national education system reform: A qualitative study

Abstract

AbstractThe education systems of the four UK nations are diverging, and the education system in Wales is undergoing major reform with substantially increased emphasis on health and wellbeing. Understanding the implementation of major policy and system reforms requires an understanding of system histories and starting points. This study aimed to explore the perceived roles of schools in contemporary society, and how this role has evolved over time; the aims of the reforms, with a particular focus on health and wellbeing; and perceived barriers and facilitators for implementation. Interviews were held with senior stakeholders in the Welsh education system who held a strategic role in shaping the reforms. These included senior members of government and schools with a remit in either design of the curriculum or educationalists’ professional learning, Wales's school regulatory body, and those with a multidisciplinary remit in health and education. Interviews were subjected to thematic analysis, which produced a number of themes related to each objective, including ‘a changing society and increasing expectations on schools’, ‘the perceived role of schools in supporting health and wellbeing’, ‘the aims of the reform’, ‘what will success look like?’, ‘national level barriers and facilitators’ and ‘community and school level barriers and facilitators’. Findings suggest that education system reform requires change at multiple levels of the education system. Consideration of each level, and the interactions between them, is necessary for achieving change.