Child well-being: children's, parents' and teachers' perceptions.

Abstract

That chldren's lives be better understood is a necessary contributing step to the development of child centred quality supports, services and policies and it would appear logical that actively seeking out children's voices would facilitate this endeavour. This approach is supported by the National Children's Strategy. However, traditionally adults have provied information on children's policy and service needs with parents often considered the most appropriate and primary voice of the child. Adults, such as parents and teachers, have a unique perspective and hold key insights into the lives of chldren which could contribute to the development of child focused policy and practice. This study undertook an exploration of parents', teachers' and children's perspectives on children's understanding of well-being with the aim of illuminating and comparing the conceptualisation of well-being from these three perspectives.