The Subjective Well-Being of Students in Different Parts of the School Premises in French Middle Schools

Isabelle Joing (1) , Olivier Vors (2, 3, 4) , François Potdevin (1)

1 URePSSS - Unité de Recherche Pluridisciplinaire Sport, Santé, Société (URePSSS) - ULR 7369 - ULR 4488
2 AMU - Aix Marseille Université
3 ESPE AMU - École supérieure du professorat et de l'éducation - Aix Marseille
4 ISM - Institut des Sciences du Mouvement Etienne Jules Marey

The aim of this study was to explore the spatial approach to well-being in French middle schools, drawing on an ecological model of child development to explore how student well-being varies through the day according to the part of the school premises they are in. 2028 (from 11 to 15 years old) students took part in the survey. The results confirm that a spatial approach is interesting because it reveals different levels of subjective well-being according to place. The results also show that the decrease in student well-being between the first and the fourth year is more about learning spaces; other spaces do not result in this decrease. Our study highlights the usefulness of this ecological framework and the importance of complementary qualitative approaches and studies in different cultural contexts for a better understanding of variations in student well-being.

Mots clés: places; ecological framework; France; subjective well-being; school; spatial approach

Domaines: Psychologie

Isabelle Joing, Olivier Vors, François Potdevin. The Subjective Well-Being of Students in Different Parts of the School Premises in French Middle Schools. Child Indicators Research, 2019, ⟨10.1007/s12187-019-09714-7⟩. ⟨hal-02462023⟩