ABSTRACT
How can school governance integrate wellbeing? Advances in wellbeing education have seen classroom interventions, year-level approaches, and whole-of-school strategies develop over the past ten years. Despite these advances, finding wellbeing as an explicit goal within a school strategic plan is still unusual. Moreover, how school governance engages with wellbeing education remains an under-researched area. One of the significant problems is that more studies on integrating wellbeing education as a strategic goal in governance theory are needed. First, the role of school governance is discussed and defined, then the role of the school board is explored, and the theories of governance and schools are examined. Finally, seven guiding principles for integrating wellbeing education in school governance models are proposed. The chapter explores the proposition that schools should move beyond deficit-oriented approaches to mental ill-health and provide a more holistic approach to wellbeing governance.
