School-Based Well-Being Approach for Pupils with Special Educational Needs

The school is a place where students live a variety of experiences that affect their emotional, psychological, and social development. Hence school well-being has become a central scientific and political issue, as well as a concern in shaping school educational practices. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an approach to school well-being in inclusive schools, with a look at the particularities of the attention to students with Special Educational Needs (SEN). To do so, firstly, the concept of school well-being in inclusive settings is explored, focusing on the recognition of diversity as a value that enriches schools and contributes to learning for life. Secondly, some examples of the advances and transformations that have taken place in educational policies aimed at the mental health and well-being of pupils in schools are briefly described. Thirdly, it stimulates reflection on how educational practices are configured to respond to the need to improve the school well-being of all pupils, especially those who may be more vulnerable throughout their schooling due to personal and/or social factors. In sum, bringing together the terms School Well-being and Special Educational Needs requires an in-depth analysis of how current education systems are configured, under the paradigm of inclusive education, to guarantee a response that favors the access, presence, and participation of the students with SEN in all spheres of the school environment, under conditions of equity, justice, and real opportunities.