Education brief - Learner wellbeing - Core concepts, global perspectives, and theories

Oct 23, 2026

Learner wellbeing is framed as a complex, multidimensional psychological state describing how learners feel and function within education. The brief defines wellbeing through hedonia and eudaimonia, linking overall life satisfaction and positive feelings with flourishing, self-actualisation, and engagement in meaningful activity. It then compares cross-cultural understandings, highlights influences from Confucian and Japanese education, and explains global measurement initiatives such as PISA and OECD sub-constructs. Finally, it outlines key theories, including Maslow’s hierarchy and Self-Determination Theory, for educational application.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Learner wellbeing: meaning and foundations

Hedonia and eudaimonia in education

Cross-cultural understanding of learner wellbeing

Eastern and Western educational perspectives

Global measurement of learner wellbeing

OECD, UNICEF, and PISA approaches

Theories behind learner wellbeing

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Self-Determination Theory (SDT)

PERMA model

International Education Education brief Learner wellbeing Learner wellbeing is a complex psychological state that can broadly be understood as how learners feel and function in the context of education. What does learner wellbeing mean? To define learner wellbeing, it is first important to understand the construct of wellbeing more generally. In Western thought, wellbeing is a multidimensional state of being most commonly attributed to positive psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihaly, 2000), which gave rise to the positive education movement. Wellbeing research and practice is founded on two historic traditions of wellbeing: hedonia and eudaimonia, both of which originated in Greek philosophy. • Hedonic wellbeing refers to how individuals feel about their life. It is conceptualised as a combination of an individual’s overall satisfaction with their life, their experience of positive feelings and the absence of negative feelings (Diener & Lucas, 1999). • Eudaimonic wellbeing can be understood as how individuals function in their life. It is also described as‘flourishing’ and self-actualisation, nurtured through one’s commitment to personal development, meaningful activities and interpersonal connectedness with others (Ryff & Singer, 1998). Together, hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing represent individuals’ overall wellbeing (Figure 1). Learner wellbeing in the context of education can therefore be understood as a holistic, multidimensional state of being that is the combined product of all of these different aspects. Individual Wellbeing Relationships Absence of negative emotions Feelings Functioning Overall life satisfaction Engagement in meaningful activities Personal development Fig. 1: Multidimensional model of individual wellbeing 1 Education brief-Learner wellbeing How is learner wellbeing understood across the world? There are universal similarities and distinct differences in how children experience wellbeing across cultures (Rees & Dinisman, 2015). Nonetheless, learner wellbeing has been advocated as a central goal of education by Eastern and Western scholars alike since ancient times. For example, Confucianist philosophy emphasises self-improvement to become an upright moral person (junzi). According to Confucius, self-improvement requires the practice of humanity (ren) towards others and yourself, and the virtues of attitude, procedure, knowledge, moral courage and persistence (li). There are therefore clear links between Confucianist thinking and eudaimonic wellbeing (interpersonal connectedness and flourishing). Wellbeing is also a key feature in the 19th century writings of Japanese educator Tsunesaburo Makiguchi – founder of Soka (valuecreating) education, which is practised today in 190 countries – who posited that happiness cannot exist only atan individual level; it should be an educational goal of the school, home and community. In the 21st century, increased interest in wellbeing within education can be attributed to the work of economists who introduced measures of adult wellbeing as an alternative measure to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the evaluation of the success of an economy. Following this, international organisations (such as the OECD and United Nations) began measuring children’s wellbeing alongside their academic outcomes in transnational research (OECD, 2019; UNICEF, 2007) . Most well-known is the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which introduced the measurement of children’s wellbeing alongside their academic outcomes in 2015. The OECD now uses a multidimensional measure of learner wellbeing consisting of four sub-constructs: cognitive, social, physical and psychological wellbeing. What is the theory behind learner wellbeing? A number of theoretical frameworks are used to explore learner wellbeing in education. • The Theory of Human Motivation (Maslow, 1943) suggests that individual growth can be understood as a hier

FAQs

How is learner wellbeing defined in the education context?

Learner wellbeing is described as a holistic, multidimensional psychological state covering how learners feel and function in education, combining multiple aspects of wellbeing.

What is the difference between hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing?

Hedonic wellbeing focuses on how individuals feel about their lives, including life satisfaction and positive feelings without negative feelings. Eudaimonic wellbeing focuses on how individuals function, described as flourishing and self-actualisation through meaningful activities and interpersonal connectedness.

Which global frameworks are used to measure children’s wellbeing alongside academic outcomes?

International organisations such as the OECD and UNICEF measure children’s wellbeing alongside academic outcomes. The OECD uses a multidimensional learner wellbeing measure across cognitive, social, physical, and psychological wellbeing, and PISA includes children’s wellbeing with academic outcomes.

Oct 23, 2026

Uploaded by Olivia Brown