Well-being in schools: empirical measure, or politician's dream? Introduction

This article serves as an introduction to the papers that follow. It shows how well-being has become a significant focus of much educational policy in the UK, and explores how this has collie about. Differing definitions of well-being are reviewed, as is the empirical base on which many of the interventions to improve well-being have been founded. Some of the major criticisms of this shift in policy are outlined, and the article includes a consideration of the validity of these criticisms. Finally it is noted that, while some elements of well-being are based on empirical research, much of the impetus for the focus on well-being has stemmed from the political agenda in the UK over the past decade.