What does well-being mean to me?’. Conceptualisations of well-being in Irish Primary Schooling

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the meaning of the term well-being as conceptualised by parents, grandparents, principals and teachers in the Irish primary education system.
Design/methodology/approach: A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was adopted to understand the nature and meaning of the phenomenon of well-being. Interviews were carried out with 54 principals, teachers, parents and grandparents from a representative sample of primary schools in Ireland. Each participant was asked the same, open, question: ‘What does well-being mean to you?’. Responses were transcribed verbatim and analysed using a combination of the principles of the hermeneutic circle and Braun and Clarke’s framework for thematic analysis. Findings: Three conceptualisations of well-being were identified (1) well-being is about being happy, (2) well-being is about being healthy and safe, and (3) well-being is something you ‘do’. Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge this paper is the first of its kind to describe how well-being is conceptualised by adults in Irish primary school contexts. In particular it highlights how neoliberal conceptualisations of well-being as a ‘thing’, a commodity exchanged on assumptions of individualism, moralism and bio-economism, have crept into the education of our youngest citizens.