Educational factors in relationship to overall and lifelong wellbeing

The dropout rate has long been a concern of educators, and also is a harbinger for increased challenges later in life, such as correlation to unemployment and incarceration. Even more broadly concerning are recent trends in the general population that reveal a growing sense of dis-ease. Depression, anxiety and other mental health issues appear to be on the rise. There has been an increased focus on the promotion of well-being in both the research and the popular media. Three factors, strong teacher student relationships, at risk status while in high school, and achievement in higher education, were examined for possible correlation with well-being over time. Strong teacher student relationships have been shown to have a positive impact on student outcomes, particularly reported well-being while in school and graduation rates. However, it is not known if, or how, strong teacher student relationships (TSR) might continue to impact long term outcomes for students after they graduate. It may be that strong TSR can have an impact on the overall trajectory of an individual’s life. This study examined the current sense of wellbeing of adults and their perceptions of the teacher student relationships they had while in high school. It also examined well-being outcomes related to students who self-reported being at risk for high school dropout. Finally this study explored attainment of higher education and outcomes of wellbeing. In order to answer these questions, subjects responded to a survey which included 3 parts: demographic information, perceptions of TSR while in high school, and the Flourishing Scale (Diener &Biswas-Diener, 2009). Analysis of correlation were run and revealed no significant relationship between TSR, at risk designation, attainment of higher education degrees and wellbeing over time. However, important trends were apparent, warranting additional research.