UNICEF Research on Children’s Wellbeing

Dr. Paul Downes, Associate Professor of Education (Psychology), School of Human Development has been invited to be a member of the Research Committee for an international study on children and young people's wellbeing led by UNICEF Office of Research, together with the Learning for Wellbeing Foundation and the US Fetzer Foundation. The research, Measuring What Matters? A Proposal for Research on Core Capacities for Wellbeing  involves a research review on key capacities for wellbeing, identified by the Learning for Wellbeing Foundation, including: relaxing; sensory awareness; noticing; subtle sensing; reflecting; listening; inquiring; empathizing; and, discerning patterns and systemic processes. It will interrogate how key capacities in children and their teachers interplay as children grow. Stage 2 of the project is envisaged to conduct primary data collection in order to get to a comprehensive theoretical framework on core capacities for children's wellbeing, and promote further research in this area.