Long-term consequences of COVID-19 on students' well-being and values

Abstract

Due to COVID-19, 2020 and 2021 were strange and different school years for many students around the world. Based on surveys of Danish primary and lower secondary school students conducted in April 2020 (N=5953), June 2020 (N=1187), December 2020 (N=2665) and June 2021 (5768), this article examines students' well-being during COVID-19 in a long-term perspective. Furthermore, the article investigates what, a year after the first national outbreak, emerges in their consciousness when they are asked to think about the way the coronavirus has affected their lives. Based on this, the article discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic may change students' values in a long-term perspective. The article finds that the well-being of the primary and secondary school students in the study samples was favourable. All three dimensions of their well-being were good or very good. However, there was a decline in both emotional and academic well-being, while only social well-being had improved from the first to later data collections. Furthermore, the article points to a number of existential or value aspects that have been under attack.

Keywords

• covid-19
• primary school
• well-being
• values
• variance analysis
• content analysis
• nordic model of education