Shifting the focus: seven recommendations from children highlighting conditions that enhance intentional engagement in curriculum-work and participatory wellbeing

From a social justice perspective, schools’ curriculum must shift to promote participatory wellbeing. However, what do primary school children themselves recommend about how participatory wellbeing be promoted, especially those who are ‘lower-attainers’? This article portrays ideas from 23 children whose school-life-histories we constructed through 12 termly individual, lengthy interviews and observations, over four years. Through these, we developed seven key recommendations for schools and teachers. The children’s recommendations accorded with Ryan and Deci’s theory that – to evidence wellbeing – children’s needs for a Sense of Competence, Autonomy and Relatedness must be fulfilled. The children recommended emphasising healthy relationships among children; nurturing a strong sense of belonging and participation; boosting respect among teachers for children; and facilitating collaboration among friends and peers. They proposed making lessons more engaging; minimising testing and ‘attainment grouping’; providing opportunities for de-stressing; and encouraging children’s critical reflection on classroom learning and teaching. We conclude that future curriculum development needs to take children’s experiences into account and therefore to focus more strongly on their Sense of Autonomy and Relatedness.