5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

Child well-being research is an international and interdisciplinary field that examines the life worlds of children from a normative perspective based on specific ideas of a good, equal, fair, or desirable childhood. Recent attention to research on child well-being in the field of educational research has raised concerns about children’s educational progress in the wake of widespread school closures during COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns for the state of learning and equity in education, documented for example in PISA results showing both falling performance and persistent social inequalities in access to education (OECD 2023), have provided impetus for a focus on well-being in educational settings.

In this context, child well-being emerges as a new concept that takes a more holistic and lifeworld perspective of students and addresses the links between school and out-of-school settings. Broad approaches to well-being in schools usually involves assumptions of the relationship between well-being and educational outcomes with narrow concepts and measures of well-being. The question of how children themselves conceptualize well-being in educational environments is rarely explored in this dynamically developing field of educational research.

This session aims to bring together international experts using child-centered approaches and perspectives to address theoretical and methodological issues or present empirical findings on school and well-being.

The session will make important contributions to academic discourse and public debate by using research based on children's perspectives on their well-being in learning environments and critically engaging with current school and well-being issues, prompted by school closures, persistent educational inequalities and average falling performances.