Journal of Student Wellbeing March 2012, Vol. 5(2), 34–67. 34 Students’ and teachers’ perspectives on wellbeing in a senior secondary environment Anne K Soutter, Billy O’Steen and Alison Gilmore School of Educational Studies and Human Development University of Canterbury New Zealand Abstract The Student Wellbeing Model (SWBM: Soutter, Gilmore and O’Steen 2011; Soutter, O’Steen and Gilmore 2012) conceptualises wellbeing as a multi - dimensional, complex phenomenon involving seven interdependent and mutually enhancing domains, (having, being, relating, thinking, feeling, functioning, striving), organised into three categories (assets, appraisals, actions). In this study, the SWBM provided a lens through which to examine New Zealand senior secondary students’ and teachers’ perspectives on the meanings of wellbeing. Although all seven domains of the SWBM were represented in participants’ understandings of wellbeing, not all domains were experienced to a similar degree in the school context. Student and teacher commentary indicated that educational experiences reflected a ‘top- down’ approach that focused on developing wellbeing-enhancing assets including having resources and support, being an independent individual, and relating well with teachers. In addition, participants viewed functioning efficiently in assessment-related activities and striving towards acquisition of credits as important aspects of engaging in actions that will lead to wellbeing in the future. In contrast, they considered cognitive and affective appraisals, such as thinking creatively, critically, or meta-cognitively, or feeling and expressing a wide range of emotions to be peripheral to their current educational experiences. These results suggest that a conscious focus on all seven domains in school increases the likelihood that students experience wellbeing as integral to, rather than a desired outcome of, education. Our analysis indicates that the SWBM provides a viable guide for those seeking to design educational experiences that allow student wellbeing to unfold organically within the diverse classroom cultures that characterise schools today.