Especially since the increase of the complex learning environment in the recent past, students’ well-being has become strongly relevant in scientific discourse. Recent research assumes that well-being is a multidimensional construct that consists of different partial aspects (Borgonovi & Pál, 2016). Therefore, well-being cannot be attributed to one key factor (Diener, 1994), but is influenced by various factors from different areas (e.g. in-school, out-of-school, personal) (Hascher et al., 2018). In order to promote well-being as an important part of successful learning, the academic performance and the overall psychical and mental development 

development these multiple factors must be identified. 

The symposium, which was organized by Martina Ott and Tanja Ganotz deals with well-being of primary and secondary school aged students and its predictors from a trinational German-country perspective with different study design approaches, which leads to the question "Which predictors influence the well-being of students in primary and secondary education in Austria, Germany and Switzerland?".

The first article uses longitudinal data to examine the development of well-being of primary and secondary school students in Switzerland and examines the effect of gender. The article shows that the students' well-being decreases when they move from primary to secondary school.

In the second contribution, the question is addressed as to which predictors, separated by school types, are relevant for students' well-being at upper secondary level in Austria. Across all school types it becomes clear that teacher behaviour is a strong predictor of well-being. Teachers who are socially oriented seem to be more important for well-being at upper secondary schools without a school-leaving certificate. Teacher behaviour that promotes success appears to be a stronger predictor when it comes to School with A-levels. 

The third article focuses on the well-being of students with special needs in inclusive schools after the transition from primary or special schools. Data from schools in North Rhine-Westphalia are used to answer the question of the influence of factors on individual and school levels for students with and without special needs.

The final presentation will analyse the resilience as part of well-being both quantitative and qualitative. The sample consisted of 882 primary school aged students from fourth grade of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In order get a deeper insight in the correlation between resilience and important factors for primary school-aged students, guideline interviews had been conducted. 

Finally, the discussant Katharina Resch from the University Vienna will summarize and compare the essential results, strengths and weaknesses of all four studies and create a connection between research and practice. 

Borgonovi, F., & Pál, J. (2016). A framework for the analysis of student well-being in the PISA 2015 study. OECD Education Working Papers No. 140. Diener, E. (1994). Assessing Subjective Well-Being: Progress and Opportunities. Social Indicators Research, 31(2), 103–157. Hascher, T., Morinaj, J., & Waber, J. (2018). Schulisches Wohlbefinden: Eine Einführung in Konzepte und Forschungsstand. In K. Rathmann & K. Hurrelmann (Hrsg.), Leistung und Wohlbefinden in der Schule: Herausforderung Inklusion (1. Auflage, S. 66–82).