Abstract
The studies in this dissertation investigate how health and well-being education in Wales is evolving in the midst of three major events, the global mental health crisis (Roffey, Williams, Greig & Mackay, 2016), the COVID-19 pandemic (Agarwal et al., 2021), and the curriculum reform in Wales (Welsh Government, 2020a). This thesis comprises five chapters detailing three studies. In Chapter 1, a literature review was undertaken in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the current health and well-being climate in Wales and the UK. In Chapter 2 we provide a rapid review of the health and well-being interventions and curricula currently used across primary schools in the UK and the evidence base for them. Our review indicates that the approach with the most evidence of effectiveness are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) based interventions. However, weaknesses associated with many of the studies limit the extent to which any program can be endorsed as an ‘evidenced-based’ school health and well-being intervention. In Chapter 3, we created a mapping template to assess the extent to which the Connect curriculum can be mapped onto the health and well-being Area of Learning and Experience (AoLE) of the Curriculum for Wales. Connect is a new curriculum based on the DNA-V model, that uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) theory and research. It was found that Connect learning objectives were able to be mapped onto 95.7% of targets set by the Welsh Government, with almost 60% of Connect curriculum objectives being considered easy to map onto the Welsh curriculum (with 82.1% inter-rater reliability). In Chapter 4, in order to investigate teachers views, perceptions and experiences of using the Connect curriculum, we conducted interviews with 7 primary school teachers across North Wales, and their responses were examined using Thematic Content Analysis (TCA). The TCA revealed six main themes relating to: initial feelings, the Connect curriculum, training, support, suggestions for improvement and Connect legacy. Each main theme was broken down into a number of subthemes, the most significant of which included: the useful nature of the materials and website, the enjoyable and engaging nature of the program, the benefits of both the mindfulness element of the program and the Advisor component of the DNA-V model, the stronger bond reported between teachers and pupils, and the challenges surrounding difficult Connect content. Finally, Chapter 5 offers a discussion of the findings in the context of the literature, and recommendations for future research in this area.