Schulisches Wohlbefinden von Schüler*innen der Sekundarstufe I in inklusiven Lerngruppen – Analysen zum Entwicklungsverlauf an der Laborschule Bielefeld

School well-being is a basic requirement for every student and a major goal of inclusion within schools. Little is known, however, about developmental trajectories of school well-being in inclusive lower secondary school classes. As a part of a self-evaluation process at the Laborschule Bielefeld – an experimental school of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia – an interdisciplinary team investigated the school well-being of their students in the research and development project “Well-Being and Inclusion at the Laborschule – a Self-Reflection”. All students in grades 6 to 10 were invited to participate in a survey once a year between 2013 and 2018. Based on a respective longitudinal dataset, characterized by many measurement points and a high rate of participation, this paper analyzes linear and quadratic trajectories of school well-being of students visiting inclusive classes spanning most middle school and junior high school grades.

Considering a total of six components of school well-being, two show a linear development: The Affinity to Classmates decreases slightly over lower secondary level, likewise the preceived Social Problems at School. With respect to the three components Attitudes and Emotions Towards School, School-related Self-esteem, and Absence of Worries About School, a quadratic model appears to fit the data better. While two components show a decrease over time with descending rates (Attitudes and Emotions Towards School, Absence of Worries About School) an increase in higher grades is detected for School-related Self-esteem. No significant change was found for the level of Physical Complaints depending on the grade level. Educational implications of the findings as well as perspectives for further research on school well-being are discussed.