Spiritual well-being can be understood as the sum of positive emotions, feelings, and experiences stemming from the spiritual dimension of life (Ellison, 1983; Gomez & Fisher, 2003; Seaward, 1991). Its research appears to be crucial as it broadens the lens of educational sciences to include the topic of spirituality. According to current empirical research, spirituality may be positively related to school achievement, overall life satisfaction, or related to lower levels of anxiety, depression, and risk of undesirable behaviour (Carter et al., 2013; Pérez et al., 2009; Raftopoulos & Bates, 2011).

In the field of education, spiritual well-being has long been researched and a growing interest in its implementation to national curricula across countries is evident (e.g. Brooker et al., 2019; de Souza et al., 2009; Miller et al., 2005; Wane et al., 2011). Despite the growing number of studies on spiritual well-being, there is currently no systematic literature review that explicitly addresses the concept in mainstream educational settings. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review is to summarise the empirical research on pupils' and students' spiritual well-being over the last decade, to identify its trends, strengths and weaknesses. In doing so, I would like to further support the systematization of current research and scholarly discussion on spiritual well-being in the context of education.

The conceptual framework of this study draws on the most widespread conceptualisations of spiritual well-being (SWB) formulated by Ellison (1983) and Fisher (2011). Both theoretical models agree on the conceptualization of SWB along several key dimensions. Ellison (1983) conceptualizes it based on two dimensions, the horizontal, i.e., a sense of meaning in life and life satisfaction, and the vertical, capturing a sense of well-being in relation to God. On the contrary, Fisher (2011) developed a four-domains model, which includes personal, communal, environmental, and transcendental dimension. These four dimensions make up a widely accepted conceptual framework when defining and measuring SWB, spiritual health or spirituality (Michaelson et al., 2016; Nye, 2009). Thus, this study was primarily guided by the second, four-domains model.

The presented systematic literature review (SLR) was guided by three main research questions: RQ1) What were the research topics and research contexts of the studies on pupils' and students' SWB? RQ2) What research methods were used to explore pupils' and students' SWB? RQ3) What are the main findings of the studies on pupils' and students' SWB?

To answer the stated research questions, this study reports several characteristics of each article. This was done in line with review studies of a similar type and based on suggestions by Creswell (2012) and Efron & David (2019). In relation to RQ1, the research topics of the articles, geographical regions in which the studies were conducted, and research subjects are reported. Regarding RQ2, the methodologies used, sampling methods, sample sizes and data collection techniques are reported. A summary of quantitative research instruments deployed is also provided. Lastly, in relation to RQ3, the main research findings of the analysed articles are reported. To do so, they were categorised by their general research topic and then by a specific research sub-topic.

The ECER proposal will present (1) the theoretical framework and background of the study, (2) the findings of the systematic review of empirical research on pupils' and students' SWB in mainstream educational settings, and (3) recommendations for further research.

To answer my research questions (RQ1-RQ3), the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis) guidelines were utilised. This entailed the retrieval, systematization and analysis of articles, including identification, screening, eligibility assessment and inclusion of the articles. The identification process involved finding keywords, which were then used to locate sources for the SLR. After deciding on the general search strategy, five keywords were selected: spiritual well-being, spirituality, well-being, education and school. These words were then grouped in several ways within a search string. This was set up to search within article titles, keywords and abstracts. The articles were searched in two major databases, namely Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus. The screening phase is based on establishing the criteria necessary to decide which articles to include and which to exclude from the SLR. The first criterion was the year of publication, with studies published in the last 10 years (i.e., 2014 to 2024) being included. Furthermore, only articles in English language journals were included. The fourth criterion was the inclusion of studies with empirical findings. The last criterion was the research focus of the articles, which was set as follows: Studies must address the topic of SWB, spiritual health, or the relationship between spirituality and pupils’ and students' well-being (subjective, psychological, etc.) in mainstream educational settings (e.g., studies focusing on students in clinical health care or students with disabilities were excluded). The next step in the screening process is a more in-depth assessment of the eligibility of studies. This step both re-checks that all criteria are met and ensures that studies are suitable and relevant for analysis in the SLR. Eligibility was checked based on article titles and abstracts. In cases where it was not clear whether an article was suitable for inclusion in the SLR, a critical reading of the full text was conducted. The final number of articles included in the SLR is 50.

The aim of this SLR was to summarise empirical research on SWB of pupils and students from the last ten years. In doing so, it helps to systematize the current research, point to its trends, and identify its strengths and weaknesses. With this aim in mind, it focused on the analysis of research topics and context (RQ1), research methods (RQ2), and finally research findings (RQ3). In summary, regarding RQ1, it can be noted that the most common topic researched was the relationship between SWB and psychological phenomena. More than half of all studies were conducted in Middle and Far Eastern countries. The studies focused on students in secondary and tertiary education, and in less than half of the studies, women made up more than 60 % of the sample. As for RQ2, the dominant research approach was quantitative using a questionnaire survey. Additionally, nearly half of the studies employed the Spiritual Well-Being Scale instrument (Paloutzian & Ellison, 1982) to measure SWB. Non-probability sampling was the most common method of sampling. Finally, in terms of RQ3, the research findings of the analysed studies were varied. A multidimensional model of well-being, which includes spirituality and SWB, was supported. The results point to a number of positive effects of pupil’s and student’s spiritual well-being, both in terms of general mental health and within the educational process. However, direct comparison of results is hindered by imprecise terminology and problematic operationalization of key concepts. The contributions of the paper are threefold: (1) it provides an overview of empirical research on pupils' and students' SWB in mainstream educational settings over the last decade, (2) it formulates recommendations for future research, and (3) it contributes to the broader discussion on the role of spiritual well-being in education.

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