Learning to Thrive: The Science of Learning and Student Well-Being

Learning has always been at the heart of education. Increasingly, however, educators are recognizing that how students learn is inseparable from how they feel, relate and make sense of the world around them. In this issue of SingTeach, we turn our attention to the science of learning and its growing role in deepening our understanding of student well-being.

The science of learning brings together insights from psychology, neuroscience, education and the social sciences to illuminate the processes that shape how people learn across contexts and stages of life. At its core is a simple but powerful idea: learning does not happen in isolation from emotions, relationships or purpose. Well-being is not an add-on to learning – it is a condition that enables it.

Across schools, teachers are navigating increasing complexity. They support students’ academic growth while attending to their social and emotional needs, responding to diverse learning profiles and making sense of rapid technological change.

This issue explores how science-informed approaches can help educators design learning environments that are intellectually rigorous, emotionally supportive and deeply human. Together, the articles in this issue invite us to reframe learning and well-being as mutually reinforcing pursuits. They remind us that when educators attend to the conditions under which students feel safe, motivated and purposeful, deeper learning becomes possible.

We hope this issue offers you not only ideas and evidence, but also encouragement to continue asking thoughtful questions about what it means to help every learner thrive in a complex and changing world.

SingTeach editorial team

Office for Research

National Institute of Education