School Well-Being in the Digital Era

Dear Colleagues,

Although there has been significant scholarly attention on student and educator well-being, much of the current research has focused on individual-level analyses and neglected the critical role of institutional and organizational approaches. This limitation underscores the necessity for a broader perspective called “school well-being”, which views student and educator well-being as fundamentally influenced by the institutional context in which they occur. According to Konu and Rimpela (2002) and Konu and Lintonen (2006), school well-being is not merely about safe and conducive physical environments at schools; it also encompasses supportive and intimate social relationships between stakeholders, equal opportunities for everyone to strive for self-fulfillment, and comprehensive health status. In other words, school well-being requires education policymakers, school leaders, teachers, parents, and even community members to collaboratively construct a positive, healthy, and enabling institutional environment that supports student and educator well-being.

Additionally, the rapid advancement of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and online learning platforms, has profoundly transformed educational landscapes, creating both new opportunities and challenges for school well-being. For instance, while online collaboration tools can enhance communication and learning experiences, they may also contribute to increased stress and isolation. Despite this, existing theories predominantly overlook the implications of digitalization, leaving a significant gap in our understanding of its impact on well-being.

Therefore, this Special Issue, titled “School Well-Being in the Digital Era”, emphasizes the necessity of fostering school well-being in the digital age. We welcome original submissions, including research articles, reviews, concept papers, and communications, that address any issues and problems related to school well-being and digitalization from diverse theoretical and methodological approaches. Submissions may cover a range of topics including but not limited to the following themes:

• Policies for school well-being in the digital era;
• Relationships between educational digitalization and school well-being;
• Digital leadership and school well-being;
• School well-being and digital equality;
• Assessments for school well-being in the digital era;
• Effective interventions on school well-being in the digital age;
• Parental engagement, digitalization, and school well-being;
• Professional development for educators in the digital age for well-being;
• Innovative teaching and learning for well-being.

References:

Konu, A. I. & Lintonen, T. P. (2006). School well-being in grades 4-12. Health Education Research, 21 (5), 633-642. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyl032

Konu, A. I., & Rimpela, M. (2002). Well-being in schools: A conceptual model. Health Promotion International, 17 (1), 79-87. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/17.1.79 

Dr. Kwok Kuen Tsang
Dr. Ying Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• school well-being
• digitalization
• digital equality
• innovative teaching and learning
• digital leadership
• GenAI
• virtual reality
• online learning platforms
• student and educator well-being