School Well-being in Diverse Classrooms

Beata Papuda-Dolińska, Paweł Grygiel, Grzegorz Szumski, Maciej Karwowski, Magdalena Boczkowska, Anna Błaszczak, Katarzyna Wiejak

Instytut Badań Edukacyjnych – Państwowy Instytut Badawczy, 2026

The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the school well-being of students across five dimensions: teaching practices, peer relationships, engagement in learning, academic achievement, and emotional attitudes toward school. The study involved 1,608 students, with a particular focus on children with a migration background from Ukraine and students with Special Educational Needs (SEN). Seligman’s PERMA model was employed to describe well-being.

Key Findings

The study identified four distinct student profiles: high well-being (33.8%), average well-being (43.5%), low well-being (12.4%), and students facing peer relationship difficulties (10.3%).

• Ukrainian Students: These students exhibit a more positive attitude toward Polish schools and a greater willingness to learn than their Polish peers. While they perceive teachers as supportive, their grades in Polish and Mathematics are lower, and they more frequently experience social isolation (a sense of being „outside the group”).
• Students with Special Educational Needs (SEN): This group is particularly at risk of exclusion. Their educational and social well-being is significantly lower, manifesting in lower self-esteem and relational difficulties.

Risk Factors

Lower levels of well-being are more prevalent among older students (grades 6–8), children from single-parent families, and individuals who do not identify with the gender binary.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The authors advocate for the implementation of a „whole-school approach” that integrates social-emotional education into the core curriculum. Recommendations include creating a safe environment through anti-bullying programs and peer support (e.g., mentoring), as well as adapting communication methods to meet the individual needs of migrant and SEN students.