Procedures

The researcher briefly introduced the study at a Year 5/6 assembly a week before the pilot

began. It was presented again in more detail at a Year 5/6 staff meeting the same week. The

aim of both introductions was to provide appropriate information to develop interest and

understanding of the study.

3.4.1 Participants: Selection and Composition

All students were opted into the study by the school Principal who had attained support from

the Board of Trustees. All children were then given an information sheet with an opt-out

section for their parents (see Appendix C). Parents had two weeks to return the paperwork to

the school office if they wished to remove their child from the study. One parent did remove

their child from the study and this child went to the library while the study took place.

All participants were enrolled at a large primary school in the South Island of New Zealand.

Surrounded by mountains, the school is located in an aesthetically appealing area. All local

schools have a decile 10 ranking. This decile 10 ranking, attributed by the Ministry of Education fo fu di g pu poses, ea s that the s hool s so io-economic community is ranked within the top % of Ne )eala d s populatio . The hose s hool, the la gest of the lo al p i ary schools, was one with which the researcher had a long-standing work relationship with.

The well-being views of 81 participants (41 female and 40 male) from 5 composite Year 5/6

structured discussions. The assets questionnaire was completed by 131 participants (64 female

and 67 male) from the same Year 5/6 classes. The ages ranged from 9 to 11 years old, with the

average age being 10 years old.

3.4.2 Pilot

The pilot occurred on March 17th 2014, one week before the main study commenced. The head

of middle school was involved in the administration of the pilot. The teacher read the DAP

questions out loud to the class and identified words that required further definition, such as the

word conflict. The teacher also advised students to use a ruler to support visual tracking of the

questionnaire items. A few children struggled to keep up with the pace of administration and

needed additional support from the researcher, and time at the end to complete the

questionnaire. The DAP pilot data was included in the main study whereas, due to audible

recording difficulties within the classroom context, the whole class well-being discussions from

the pilot class and the following class was not.

3.4.3 Main Study

On entry into each classroom the researcher reintroduced the study, outlined the format and

detailed the two activities involved. The researcher detailed the five questions involved in the

well-being discussion to inform participants and reduce any anxieties as to the unknown. After

be distributed to students at their desks and completed with the support of the researcher who

would read all questions out loud.

Administration of the Semi-Structured Interviews.

Participants were asked to raise their hand if they wished to discuss well-being in small groups,

rather than one-to-one. These participants were asked to call out their names, one after the

othe , so that the ould e ide tified o the esea he s ole sheet. The e ai i g

participants were identified as preferring to discuss well-being individually. The students were

told that once the first group of six had finished discussing well-being that they would return to

the classroom to get the next group or individual. Whilst the well-being discussions were

underway the participants were told that those who remained in the classroom were expected

to continue with their classwork under the supervision of the teacher.

The well-being discussions occurred around a large central table in the middle school office. The pa ti ipa ts sat o padded adult hairs and the recording device was placed in the middle of the table. Participants were informed of their right not to answer any question and consent

was sought for the conversations to be recorded. Participants were asked to speak in turns

moving in a clock-wise direction around the table so that everyone could have the opportunity

to provide an audible answer. For some groups multiple cycles of input allowed the children to

develop their verbal well-being accounts. The duration of the semi-structured interviews

ranged from three minutes to nineteen minutes and were recorded on a smart phone using a

Administration of the DAP Questionnaires.

The questionnaires were given out to participants at their desks. They were asked to put their

name at the top of the page next to name/ID and were told that they would be given a number

to protect their identity during the analysis (i.e., questionnaires were scored anonymously). The

instructions were then read out loud. After the first three questions had been completed

students were asked to raise their hand if they were still unsure about the answer format. In

cases where additional support was required, the option of working through the questionnaire

with the support of the classroom teacher was available. Such support was accepted by three

participants in one class. For the rest, the survey questions were read out loud with

approximately a 10 second gap between questions. A short break was provided half way

through the questionnaire. Throughout the administration both the researcher and the

classroom teacher answered questions pertaining to questionnaire items.

Across the five classes there were a small number of children who, due to other

commitments, were not available to participate in the study alongside their classmates. An

additional group was organised to gather data from these participants.